L. UI Staff or research team members as subjects

Potential subjects must be able to decide whether or not to participate in a study free from coercion or undue influence.  Individuals who are subordinates of the PI or a research team member may not feel entirely free to decline or refuse participation because of their relationship with the PI or research team member.  The recruitment of UI staff as research subjects should be undertaken with caution.  It is important that supervisors in research settings refrain from recruiting or enrolling their own employees and staff to participate in their research.  There can be inherent coercion in these situations and so should be avoided.

 There are limited instances when it may be appropriate to enroll persons who are subordinates of the PI or research team member.  These are primarily treatment studies for which the exclusion of these persons might restrict them from receiving medical treatments that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

In other cases it may be acceptable to enroll subordinates of the PI or a research team member if someone other than the supervisor conducts the recruitment and consent processes and/or if the supervisor is blinded to whether or not the subordinate participates in the study.  The enrollment of subordinates should be approved by the IRB and precautions should be described in the HawkIRB application.