Ethics Committee

About the Committee

The Ethics Committee was originally known as the Ethical Standards of Practice Committee (ESOP) and developed the first guidelines for ethics specific to the practice of epidemiology which were published in 2000. Since then, the committee has continued to provide consultation to the ACE Board of Directors as well as general membership regarding ethical challenges that arise in the practice of epidemiology, revise and develop new ethical guidelines, sponsor discussions at annual meetings focusing on the ethical issues raised in academic and industry collaborations and in genetic research, particularly in minority populations.

In agreement with ACE’s 2014 Strategic Plan, the committee’s objectives are to: 1) develop and maintain current ethical practice guidelines, 2) promote research ethics and professional ethics, 3) promote the study and discussion of ethics in epidemiologic practice, and 4) facilitate solutions to ethical issues. The strategies by which the committee will achieve the outlined objectives include: topic-specific subcommittees; collaboration with other ACE committees, government, universities, and other professional societies; planning and conducting of workshops and plenary sessions at the ACE Annual Meeting; and publishing relevant and timely articles for the Annals of Epidemiology.

Committee Chairs

• WayWay M. Hlaing, Chair, University of Miami, (2021-2023)
• Jennifer Salerno, Vice-Chair, McMaster University, (2021-2023)

Current Committee Activities

1. Ethics Committee sponsored activities at ACE Annual Meetings and Epidemiology Congress of the Americas (co-sponsored by ACE)

• Ethics Committee sponsored activities at the 2016 Epidemiology Congress of the Americas - “Ethics, Big Data and Computing in Epidemiology and Public Health”
• Plenary Abstract
• Speaker 1: Prof. Bartha Knoppers, McGill University
• Speaker 2: Dr. Lisa M Lee, PhD, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
• Speaker 3: Dr. Kenneth W. Goodman, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

• Ethics Committee sponsored activities at the 2015 Annual Meetings: Plenary Session - "Ethics, Ebola and Epidemiological Issues"
  • Speaker 1 Presentation  - L. Schwartz, PhD
  • Speaker 2 Presentation  - F Angulo, DVM, PhD
  • Speaker 3 Presentation  - V Neslund, JD
• 2014, Luncheon #4: “Frontiers in Epidemiology: Evaluating a New Risk of Bias”
• 2013, Preconference Workshop #5: “Ethics, Epidemiology, and Public Policy Decisions – A Case Example of Hydrofracking” CLICK HERE FOR AGENDA
• 2013, Concurrent Spotlight Session #3: “The Role of Epidemiology and Public Health in Translational Science” featuring Brad Pollock, Monday, September 23
• 2013, Breakfast Roundtable: “Conflicts of Interest in Epidemiology” featuring Douglas Weed, Tuesday, September 24
• 2012, Preconference Workshop #6: “Ethics in Epidemiology: Exploring Contemporary Challenges” CLICK HERE FOR AGENDA
• 2012, Plenary Session: “Ethics and Epidemiology Decision-Making For Population Benefits” presented by J. Morel Symons, PhD and Lou M. Gallagher, PhD

2. Subcommittees

a. Guideline Review and Development

• In progress: Ethics Guidelines Review Project

b. Syllabi Collection Project

• Our work on graduate level courses pertaining to ethics and epidemiology and/or public health is now complete. Syllabi for 30 universities plus additional teaching resources can be found at the following link: Ethics Committee Syllabus Collection Project

3. Highlighted Publications 

Ethics and Epidemiology

• Coughlin SS, Beauchamp TL and Weed DL. Ethics and Epidemiology, Second Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
• McKeown RE, Weed DL, Kahn JP, Stoto MA. American College of Epidemiology Ethics Guidelines: Foundations and dissemination. Sci Engineer Ethics 2003; 9: 207-214. (PDF version )
• McKeown RE. American College of Epidemiology Ethics Guidelines: Filling a critical gap in the profession. Ann Epidemiol 2000; 10: 485-486.  (PDF version )
• Weed DL, Coughlin SS. New ethics guidelines for epidemiology: Background and rationale. Ann Epidemiol 1999; 9: 277-280.

Ethics and Epidemiology – Special Topics

• Salerno J, Knoppers BM, Lee LM, Hlaing WM, Goodman K. Ethics, big data and computing in epidemiology and public health. Ann Epidemiol 2017; 27(5): 297-301. (PDF version)
• Salerno J, Hlaing WM, Weiser T, Striley C, Schwartz L, Angulo FJ, Neslund VS. Emergency response in a global health crisis: Epidemiology, ethics, and Ebola application. Ann Epidemiol 2016; 26(4): 234-237. (PDF version)
• Goodman KW, Meslin EM. Ethics, information technology and public health: Duties and challenges in computational epidemiology. In Magnuson, JA, Fu, PC, eds., Public Health Informatics and Information Systems, 2nd Edition, London: Springer-Verlag, 2014, 191-209.
• Goodman KW, Prineas RJ. Ethics curricula in epidemiology. In SS Coughlin, TL Beauchamp and DL Weed, eds, Ethics and Epidemiology, Second Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 283-303.

We welcome your suggestions

The Committee is currently seeking volunteers. If you are interested in joining the Committee, please complete the Committee Participation Form.