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Written by Raymond G. Campo

Category: News

Published: 02 May 2023

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The Eastern Visayas Health Research and Development Consortium’s (EVHRDC) Capacity Building Committee (CBC) is in charge of further enhancing the capacity of its thirty-two member institutions in engaging with research-related activities. In the year 2022, the CBC, in coordination with the other EVHRDC committees, conducted training sessions offered to all member institutions and the members of the different committees. 

One of the challenges of conducting health research is to ensure the safety of its human participants. All research involving human subjects must undergo ethical review and clearance before the project is implemented. However, there are only two Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in Region VIII that are accredited by the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB) that can provide ethical clearance; the EVHRDC Ethics Review Committee (ERC) and Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC) Institutional Ethics Review Committee. To assist its member institutions in creating their own Research Ethics Committees (RECs), the CBC and the consortium’s own ERC organized different trainings. On January 17-19, 2022, CBC, in collaboration with the University of the Philippines Manila – National Institutes of Health (UPM-NIH), spearheaded the Training-Workshop on Research Ethics Committees Standard Operating Procedure for Good Clinical Practice Compliance via Zoom. Potential REC members are required to attend research ethics training and to have their own Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These trainings normally require registration fees to participate but EVHRDC shouldered the cost of this training for its members. A total of sixty-seven participants joined the training with REC members of Samar State University (SSU) and Leyte Normal University (LNU) being given a chance to draft and update their existing SOPs and receive feedback from the resource speakers. SSU is waiting for the approval of its PHREB accreditation while LNU  is working on the documents for accreditation. Other participants who are members of their own institutional RECs were able to observe how to draft different SOPs. The consortium’s ERC also conducted a Lecture on Ethics in Health Research on August 19, 2022, via Zoom. Five members of the committee served as resource speakers and provided lectures to EVHRDC member institutions, potential members of institutional ethics review committees, and professional and student researchers in the region about the salient provisions of the EVHRDC-ERC’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and the importance of having an ethical clearance for research projects involving human participants. A total of forty-three participants joined this lecture. Before the year ended, another EVHRDC-sponsored training in collaboration with UPM-NIH was conducted on September 12-14, 2022 via Zoom. The Training Workshop on Responsible Conduct of Research was conducted to provide additional training to REC members and potential members and to further encourage member institutions to apply for PHREB accreditation. Seventy-two participants joined this training. Since the REC of Leyte Normal University was already working on their PHREB accreditation, an LNU-REC SOP Writing was held on December 05-08, 2022 at Sabin Resort Hotel, Ormoc City. The EVHRDC ERC Staff Secretary served as the resource speaker and provided a Discussion on REC and Staff Functions, highlighting the roles of the REC and staff in coding protocols, designing and developing protocol logbooks, databases, folders, agenda, and meeting minutes. 

The consortium also provided capacity-building activities to the researchers of Region VIII. A Research Proposal Enhancement Workshop was conducted on July 06-08, 2022 at Hotel Lorenza, Tacloban. The activity aimed to develop and improve capsule and full-blown proposals submitted to the consortium. Three proposals were enhanced as a result of this activity. Some researchers have challenges in the statistical analysis of their data and how to effectively present it. As an initiative, the consortium conducted Data Analytics and Statistics Training on July 18-19, 2022. A total of seventy-eight participants, which included researchers of completed and ongoing EVHRDC-funded projects, researchers with projects in the pipeline, and researchers with research projects for possible funding, joined the training. The participants learned and had hands-on experience with the different statistical methods available in JASP, which is a free multi-platform open-source statistical package developed and continually updated by researchers at the University of Amsterdam. The consortium, through its Research Management Committee (RMC), also conducted a Writeshop on the Finalization of Terminal Reports on November 28, 2022, via Zoom. The committee discussed in detail the approved Terminal Report format in order for researchers to provide the correct information on each of the parts of the report. The write-shop also served as a venue for researchers to present the results and findings of their studies to the RMC so that they can be assisted on how they will incorporate the data in their terminal reports. Four terminal reports were finalized wherein the committee approved two terminal reports and recommended revisions for the other two. 

Aside from providing training to the researchers of the region, EVHRDC, through the CBC, also ensured that the members of each committee attend continuing education training. Members of the consortium’s Research Utilization Committee (RUC) and the EVHRDC secretariat attended the training on Communicating Health R&D to the Public: News and Features on July 20, 2022, via Zoom. The RUC is responsible for disseminating relevant information from the consortium as well as developing a strategic research information dissemination plan for ongoing and completed health research through articles posted on the consortium’s website and social media accounts. The primary goal of this activity was to enhance the skills and knowledge of the RUC, consortium member institutions, and staff in writing news articles and features for publication. Meanwhile, EVHRDC’s Research Management Committee (RMC) reviews proposals submitted to the consortium and is responsible for monitoring ongoing EVHRDC-funded projects. The members attended an Orientation of DOST-GIA Guidelines in the Implementation of Health-Related Projects on July 21, 2022, via Zoom in order for them to revisit the guidelines of the allowable expenses/Line-Item Budget of proposals. The members of the consortium’s Ethics Review Committee also regularly attend training and general assemblies as part of their continuing education. Members joined the Continuing Ethics Education: Standard Operating Procedures for Research Ethics Committees on June 20-22, 2022, Practical Training for Research Ethics Committee Members and Staff on August 10, 2022, Principles of Health Research Ethics and Good Clinical Practice (Basic Course) on August 22-25, 2022, 8th PHREN General Assembly on October 07, 2022, and Advanced GCP and Ethics Training on November 02-04, 2022 aside from the EVHRDC-sponsored ethics training. Finally, the members of the CBC joined a lecture conducted by the Balik Scientist hosted by EVHRDC, Dr. June Bryan I. de la Peña, on December 07, 2022, via Zoom. The lecture was entitled, “Neuropharmacology: the next frontier for health research in Eastern Visayas”. As a result of the training, CBC members expressed the need for EVHRDC member institutions to have their own Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) in order to conduct neuroscience research. CBC will request assistance again from Dr. de la Peña for an orientation to member institutions about the IACUC. The CBC is hopeful that more natural science and biotechnological research will be conducted in the future, in addition to social science research, once member institutions will have their IACUC and through the establishment of a neuropharmacology laboratory in the Region, as proposed by Dr. de la Peña.