BINF705 FALL14 SOLKA - CASE STUDIES AND MENTORING BINF705 Research Ethics Fall 2014 Case Studies and...

BINF705 FALL14 SOLKA - CASE STUDIES AND MENTORING

BINF705 Research Ethics Fall 2014

Case Studies and Mentoring

Jeff Solka Ph.D.


Acknowledgements Dr. Jennifer Weller

Previous revision of the mentoring slides


Dilbert of the Week

Possible Student Case Studies - I

Is the peer review process valid? Should technologies that radically extend human life spans

be allowed to be employed? (Life Extension) Should medical care be withheld from those individuals that

have made "poor lifestyle choices"? (Managed Care) Should patient assisted suicide be allowed and if so under

what circumstances? (Euthanasia) Should genetic testing be required for jobs or parenthood?

(Genetic Testing) Should individuals be allowed to select the sex of their

children or if the technologies should be developed should individuals be allowed to select the traits of their children prior to conception?


Possible Student Case Studies - II Does the promise of new drug therapies justify exclusive

proprietary access to genetic information? (Intellectual Property)

Do the claims of public safety trump concerns for personal privacy in mandating DNA databanks? (Biometric Analysis)

Should patients in chronic pain be allowed whatever pain remediation possible including the use of the strongest opiates such as heroin? (Algology)

Should cross species transplantation be allowed? (Xenotransplantation)

Should the Large Hadron Collider be allowed to search for mini-black holes? (Dangers in research)


Possible Student Case Studies - III What are the ethical issues with regards to informed

consent when conducting research using internet data? (Privacy and informed consent)

Should everyone be guaranteed free access to scientific literature? (Open Source Publications)

Should bioinformatics embrace the open source movement and what are the security implications to this decision? (Open Source)

What are the implications of data mining software to patient confidentiality issues? (Patient anonymity)



Mentoring

What is a Mentor? A person responsible for guidance and academic, technical and ethical development of a trainee.

Duties include the direct supervision of tasks such as experimental design, data collection, analysis, interpretation and storage

Other professional development duties include Collegial individual discussions Regular group meetings, providing peer review Providing relevant rules, regulations and guidelines Inform, instruct, provide an example


Activities - I

Demonstrate and teach style and methodology in doing scientific research

What is done: Defining problems (important and tractable) Asking questions (posing the question as a series of

approaches) Selecting means for solving problems

How it should be done: Demonstrating, and letting trainee observe Guiding trainee through problem with assistance Providing access to training courses and workshops


Activities -2

Evaluate and critique scientific research

What is the activity: Actively evaluate results , for example in a lab or data

notebook Presentation practice and critique, lecture or seminar (oral) Peer-review manuscript preparation, and dissertation (written)

Evaluation should include: constructive criticism of organization, content and style identification of specific weaknesses and suggestions for

avoiding them, providing strong positive models


Activities - 3

Foster social awareness of appropriate behavior of trainees

What is the purpose: Professional awareness of (local and global) policies, guidelines

and regulations Comfort with practicing the prevailing standards and allowed

variation on authorship, peer review, data sharing, collaboration

How is this accomplished: Demonstrating in personal conduct Semi-formal instruction –explaining the reasoning behind

particular choices Formal instruction where useful (assignment of particular readings

and discussion of the content)


Activities - 4

Promote career development

What can be affected: What types of decisions have the most impact on a career: insight,

information, advice about career planning Assistance with professional networking, Development and refining of appropriate interpersonal skills

How is this accomplished: Inclusion of student on occasions where introductions to other

scientists occur, with opportunity for interaction Encouragement of communication with others Suggest names as speakers, conference organizers (both advance

notice and subsequent critique)


Mentor-Trainee Relationship

A mutually dependent interaction, in which power is unequally distributed –there is a great potential for abuse unless both parties remain aware of the need for

Respect Model appropriate behavior Demonstrate reasoning for actions and decisions,

especially under specific circumstances Provide explicit coaching Introduction to larger professional network


Dependencies

Dependence of trainee on mentor Financial

stipend, tuition, fees Resources

to perform and complete research and dissertation

access to laboratory & computers

funds and/or recommendations for attending meetings Future position and advancement

recommendations


Dependence of Mentor on Trainee

Dependence of mentor on trainee Generally students are the data-generation engines: the

data are required to produce publications and as preliminary results for supporting research finding proposals (grants)

Publications are needed by the mentor for prestige, grants, promotions

Success of trainee also reflects on the mentor for prestige, and to obtain future trainees


Accessing Appropriate Behaviors - 1 How does mentor know if trainee is not behaving

appropriately? A particular performance standard is expected:

Badly or incompletely done work is unacceptable

Insufficient effort / time put into work are unacceptable

Initiative, analytical skills are required, which requires study and reading in the literature outside of the official workplace

Ethical behavior is expected

What recourse does trainee have?

What recourse does mentor have?


Accessing Appropriate Behaviors - 2 What can a trainee expect of a mentor?

An adequate time commitment, used at the least to Demonstrate research techniques Review a trainees research progress and methods –this lets the mentor

assess the caliber of work being done Critique presentations and papers, provide good models Communication at personal and small-group levels about ongoing research

in the field and interesting controversies

Provide opportunities through group meetings and journal clubs to organize, propose and defend ideas

The specific time needed for each of the above varies with the individual trainee and his career stage

It is fair to ask before joining a lab, how many trainees can one mentor supervise adequately?


