Meet Jaime O’Brien, MS (Bioethics), who’ll be covering the 2019 Advancing Ethical Research Conference (AER19) as a member of the Blog Squad. Members of PRIM&R’s Conference Blog Squad provide an insider’s view of the conferences by sharing their experience before, during, and after the meeting.

There’s nothing like experiencing something for the first time, and I’m excited to share my first Advancing Ethical Research (AER) Conference  experience with you! I currently serve as the Human Research Protection Program Specialist at Inova Health System in Fairfax, Virginia. I have been working for or involved with an IRB since my sophomore year of undergrad, when I took my first Bioethics course and became captivated by the subject.

Now, on the other side of a graduate degree in Bioethics, I am still completely enamored. In my current role, I service the IRB staff about 50% of the time, with the remainder of my time spent in our Research Education office helping to develop, conduct, and track various research ethics training programs. My favorite part of my job is the unpredictability of my day. My activities can range anywhere from editing policies for executive review, to conducting intern orientation, to tracking down a Sub-I for his CITI Training Certificates. I also enjoy challenging myself independently by reading through case studies and keeping up to date with the current news involving research ethics.

As I mentioned before, this will be my first AER Conference, and I’m excited for what’s in store for all of us. Looking at the agenda, I know it’s going to be a great experience. Personally, I’m excited to attend sessions on data and privacy security in research with wearable devices, as well as Right to Try. I can’t wait to share my newbie perspective with all of the seasoned veterans and commiserate over first-time-conference-panic with my fellow AER novices.

Jaime O’Brien, MS (Bioethics), is the Human Research Protection Program Specialist at Inova Health System in Fairfax, Virginia. She supports activities in both the Inova IRB office and the Research Education Office. She has a master’s degree in Bioethics from Albany Medical College where she studied implications of research ethics in digital medicine.