Ethical Global Health Research: Practical Approaches to Navigating International Power Dynamics
What does truly equitable global health research look like?
The field is often criticized for its failure to defer to local experts and produce results that benefit local communities. Beyond basic cultural competence, researchers need to employ practices that are mindful of long-standing power imbalances that have hindered progress and positive health outcomes.
These practices include authorship equity, creating budgets that take into consideration the needs of all parties and abiding by equitable data-sharing practices that ensure long-term success for local research teams.
Join us for a conversation that will cover these topics and explore ways to ensure integrity and sustainability in global health research. This conversation is part of Research Ethics Week.
Speakers
Mahsa Abassi, DO | UMN Medical School
Dr. Mahsa Abassi serves as an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine. Her clinical and research interests focus on HIV-associated opportunistic infections, particularly cryptococcal and tuberculosis meningitis. Her work explores neurologic complications, antifungal treatment strategies, and host immune responses. She is also actively engaged in global health research and capacity-strengthening initiatives in resource-limited settings.
Kumi Smith, PhD, MPIA | UMN School of Public Health
Dr. Kumi Smith is an associate professor in the School of Public Health's Division of Epidemiology and Community Health. Dr. Smith studies health disparities at the intersection of infectious diseases, substance use, and unstable housing. She also develops structural interventions to better support clinical workers in providing culturally-specific and trauma-informed care for marginalized patients. Much of her international work is based in China where she have lived and worked for several years.
Irina Stepanov, PhD | UMN School of Public Health
Dr. Irina Stepanov is the Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Mayo Professor in Public Health in the School of Public Health's Division of Environmental Health Sciences. She is also the director of the Institute for Global Cancer Prevention and a member of the Masonic Cancer Center. In her research program, Dr. Stepanov applies the fundamental concepts of science and analytical technologies to incorporate biochemical measurements, such as biomarkers of exposure, harm, and susceptibility to disease, into epidemiological and community-based studies and intervention trials. Her primary research focus is on tobacco carcinogenesis and the mechanisms underlying inter‐individual differences in cancer risk due to tobacco use. Other areas include DNA damage due to oxidative stress and inflammation, and the role of metal exposures in neurobehavioral outcomes in children.
Shailey Prasad, MD, MPH | Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility
Dr. Shailey Prasad is the executive director of the Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility. In addition, he is the associate vice president of global & rural Health; vice chair for education in family medicine & community health; and an adjunct professor at the School of Public Health. His background working with forest tribes in rural areas of southern India, with urban communities in Detroit and as a rural physician in Mississippi has led him to be an advocate for improved health care as a key building block for communities. Dr. Prasad will moderate the discussion.