Data sharing has the potential to increase scientific efficiency by maximising the availability and utility of data, and can be critical to generating knowledge during a public health emergency. Research funders and journals are increasingly promoting open sharing to improve the transparency and utility of research, with the ultimate aim of improving health. However, the research community are also concerned about the harms of data sharing, such as the potential to exacerbate existing inequalities, particularly if data sharing benefits only researchers from well-resourced institutions, leaving researchers in low-resourced settings worse off.

The 2018 Global Forum on Bioethics in Research (GFBR) meeting focused on this important topic. This PHEPREN and GFBR seminar will examine the GFBR meeting conclusions in the context of the current COVID-19 research response, where the pandemic has created more tension to the issues. We will explore how research practice and policy has progressed since this topic was discussed at GFBR, and what has changed – and should change – in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chair: Robert Terry, TDR, Switzerland

Panel:

• Phaik Yeong Cheah, University of Oxford, Thailand
• Gloria Mason, National Research Ethics Board, Liberia
• Dr Oommen John, The George Institute for Global Health, India

Seminar attendees are invited to submit questions in advance of the seminar when they register or by email, or during the live discussion. The seminar is not presentation based, but is discussion based so participants are encouraged to read the report in advance.