G01 - Are the Ways We Contemplate Risk Outdated?

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Fifty years in, are our approaches to assessing research risks outdated? Traditionally, we focus on individual and physical risks, and our regulatory systems are built around this perspective. However, as our awareness of science’s broader social responsibilities grows, legislative and regulatory progress struggles to keep pace. This leaves oversight committees frustrated by their inability to address modern risks. Consequently, we must re-examine how oversight bodies engage with evolving notions of harm—whether through IRBs in primary research or Data Access Committees in secondary research. In more open scientific models, traditional methods of evaluating harm fall short. In this session, we'll explore how oversight bodies can more meaningfully engage with risk evaluations to better reflect current, socially-informed definitions of harm.