Working Group Chair, Colin Soskolne (email) (former Chair; Expert Advisor)

INEP, being the international policy voice for epidemiological societies, recognizes that vexing issues of conflicting interests and disclosure exist in the daily work of epidemiologists and other related public health researchers and practitioners. As public health professionals, we see this as a significant challenge that we need to address.

The focus by epidemiologists on conflict-of-interest (COI) and disclosure is not new. Indeed, concerns about COI and Disclosure (COI&D) have been addressed by a number of our professional organizations. For instance, the American Public Health Association (APHA), the American College of Epidemiology (ACE), the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CSEB), and the International Epidemiological Association (IEA) either have COI guidelines, or they have begun to develop such guidelines to help inform their members in order that they may successfully avoid COI pitfalls.

More recent efforts on the development of COI guidelines were driven by the need for our member societies to determine guidelines for disclosure while INEP was developing its 2012 Position Statement on Asbestos. At that time (2011–2012), our member societies depended on inconsistent and unclear policies to address the challenges related to COI and disclosure. This variation is illustrative of the need for INEP to take a proactive approach in developing a Position Statement on Conflict-of-Interest and Disclosure with proposed policies, disclosure guidelines and templates that could be either adopted or adapted by interested member societies.

INEP is taking the proactive step of addressing the issue of COI&D, not only to help us as professionals to understand and navigate our way through COI&D questions, but also to maintain the trust of the public, as well as of our federal, state/provincial, and international governing bodies. We are working to maintain our professional credibility so that our voices on policy matters will continue to be respected, embraced and valued.

The need for epidemiologists to be reminded of their mission (i.e., to protect the public interest over any other interest) gains focus through several examples that have recently entered the public domain. We bring this topic forward to encourage discussion with a view to thoughtful consideration about what, if anything, we should, can and/or need to do in order to conform to ethical norms that will advance epidemiology at the research-policy interface.

INEP PUBLICATIONS and KEY WORKING DOCUMENTS:

INEP Position Statement: Conflict-of-Interest and Disclosure in Epidemiology, Adopted 16 September 2020, Publicly Released 05 Jan 2021 (rev 17 Mar 2021).

IJPC-SE Working Group (WG) on Conflict-of-Interest and Disclosure [COI&D] (2015)

RELATED MATERIALS:

25 February 2021 - Colin L. Soskolne in collaboration with Jane C. Caldwell delivered a webinar, INEP's Position Statement on Conflict-of-Interest and Disclosure in Epidemiology, to the Science Response Network, University of California, San Francisco, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment. ZOOM WEBINAR SLIDES (PDF).

26 January 2021 - ETHICS & PHILOSOPHY COMMITTEE, INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY (ISEE) INEP Position Statement: CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND DISCLOSURE IN EPIDEMIOLOGY, COLIN L. SOSKOLNE, PhD, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, EDMONTON, CANADA, and JANE C. CALDWELL, PhD, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (RETIRED), DURHAM NC, USA, ZOOM WEBINAR SLIDES (PDF).

31 January 2021 - A Zoom webinar delivered by Colin L. Soskolne and Jane C. Caldwell entitled INEP Position Statement: Conflict-of-Interest and Disclosure in Epidemiology was delivered as a charitable initiative on the Joline Young Heritage Consultancy web platform on January 31, 2021 to a general audience. This presentation was offered also in support of the PHA Farmworkers Kitchen in the Western Cape, South Africa. Two questions are addressed: How is it that public health policy remains under siege? How can public health be better protected through the improved management of Conflict-of-Interest and Disclosure in Epidemiology? [50 slides; 60 minutes; plus 30 minutes of Q&A]. For those interested in a recording of this ZOOM webinar, please see here. The recording is 1 hour and 41 minutes in duration. The lecture portion is the first 50 minutes; the remainder is a 51-minute interactive Q&A session. Please see also, ZOOM WEBINAR SLIDES (PDF).

RELATED READINGS:

Kathleen Ruff (INEP Expert Advisor) published, Scientific journals and conflict of interest disclosure: what progress has been made? in Environmental Health. The article made it to the top 10 of 2015 articles read in Environmental Health.

Colin Soskolne published, Addressing the problem of COI and moneyed influence in public health, in "The Role of Integrity in the Governance of the Commons: Governance, Ecology, Law, Ethics" (Editors: Westra, L., Gray, J., and Gottwald, F-T.) by Springer International Publishing AG 2017; pp.205-213.

Soskolne CL, Al-Delaimy WK, Burns K, Finch MR, Gaudino JA Jr, Lanphear B, Oremus M, Phillips L, Ruff K, Weiss SH, Wing S. Letter in response to the BMJ Editorial, Medical journals and industry ties, November 28, 2014, published on-line as a "rapid response" on December 13, 2014.

Sim FM, Davis A, Franco E, Lanphear B, Phillips L, Soskolne CL, Letter in response to the BMJ Editorial, Medical journals and industry ties, November 28, 2014, published on-line as a "rapid response" on 11 January 2015.