38: Clinical Trials, COVID-19, and Ethics

The Useful Science team provides a breakdown on clinical trials - what they are, why they matter, and how long they take. As a wave of urgent clinical trials related to COVID19 is unfolding around the world, researchers try to balance the need for vaccines & treatment with ethical concerns and the health of study participants.

Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.

Hosts: 

Ian Mahar

Ian is a postdoctoral researcher at Boston University, studying neuropsychiatric features of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and other neurodegenerative conditions. He did his PhD in Neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal, doing neuropsychiatry research in the McGill Group for Suicide Studies at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. He also does science writing and outreach, and his primary interests for all three are how the brain regulates emotions, and what happens when this regulation goes awry.

Role: 

Uyen Nguyen

Uyen got her degrees from the University of British Columbia where she studied how physical exercise affects the immune system of bone marrow recipients. She likes to be called “Oo-in” instead of “Yu-en”. In her free time, she runs, watches comedies, reads biographies, and eats chocolate-coated pretzels (occasionally all at once).

Role: 

Cameron Spencer

Cameron is a designer and web developer. He is the founder of Lab 43.