Project Title: Ethically and socially responsible governance of research biobanks in Latvia: analysis of opinions of public, donors and researchers

Project No: lzp-2018/2-0171

Period: 1st December 2018 – 30 November 2020

Project costs: 200 000 EUR

Principle Investigator: Assoc. prof., Dr.sc.soc. Signe Mežinska (LU)

Collaboration: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre

Summary

The overall aim of the project is to contribute to ethically and socially responsible governance of research biobanks in Latvia by analysing attitudes, concerns, and needs of the general public, donors and researchers.   Objectives: 1) to study the public’s attitudes, concerns and trust in biobanking;  2) to study biobank donors’ attitudes, concerns and trust in biobanking; 3) to study researchers’ attitudes, concerns and needs in the collaboration with research biobanks; 4) to analyse how the concerns and needs raised by the public, donors and researchers can be adequately dealt by the normative framework; 5) to improve research biobank governance and drive public policy decisions by developing written recommendations based on the results of the study; 6) to improve the knowledge culture in the field of biobanking by encouraging the transformation of the relation between the scientific community and society and co-production of knowledge.