Human Experimentation: From Tuskegee 1932 to Today (April 27, 2005)

Abstract

Mary Starke Harper, Ph.D., R.N., was a student nurse during the federally-funded study of untreated syphilis among African American men in Tuskegee, Alabama. When she spoke about the history of human experimentation at the University of Virginia, Newcomb Hall Theater in Charlottesville, VA on April 27, 2005, Dr. Harper was 85-years-old and was the only surviving health care member from the Syphilis Study. She spent her long career in the federal government assisting in efforts to create more ethical practice for research using human participants. An expert in mental health and long-term care, Dr. Harper served as a consultant and grant reviewer, advised U.S. presidents and testified before Congress. In her presentation, Dr. Harper reviews regulations and guidelines governing research using human participants. She also speaks about the importance of being involved in research and the myopic view of science in long overlooking women, minorities, and older persons in research and failing to include them in research clinical trials. If people don't participate in research because of mistrust of the medical profession or because science overlooks certain groups of people, research findings will be less broadly useful because its findings certainly can't be said to apply to persons who not part of clinical trials. Dr. Harper spoke at the end of a day-long visit to the University of Virginia and after receiving chemotherapy the day before for the cancer from which she died recently. Despite these facts, a great deal of her wit and passion for research shine through. See the UVA press release at http://www.virginia.edu/ uvanewsmakers/newsmakers/starkeharper.html and the transcript of "Witness to History" interview with her at http://library.advanced.org/10120/treasury/ harper.html. The program is available in streaming video http://researchchannel.org/prog/displayevent.aspx?rID=4000