Abstract

The increase in the volume of health-related research in AfricaAfrica has not everywhere been accompanied by improvements in research oversight systems related to biomedical and health services research, including the strengthening of institutional review boards Institutional Review Boards and national regulatory oversight institutions. Critical to such oversight are not only competencies in ethics for the review of clinical trialsClinical trial, but also competencies in diverse research methods, statistical analyses and project implementation. In LiberiaLiberia, there are recognized weaknesses in the existing infrastructure and capacity to regulate and monitor clinical research based on ethical institutional regulations and guidance for the protection of human research participantsResearch participants. During the height of the Ebola virus disease surge in Liberia in 2014, there was a fragile national regulatoryRegulatory approval framework to oversee research. Some researchers took undue advantage of this gap to conduct unethical research.