Sandrena Frischer

Uehiro Scholarship for Future Generations

Joining us from: United States
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DPhil Population Health (2022)

I am a social scientist and bioethicist in my third year at St Cross College at the University of Oxford, pursuing a DPhil in Population Health. My doctoral research uses empirical bioethics methodologies to understand and navigate practical ethical issues affecting care continuity during biomedical research on neglected diseases of poverty. These issues include challenges surrounding ancillary care for research participants, moral distress experienced by frontline research staff and local health workers, and the nature of research collaborations with public sector health systems in low-income settings. To collect empirical data for this research, I am embedded within a longitudinal clinical study on schistosomiasis – a neglected tropical disease transmitted through contact with contaminated water – based in rural Uganda. Through this work, I seek to describe the dimensions of bioethical issues relevant to this research context, and make an argument regarding how clinical studies can and should approach continuity of care for study participants during research on neglected diseases in low-income settings. The financial support I have received through the St Cross Uehiro Scholarship for Future Generations has been transformative by allowing me to focus entirely on my doctoral research and develop my skills in ethical analysis. I am deeply grateful to the Uehiro Foundation for this opportunity.