Volunteering for infection: Participant perspectives on a Hepatitis C virus controlled human infection model

The following post is a linkpost from Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 77, Issue Supplement_3, 15 August 2023, Pages S224–S230, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciad350.

The report was a collaboration between 1Day Sooner and Rethink Priorities, written by Jake D Eberts, Paul Zimmer-Harwood, James W B Elsey, Alastair Fraser-Urquhart, and Thomas Smiley.

Abstract

Ethical human subjects research requires participants to be treated safely and respectfully, yet much bioethical debate takes place without participants. We aim to address this gap in the context of controlled human infection model (CHIM) research. Based upon our own experience as study participants, and bolstered by a survey of 117 potential hepatitis C virus CHIM participants, we present ideas to inform efficient, ethical, and scientifically useful study design. We advocate for full protocol transparency, higher compensation, commitment to the rapid dissemination of study results, and proactive efforts to detail risk-minimization efforts as early as possible in the recruitment process, among other measures. We encourage researchers to proactively partner with volunteer advocacy organizations that promote collective representation of volunteers to maximize their agency, and guard against ethical issues arising from healthy human subjects research.