The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), are pleased to announce new appointments to the membership of the Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics (PRE). The appointments will take effect over the next years beginning in November 2005.

As of November 2005

• Dr. James Lavery (Ontario, Centre for Research on Inner City Health, and Centre for Global Health Research St. Michael's Hospital, and Department of Public Health Sciences and Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto)
• Dr. Patrick O'Neill (Nova Scotia, Canadian Council of Departments of Psychology)

As of November 2006

• Dr. Laurie Chan (Quebec, Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment, McGill University)
• Dr. James S. Frideres (Alberta, Department of Sociology, and International Indigenous Studies, University of Calgary)

As of April 2007

• Timothy Caulfield (Alberta, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and Health Law Institute, University of Alberta)

The new members complement and strengthen PRE’s interdisciplinary expertise, diversity and perspectives. PRE is a committee of 12 members drawn from across the country to represent a wide spectrum of disciplines and experience in the ethics of human research. Current members are from such backgrounds as research involving Aboriginal peoples, ethics, anthropology, research administration, sociology, political science, medicine, clinical research, paediatrics, psychology, physics, engineering, and law, as well as community and/or research participants. Biographical information on current members can be found on PRE's website at http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/english/aboutus/panelmembers.cfm.

Refinements to the terms of appointments and the recent extension to PRE’s term of mandate are reflected in revised terms of reference at http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/english/aboutus/termsofreference.cfm

The Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics and the Secretariat on Research Ethics are part of the advisory structure created by CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC, to advance the evolution, interpretation and use of their joint policy, the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS).