The summer of 2014 was marked by the humanitarian crisis caused by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In emergency situations like these, it is well known that humanitarian aid workers face numerous ethical dilemmas. Is this also true for researchers involved? We know very little at the moment. Yet, at the same time they must make decisions that could have tremendous impact on vulnerable populations. It is this lack of focus on the moral and ethical experience of these researchers that the laureate is trying to change.
Unlike emergency physicians, for example, the majority of researchers are not prepared to manage this type of pressure. To date, few empirical studies have sought to understand the perspective of researchers working in crisis situations and needing to make agonizing decisions. This is why Renaud Boulanger has made this the subject of his Master’s thesis in bioethics, which he began in 2012 at McGill.
Related coverage
Le Devoir (in French)
October 7, 2014