Mutual Consequences Consequences of poor supervision …. on the trainee

Poor (ineffective, out of date or non-standard) research skills Poor (ineffective or not up to professional standards) communication

skills Inefficient use of time and talent (lower productivity and less peer

respect will result if many mistakes are made)

…..on the mentor Low quality publications, due to poor writing or poor research

methodology

Loss of credibility when questionable (marginal or irreproducible) results are made public

The aggregated result will be difficulty obtaining grants, recruiting more trainees, obtaining promotions, or being invited to give talks


Specific Concerns Mutual Trust: the trainee must trust mentors judgment,

advice, and actions

Some individuals give an initial balance of trust, others always require that it be earned. Cultivating trust requires:

Unconstrained, frank but respectful communication Care that criticism be perceived as directed at actions and

behavior, not the worth of the individual Care that the mode of discourse be free of hostility,

vituperation, intimidation (teasing, hazing, practical jokes or worse)

Compassionate personal support but not intrusive inquiry into personal life (this can be a balancing act for all concerned)

A shared enthusiasm for work and ideas


Rewards and Outcomes: Public Recognition

Research hours are long and results are often hard won, not to mention of obscure value to all but a handful of individuals. Thus credit in the knowledgeable peer group is often the primary reward.


Selecting a Mentor -1 Criteria

Research Focus –enthusiasm about the science Assessing the professional qualities of the mentor

Publication record in high-quality, peer-reviewed journals

Extramural financial support

National Recognition Meeting and seminar invitations

Rank, tenure status, proximity to retirement age Current positions of recent graduates Prior training record

number of trainees time it takes trainee to complete degree recognition for trainees accomplishments (co-authorship)


Selecting a Mentor -2

Assessing the personal qualities of a mentor and his group

Interpersonal relationship style

Ask more senior graduate students and post-docs about any problems that may have occurred in the lab, how they were handled

Organizational structure of laboratory

Mentoring Style

Compatibility, Rapport , shared values


Finding Information

Look at the Web site of the laboratory Check out publications using bibliographic databases Visit the laboratory (have specific objects in mind) Set up an interview with the prospective mentor (have specific

questions ready to ask) Find time to contact current and former students and post-

docs (have specific questions ready to ask) Sit in on a lecture or other presentation to observe teaching

styles Sign up to do a lab rotation, a short-term research projects

that puts you into the lab daily Remember: for PhD students in the sciences the research

advisor relationship often outlasts the time span of the average marriage –can you live with this person?


Trade-offs in Mentor Selection

If a principle investigator has a lot of funding, this implies a large laboratory, a large group and state of the art resources but less time for individual attention

If the PI is ‘famous’ she/he will be highly sought after for invited talks and advisory boards so the professional network will be extensive and publications are likely to be welcome in more prestigious journals, positions will be available at more highly ranked institutions, but you will receive less personal attention.

In general in a large ‘famous’ lab, graduate students are mentored

primarily by post-docs and senior graduate students.

In any lab you should be careful to check for signs of unacceptable discrimination: race, gender, age, disability, etc are prevalent, not overtly discussed and may render a work environment impossible to deal with.


Topics to Cover in Discussions

Trust (including truthfulness, candor and loyalty, perhaps an implied promise and honesty);

Respect (for competency and also for ability to handle less than complimentary assessments);

Responsibility (to allow individuals the chance to grow and foster that growth);

Fairness and impartiality; (not to show favoritism that is unjustified –science is supposed to be a meritocracy so some types of ‘favoritism’ may be justified).


Closing Humor - I One sunny day, a rabbit came out of her hole in the ground to

enjoy the fine weather. The day was so nice that she became careless and a fox snuck up behind her and caught her.

"I am going to eat you for lunch!" said the fox. "Wait!" replied the rabbit," You should at least wait a few days."

"Oh yeah? Why should I wait?" "Well, I am just finishing my dissertation on 'The Superiority of

Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'" "Are you crazy? I should eat you right now! Everyone knows

that a fox will always win over a rabbit." "Not according to my research. If you like, you can come into

my hole and read it for yourself. If you are not convinced, you can go ahead and eat me for lunch."

"You really are crazy!" said the fox, but since the fox was curious and had nothing to lose, it went into the hole with the rabbit.

The fox never came out.


Closing Humor - II A few days later, the rabbit was again taking a break from writing

when a wolf came out of the bushes and was ready to set upon her. "Wait!" yelled the rabbit," You can't eat me right now." "And why might that be, my furry appetizer?" said the wolf. "I am almost finished with my dissertation on 'The Superiority of

Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'" The wolf laughed so hard he almost let go of the rabbit. "Maybe I

shouldn't eat you--you really are sick in the head! You might have something contagious."

"Come and read it for yourself, you can eat me afterwards if you disagree with my conclusions."

So the wolf went down into the rabbit's hole...and never came out. The rabbit finished her dissertation and was out celebrating in the

local lettuce patch.


Closing Humor - III Another rabbit came along and asked, "What's up? You seem very

happy." "Yup, I just finished my dissertation." "Congratulations! What's it about?" "'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'" "No way! That can't be right." "Oh, but it is. Come and read it for yourself." So the two rabbits went down into the rabbit hole. As they entered, the

friend saw the typical graduate abode. A computer with the controversial work was in one corner surrounded by discarded papers. And on one side of the room there was a pile of fox bones, while on the other side there was a pile of wolf bones. And in the center, there was a large, well-fed lion.

The moral of the story: The title of your dissertation doesn't matter. The subject doesn't

matter. The research doesn't matter. All that matters is who your advisor is.

Closing Note


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