Barbara McGillivray

Chair, Health Canada-PHAC Research Ethics Board, Department of Medical Genetics, BC Women’s Health Centre

Dr. McGillivray was a professor and clinical geneticist in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. Dr. McGillivray’s research interests include inherited cancers (breast, ovarian and colon cancer), clinical genetics, and prenatal diagnosis. She has been involved for many years in the field of ethics of research involving humans. She was a member of the Tri-Council Working Group for the Code of Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, a member of the Standing Committee on Ethics of Medical Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She is also an experienced REB Chair, and has been on both biomedical and social science REBs. Dr. McGillivray was a council member of National Council on Ethics in Human Research for several years, and continues as a member of the Evaluation Committee. She has participated in many site visits to evaluate research ethics boards and most recently, in a series of visits to evaluate the CIHR Guidelines for Health Research involving Aboriginal Peoples.

All Sessions by Barbara McGillivray

  • Thursday April 2nd


  • 14:00  - 15:00
    The 2016 Alberta wildfires, which destroyed entire neighbourhoods of urban Fort McMurray, and the 2013 Lac-Mégantic, Québec train derailment and explosion illustrate that Canadian communities are not immune to environmental public health (EPH) disasters. Disasters expose the population, responders and volunteers to a range of contaminants and stressors, which may harm physical and mental health. Public health authorities who responded to these and other incidents have repeatedly expressed the need for better integration of scientific assets and methodologies to better inform both emergency response and recovery. EPH disasters typically offer a brief window of time to collect ephemeral exposure data and biospecimens and to start scientific research that could improve both health outcomes and capabilities for future response, yet proactive approaches to enable a rapid response are generally lacking. The pan-Canadian Disaster Research Response Initiative (CanDR2) was created to enhance the integration of EPH expertise and research into disaster response and recovery. This session will highlight the work of the CanDR2 Network, with a particular focus on the development of tools to streamline REB review of disaster response research. Specifically, development of a generic protocol for disaster-related research will be discussed, based on the “RAPIDD” protocol created by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences from the US National Institutes of Health. To expedite the review process in the event of an EPH disaster and to minimize delays in starting disaster response research, REBs would be encouraged to pre-approve this protocol, and at the time of a disaster, researchers would simply amend the protocol as appropriate and seek REB approval for the amendment. This session will explore the ethical considerations of this approach (and of disaster response research more broadly) and discuss the practical implications of adopting and implementing this protocol across the country. Keywords: wildfires, disaster response, CANDR2
    Breakout Sessions
    Where
    Mulligan




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Barbara McGillivray
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