Thanks to high-profile cases in which criminals have been arrested based on the DNA profiles of relatives, the public may question aspects of research, such as why consent isn’t always required when tissue samples are collected, according to Heather Pierce, senior director for science policy and regulatory counsel for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

As institutions are preparing to implement the revised Common Rule, they also need to recognize and respond to the fact that the public is much more aware of certain aspects of research than in the past, said Pierce.

Delivering remarks at the start of the 2018 Advancing Ethical Research Conference, sponsored by Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R), Pierce stressed that public trust is essential to the research enterprise, and that it requires “more than ensuring good research is happening.”

“We need to reassess our current assumptions about what building and maintaining public trust will take,” she said, noting there’s a need to stretch “beyond making amends for past atrocities and inequities.”