When is it appropriate to return individual research results to participants? The immense interest in this question has been fostered by the growing movement toward greater transparency and participant engagement in the research enterprise. Yet, the risks of returning individual research results?such as results with unknown validity?and the associated burdens on the research enterprise are competing considerations.


Returning Individual Research Results to Participants reviews the current evidence on the benefits, harms, and costs of returning individual research results, while also considering the ethical, social, operational, and regulatory aspects of the practice. This report includes 12 recommendations directed to various stakeholders?investigators, sponsors, research institutions, institutional review boards (IRBs), regulators, and participants?and are designed to help (1) support decision making regarding the return of results on a study-by-study basis, (2) promote high-quality individual research results, (3) foster participant understanding of individual research results, and (4) revise and harmonize current regulations.


Table of Contents


Front Matter
Summary
1 Introduction
2 Principles for the Return of Individual Research Results: Ethical
and Societal Considerations
3 Laboratory Quality Systems for Research Testing of Human
Biospecimens
4 Processes to Enable Appropriate Decision Making Regarding the
Return of Individual Research Results
5 Advancing Practices for Returning Individual Research Results
6 Reshaping the Legal and Regulatory Landscape to Support Return of
Individual Research Results
Appendix A: Study Approach and Methods
Appendix B: Public Agendas
Appendix C: Analysis of Legal and Regulatory Landscape Relevant to
Return of Individual Results Generated from Biospecimens in
Research
Appendix D: The Return of Individual-Specific Research Results from
Laboratories: Perspectives and Ethical Underpinnings
Appendix E: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members,
Consultants, and Staff