With the Call for Poster Abstracts now open for the 2012 Advancing Ethical Research (AER) Conference now open, I invite you to join me as we revisit the work of Stephen J. Cico, one of the poster presenters from the 2011 AER Conference. 

In 2011, Stephen and his colleagues shared their work collecting quantitative data on the willingness of parents to enroll their child in research. Through a survey analysis, the team demonstrated that reluctance on the part of parents to enroll their children in research create barriers for recruiting populations as mandated by the National Institutes of Health . To read Stephen’s full abstract, please visit our website.

Avery Avrakotos (AA): It’s been a year since you presented this abstract at the 2011 AER Conference.  How has your research since evolved?
Stephen Cico (SC): I met people during my poster session with whom I am now collaborating.  It was a great opportunity for me to meet people from across the country, but also locally, who share my same research interests.

AA: What challenges have you faced in implementing this research?
SC: Time is always the biggest challenge for all of us.

AA: What is one principle that has guided you in your research?
SC: Do what’s best for patients.  This is a difficult principle to follow, because what is right for one patient may be completely different from the next patient.  Clear and open communications is so important.

Thank you for sharing, Stephen! We hope that you will consider submitting an abstract for the 2012 AER Conference.