Pro-active Pandemic Crisis Ethics and Integrity Framework

The overall goal of the PREPARED project is to develop an operational ethics and integrity framework, which safeguards key ethical values, supports a rapid and effective research response to crises and improves overall pandemic preparedness. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen outlined plans to cope with "an era of pandemics" by developing "Europe-wide fast-reaction system designed to respond more quickly to emerging medical threats". Fast reaction systems, including accelerated research, are likely to face significant ethics and integrity challenges. The PREPARED project will create an international network of research funders (private and public), researchers, policy makers, publishers and citizens (a) to identify, analyse and validate the emergent research ethics and integrity challenges in the context of sudden, unexpected and global crisis, (b) to facilitate bottom-up, solution-focused, participatory dialogue, (c) to develop a values-based framework for research ethics and integrity in a global crisis which supports rapid and effective decision-making whilst maintaining scientific reliability and avoiding short-cuts in the protection of research participants, (d) to propose policy options at the EU level and tailored support for relevant stakeholders in the form of operational guidelines and short complements to existing codes and (e) to achieve influential strategic engagement through high-level synergy building and the provision of engaging training material to ensure uptake of the project's outputs so as to improve overall preparedness for global crises. Given that this is a Coordination and Support Action, the high-level consortium consists to 35% of research institutions (given that this is a CSA) and to 65% of organisations which can significantly contribute to and then leverage results (e.g. WHO, UNESCO, EDCTP).