Sociology Research Seminar
Research or clinical care, is there a difference and why does it matter?
Thursday 5 March 2009, 4 – 6pm Monash Conference Centre (Level 7, 30 Collins Street)
Dr Nina Hallowell
University of Edinburgh
Abstract
The relationship between clinical research and clinical care is often perceived as unclear, particularly in highly technological subspecialties. This ambiguity is illustrated in cancer genetics where research protocols are frequently used to provide access to procedures that may be offered as a clinical service in other specialties. The project on which this presentation is based investigated lay and expert perceptions of the activities which take place within the cancer genetics clinic. This paper will focus upon the data collected in semi-structured interviews with individuals who are involved in cancer genetics research in the UK, in either a research only or research + clinical capacity. It will discuss the ways in which interviewees sought to distinguish research from clinical care and describe the strategies healthcare professionals said they used to differentiate these activities in their practice. It will be argued that distinguishing research from clinical care requires clinical researchers to engage in a form of boundary work (Gieryn, 1999), and that this is necessary for them to manage the conflict of interest generated by the different roles they occupy within the cancer genetics clinic.
Nina Hallowell
Nina is a Reader in Social Science and Public Health at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where she is based in the Centre for Population Health Sciences (see: http://www.chs.med.ed.ac.uk/cphs/). Her research interests lie in the area of social and ethical implications of genetic testing in a clinical setting. She is also interested in people's motivations and experiences of research participation and has recently completed a project on this topic. She is currently visiting Australia for six months as a Leverhulme Fellow. More details can be obtained here: http://www.chs.med.ed.ac.uk/people/staffProfile.php?profile=nhallowe