Research
Faculty
with full or part-time appointments in the Division have conducted research
in end-of-life care issues, ethical decision-making, privacy and confidentiality,
legal and ethical issues in HIV/AIDS policy development, AIDS and public health,
public health law reform, the history of the Farm Services Administration
health services, and human rights, among other topics. Listed below are recent
research projects.
Advance Care Planning
This pilot study introduces second-year medical students and their community-based physician preceptors to an efficient and effective method for approaching advance care planning (ACP) for patients in the primary care office setting. Students and physicians speak with their patients about advanced care planning and explain the use of a proxy and living will. The program focuses on dissemination of advanced directives and advance care planning to patients in Connecticut via medical students and their primary care physician preceptors. Barbara Blechner, M.Ed., J.D. is the principal on this study. Read more about this project on the Connecticut Health web site
Human Subject Protection As Regulation: A Comparative, Empirical View
Since 1991, most of the studies conducted on human subjects in U.S. research institutions have been regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services under Title 45, Part 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations, known as The Common Rule. Although the goal of protecting human research subjects is unquestionably valid, it is not clear that the regulatory approach codified in The Common Rule is the most sensible or effective option. This project will redefine the issues and propose effective and efficient regulation. Using implementation and socio-legal research methods, the investigators will consider how successfully the Rule works and how alternative approaches would provide improvement. They will examine the current system: the problem of harm and abuse in research, the costs and benefits of institutional review boards, and tools such as informed consent. In exploring alternatives, the investigators will consider other models of risk assessment and regulation as well as human subject protection systems in other countries. Scott Burris, JD (Temple Law School) is the PI and Zita Lazzarini, JD, MPH is Co-PI for this study.
Influence of Criminal Laws on HIV Sexual Risk Behavior
This project examines how and to what extent laws influence sexual behavior among people with and at risk for HIV. The goal of the project is to identify effective legal measures to reduce HIV transmission and avoid those that are ineffective, promote abuse, or decrease cooperation with health promotion-disease prevention goals. The main components of the project include: 1) a 50 state survey of HIV-specific criminal transmission laws, sexually-transmitted disease (STD) criminal transmission laws, sodomy laws, prostitution laws, enforcement data, and direct and indirect data on HIV risk behaviors and 2) a survey of people with or at risk of HIV infection in two cities with differing laws. The project is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The principal investigator is Zita Lazzarini, JD, MPH and Scott Burris, JD (Temple Law School) is the Co-PI. Visit the project web site at www.hivcriminallaw.org.
Rapid Assessment of Drug Law and Policy in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
This study uses a new rapid policy assessment and response (RPAR) process to respond to legal structural barriers to HIV prevention among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Central and Eastern Europe. This five year project is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The principal investigator is Zita Lazzarini, JD, MPH and Scott Burris, JD (Temple Law School) and Patricia Case, ScD, MPH (Harvard Medical School) are the Co-PI's.
Updated: November 14, 2003