Dr. Charles Weijer

Biography

Charles Weijer is a bioethicist and an internationally recognized expert in research ethics. His publications address duty of care, clinical research, and the ethical analysis of study benefits and harms, with a focus on empowering communities in research. Between 2008 and 2013, Dr. Weijer co-led a collaboration that produced international ethics guidelines for cluster randomized trials. From 2014 to 2018, he collaborated with Dr. Adrian Owen on a project exploring the ethics of functional neuroimaging in severe brain injury. He was the lead writer for the World Health Organization’s guidance titled “Ethical Considerations for Health Policy and Systems Research,” published in 2019, and in 2020, he served on the Working Group for guidance on human challenge studies in COVID-19. His current work explores the ethics of cluster randomized trials, focusing on the ethical challenges raised by stepped wedge crossover designs, particularly in low-resource settings, demonstrating a pragmatic approach to research ethics. He leads a team of 31 ethicists, biostatisticians, trialists, and patient partners across Africa, Europe, North America, and South America to update ethical guidance for cluster randomized trials. He is also involved in interdisciplinary research on the ethics of studies involving imminently dying patients and organ donation practices.

Research Interests

Experience