Medical journal editor to talk tough on conflict of interest in medical research
ANN ARBOR, MI â€" When it comes to speaking out about conflict of interest in medical research, Catherine DeAngelis, M.D., is not known for taking the soft approach. An outspoken advocate for compelling medical researchers to disclose all outside funding that may create conflict of interest, DeAngelis has tightened up controls at the Journal of the American Medical Association, where she serves as editor-in-chief, when authors’ conflicts of interest has been unmasked after publication.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Oct. 27 public lecture features Catherine DeAngelis, M.D., editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association
ANN ARBOR, MI – When it comes to speaking out about conflict of interest in medical research, Catherine DeAngelis, M.D., is not known for taking the soft approach. An outspoken advocate for compelling medical researchers to disclose all outside funding that may create conflict of interest, DeAngelis has tightened up controls at the Journal of the American Medical Association, where she serves as editor-in-chief, when authors’ conflicts of interest has been unmasked after publication.
DeAngelis will address conflict of interest in medical research when she delivers the Center for the History of Medicine’s Horace W. Davenport Lecture in the Medical Humanities at 3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 27, at the University of Michigan Health System.
The lecture, entitled “Conflicts of Interest in Medical Research: Facts and Friction,” is the sixth in the annual Davenport Lecture series. It is free and open to the public, in the MCHC Auditorium, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive. For more information, call ( 734 ) 647-6914.
The New York Times says if Tony Soprano were being treated by DeAngelis, he would have been scared straight long ago. The first woman to edit the prestigious 123-year-old journal commonly known as JAMA, she has survived kidnapping by Chechen rebels and being hit by a runaway bus, and has been a strong champion for women faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Most recently, DeAngelis has faced accusations of sloppiness at JAMA, where several authors’ articles have failed to make important disclosures. In one case, authors publishing a study on antidepressants and pregnancy failed to disclose fees and funding from pharmaceutical companies. In another, authors linking women’s migraines with heart disease did not disclose a link to companies making painkillers.
In response, she points out the many editorial controls she has implemented at the journal. Still, with 6,000 submissions annually that average six authors each, she simply cannot check each and every researcher.
For the Davenport Lecture, DeAngelis, who has more than 30 years of experience in the peer review process as an author, reviewer and editor, will discuss the challenges and rewards of her editorial experiences, and the obstacles present in trying to prevent conflict of interest in medical research. She will conclude her lecture by taking questions from the audience.
DeAngelis is editor-in-chief of JAMA and professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Before her appointment with JAMA, she was vice dean for academic affairs and faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. From 1994-2000, DeAngelis was editor of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Most of her recent publications have focused on conflicts of interest in medicine, on women in medicine, and on medical education.
The Davenport lectureship is named for the late Horace W. Davenport, Ph.D., who died in August 2005 at age 92. He was chair of the U-M Department of Physiology for 22 years, from 1956 to 1978. Davenport was one of the world's preeminent gastric physiologists. His landmark studies led to the discovery of the stomach's barrier to injury. After retiring from active faculty status in 1983, Davenport continued his longtime interest in the history of physiology and medicine, devoting himself intensively to it as his major scholarly activity.
The annual Davenport Lecture is sponsored by the U-M Center for the History of Medicine. This year’s co-sponsors are the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, the Science, Technology and Society Program and the Medical School Office of the Dean.
Written by Mary Beth Reilly
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