Research

Situating Emerging Science, Medicine, and Technology

Our research brings together diverse theoretical and methodological disciplinary expertise. Research topics have focused on the relational and material aspects of human and non-human encounters in the regulation of emerging therapeutic and food products (eg. GMOs), pharmaceuticals, biologics, and vaccines.

Research at TRRU extends far beyond our physical Canadian offices. We regularly conduct multi-sited ethnographic projects on global scale. Wherever our research interests may be, TRRU finds a way to be there too.

Fieldwork sites for our research include: 

  •        Clinical trial sites
  •        Pharmaceutical, biologic and vaccine manufacturers
  •        Agri-biotech laboratories
  •        Expert advisory committees
  •        Regulatory agencies
  •        Health technology assessment agencies
  •        Policy development and implementation settings
  •        Patient activists organizations
  •        Multilateral organizations
  •        Communities affected by products of bioscience

 

Recent Research Goals and Accomplishments

Currently, we are working several CIHR-funded projects, including Global Vaccine Logics, which seeks to garner a better understanding of the decision-making practices and experiences of all involved in the roll-out of the Ebola vaccine and clinical trials in West Africa.

Completed projects:

  •       Articulating Standards
  •       Constituting Commercialization 
  •       Risks & Regulation
  •       Vaccines of the 21st Century
  •       Immunizing Health Care Workers

 

Learn more about the TRRU’s funding sources.