Project TRES - Training in Research Ethics and Standards
Project TRES was established at San Diego State University in 2002 with a primary purpose to develop
educational materials on ethical practices in human research protections. The initial focus was to
develop a curriculum for Community Health Workers (CHWs)/Promotores who serve as research liaisons
for public health research conducted in Latino communities. CHWs/Promotores tend to be monolingual
Spanish speakers with limited formal training in ethical principles/practices associated with human
research. We have worked closely with investigators and project managers who conduct community-based
research to develop educational materials on ethical and responsible research practices.
The tutorial is available in PDF format and as a web-based tutorial
(see links at the bottom of this page).
Curriculum Content:
The curriculum,
Training in Research Ethics and Standards: A Self-study Guide for Promotores
(English,
Spanish) was developed using input obtained from focus groups with investigators
and project managers to identify content to include in the training manual. Likewise,
CHWs/Promotores were asked to provide feedback about cultural relevance, appropriate terminology,
realistic examples, overall language use and organization of content. With support from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), Project TRES now offers a culturally tailored, content-appropriate,
Spanish-translated research ethics curriculum for CHWs/Promotores.
The curriculum is guided by three core ethical principles presented in the Belmont Report:
Respect for Persons, Beneficence and Justice. Training in Research Ethics and Standards: A Self-study
Guide for Promotores, contains three sessions addressing:
- The purpose of research and the responsibilities of those involved in research (e.g., government, institution, IRB, investigators, and the research team - including CHWs/Promotores).
- Understanding risks and benefits and importance of protecting confidentiality.
- The components of the informed consent process: recruitment, enrollment and participation.
Special Features:
- Assessment tools to evaluate change in the trainees understanding of the concepts presented in the curriculum.
- Culturally relevant examples illustrating realistic ethical dilemmas when conducting research with Latino communities.
- Available in web-based or hard copy format for use as either a stand-alone, directed self-study training or in conjunction with group training.
TRES-Training in Research Ethics and Standards was funded by the National Institutes of Health
(NIH/NHLBI T15 HLO72440). Principal Investigator: Camille Nebeker, MS, Director of the Division
of Research Affairs, San Diego State University; Co-Principal Investigators: John P. Elder and
Gregory Talavera, Graduate School of Public Health, and; Michael Kalichman, Director, Research
Ethics Program, University of California San Diego. Please direct questions to Camille Nebeker by
email at nebeker@mail.sdsu.edu.
TRES Instructor's Guide
Project TRES Website / web-based tutorial