As AI becomes part of research workflows, the people responsible for ethical oversight need opportunities to examine its implications together and apply what they learn within their institutions. The AI Ethics and Governance Initiative from Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R), supported by a grant provided by Advarra, is designed to create those opportunities.
PRIM&R retains full control of the initiative’s agenda, speakers, programming, and content. That independence is key to the grant’s purpose: to help the research oversight community engage with AI through education developed by a long-trusted professional organization and build a stronger foundation for navigating what comes next.
PRIM&R has prepared the field for change for decades
Since 1974, PRIM&R has advanced ethical standards in research through education, membership, certification, public policy, and community-building, helping professionals develop their knowledge, share learnings, and respond to changes affecting human research protections.
That mission closely aligns with the work of Advarra’s institutional review board (IRB), which has provided independent ethical review for over 40 years.
But review depends on both the expertise of individual board members and staff and
a well-informed community that can examine emerging issues and share guidance freely. PRIM&R has long helped build and sustain that community, making it the ideal partner to extend this work into AI ethics and governance.
AI questions are already reaching oversight teams
Nurturing that community is especially important now that teams everywhere are using AI tools in planning and execution. IRBs and other oversight professionals are already grappling with questions such as “How should we explain an AI tool’s role to prospective participants?” and “What safeguards are needed if the tool could introduce bias or affect decisions about who can take part in a study?” Those questions also raise broader issues of transparency and appropriate governance.
Still, access to education on these issues varies dramatically. Some institutions have dedicated resources for evaluating new technologies and developing policies, while others have very few opportunities to get specialized guidance, even though they face the same ethical questions. That disparate access can contribute to disparate protections for research participants.
But field-wide programming can help narrow that gap. Guidance on AI governance needs to reach professionals across institution types and resource levels, not just those who already have the resources for working through these questions on their own.
For the field, from the field
That call for broader access is a big part of why Advarra funded this initiative. We believe education of this kind should be led by its own independent convener, and PRIM&R is exactly that: a facilitator that can bring professionals together and shape programming around the questions the community raises.
This initiative includes a podcast miniseries, a leadership roundtable series culminating at the PRIM&R Annual Conference, and a multi-day virtual workshop. The formats are intended to reach professionals at every career stage and offer several ways to participate. PRIM&R sets the initiative’s agenda, selects its speakers, and has full editorial control.
Why are we choosing to be so hands-off? We develop AI-enabled technology for clinical research, and we believe field-wide governance education should remain free from corporate influence, ours included.
We’re thrilled this programming is happening and thank PRIM&R for leading it. The community deserves support as it considers the practical and ethical questions AI will continue to raise, and PRIM&R is the best organization to provide it.
