Personal data. We walk around emitting little streams of it, from our browsing history and smartphone apps to our credit card purchases. Most of the time we don’t even think about it — it’s become as a natural and invisible a process as shedding skin cells. Meanwhile, various entities are out there hoovering up all Read More…
Tag: informed consent
Reflections on the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
In October, my graduate program hosted a public screening of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” followed by an expert panel discussion. For those unfamiliar with Rebecca Skloot’s book and the story of HeLa cells, I highly recommend these two Radiolab episodes as background. Briefly, Lacks was an African-American woman diagnosed with cervical cancer in Read More…
My current dilemma as a research participant
The Background In 2008 I enrolled in a study run by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The study team came to the human genetics research center at Duke University where I was working at the time, so it was easy to sign up (and good strategizing on their part to recruit other Read More…
Swipe right if you’re interested in research
Smartphones are pretty amazing, even my dinky little iPhone 5c with only 8 GB storage. In many ways they are extensions of our physical, mental, and emotional selves. Because our phones are typically either on our personage or within arm’s reach, they can track our movements and activity. This capability has made phones incredibly useful Read More…