Director, Office of Human Research Studies
Research Associate Professor of Social Medicine and Pediatrics
School of Medicine
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
dnelson@med.unc.edu
Professor Nelson spent nearly 20 years conducting biomedical
research, with a focus on gastrointestinal function in health and
disease. He previously held faculty appointments at the Mayo Clinic,
and the University of Rochester, where he was Director of Research
in a clinical gastroenterology unit and chair of a hospital Institutional
Review Board. His move to the University of North Carolina in 1998,
represents a full-time commitment to research ethics.
Through his position as Director of the Office of Human Research
Studies, Nelson's primary duties revolve around protection of human
research subjects. This office oversees all medical research at
UNC, supporting and guiding the work of the Institutional Review
Board (IRB). The Department of Social Medicine provides a home base
for Nelson's academic work, including teaching and research. He
is currently co-investigator on an NIH-sponsored study of ethical
issues in gene transfer research, and another on decision-making
by minors as it relates to research participation. Other scholarly
interests include informed consent, conflicts of interest in clinical
trials, and cross-cultural issues. At both practical and conceptual
levels, Nelson's work seeks to bridge the gap between the philosophical
aspirations of ethics and the realities of clinical research, with
the aim of facilitating research that is soundly and ethically performed.
On the national level Nelson is an officer of the Applied Research
Ethics National Association, a founding member of the Council for
Certification of IRB Professionals, and a liaison to the president's
National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Nelson frequently serves
as a consultant to IRBs and as a speaker on topics relating to research
ethics and human subjects protection.
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