DRPM held a Working Meeting to Initiate the Formation of the UB Research Ethics Commission (KEP) Team

The Ethics Commission is responsible for providing Ethical Clearance (EC) or ethical feasibility for research involving living creatures. This approval indicates that the research can proceed after meeting specific requirements, ensuring that it is conducted with integrity and ethics, and guarantees the safety of all living creatures involved. To achieve this, the formation of the UB Research Ethics Commission (KEP) is necessary. To initiate the establishment of KEP UB, the Directorate of Research and Community Service (DRPM) UB held a Working Meeting on Preparing Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) and Documents for the Brawijaya University Research Ethics Commission on May 27th and 28th, 2024. This event was attended by the ethics commission initiation team and the sub-commission coordinators.
The activity included presentations, discussions, and the preparation and discussion of documents in working groups. Prof. Dodi Wirawan Irawanto, S.E., M.Com., Ph.D, as the team leader, expressed the hope that the results of this activity would enrich the governance of the ethics commission team. Additionally, the Director of DRPM UB, Prof. Luchman Hakim, S.Sc., M.Agr.Sc., Ph.D, emphasized the importance of SOP in preventing impropriety in research and maintaining research quality while adhering to basic research ethics.
During the event, Dr. Bagus Putu Putra Suryana, Sp.PD(K), Chair of the Health Research Ethics Commission (KEPK) of the UB Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Dr. Dr. Diadjeng Setya Wardani, S.Si.T., M.Kes., Secretary of KEPK FK UB, Prof. Dr. Dr. Teguh Wahju Sardjono, DTM&H., M.Sc., Sp. Park, a member of KEPK FK UB, and Prof. Dodi Wirawan Irawanto, S.E., M.Com., Ph.D shared their insights.
Prof. Teguh emphasized the importance of the ethics commission in ensuring compliance with rules and regulations, and Dr. Putra explained the importance of ethical considerations in research involving human subjects and experimental animals. The SOP document review was conducted in three sub-commission groups: the Social Sub-Commission, the Medical and Health Sciences Sub-Commission, and the Basic Research and Technology Sub-Commission. The activity concluded with a plenary meeting to discuss the revised documents.
As the speaker in this discussion, Dr. Bagus Putu Putra Suryana, Sp.PD(K) also acted as Chair of the Health Research Ethics Commission (KEPK) of the UB Faculty of Medicine; Dr. Diadjeng Setya Wardani, S.Si.T., M.Kes. as secretary of KEPK FK UB; Prof. Dr. Dr. Teguh Wahju Sardjono, DTM&H., M.Sc., Sp.Park as a member of KEPK FK UB; and Prof. Dodi Wirawan Irawanto, S.E., M.Com., Ph.D. as Secretary of DRPM and head of the KEP UB initiation team.
In his material entitled Sharing the Ethics Commission, “How important is it”? Prof. Teguh conveyed the importance of the ethics commission as a guarantor that implementers comply with applicable rules and regulations, protect and are subjective to Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) or Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications, and guarantee that activities pass ethical tests. In the field of social sciences, Prof. Dodi explained the ethical risks involved in social humanities research, namely the disruption of privacy and the emergence of discomfort due to not conforming to norms or hierarchical/social structures. More specifically, in research using human subjects and experimental animals, Dr. Putra explains in his material entitled “Research Ethics in Animal and Human Study” that the purpose of using experimental animals is that not all treatments can be applied to humans. Meanwhile, research with human subjects is specifically for clinical research. In her presentation, Dr. Diadjeng said, “From this meeting, it is expected that there will be a SOP that can be used as a guide for the ethics commission in the future, such as when the SOP will officially come into effect, and whether there needs to be continuous revision.”
As the speaker in this discussion, Dr. Bagus Putu Putra Suryana, Sp.PD(K) also acted as Chair of the Health Research Ethics Commission (KEPK) of the UB Faculty of Medicine; Dr. Diadjeng Setya Wardani, S.Si.T., M.Kes. as secretary of KEPK FK UB; Prof. Dr. Dr. Teguh Wahju Sardjono, DTM&H., M.Sc., Sp.Park as a member of KEPK FK UB; and Prof. Dodi Wirawan Irawanto, S.E., M.Com., Ph.D. as Secretary of DRPM and head of the KEP UB initiation team.
The SOP documents were reviewed by 3 Sub-Commission groups, namely the Social Sub-Commission, the Medical and Health Sciences Sub-Commission, and the Basic Research and Technology Sub-Commission. The activity ended with a plenary meeting to discuss the work results and agreements on several revised documents.