TRREE (Training and Resources in Research Ethics Evaluation) high quality, free and open-access training in research ethics and regulation for investigators and research ethics committees’ members together with easy and direct access to national laws and regulations in health-related research involving human participants. TRREE has launched a complete revision of the first three training modules (introduction to research ethics, research ethics evaluation, and informed consent). The content has been adapted to the latest developments in research ethics with new examples and new evaluation questions. There are also three new languages available: Armenian, Spanish and Swahili (to complement the English, French, German, Polish and Portuguese versions that are already available). Offering access to high-quality training in the mother tongue of all stakeholders is essential. It is not only a matter of training the research staff, who do not always speak English, but also to offer potential participants and their communities a chance to learn more about ethical research.

The changes on TRREE are only the first step in the complete updating and upgrading of the training modules and national modules. The next one will be in Spring 2024 when the national supplements, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania (to name only concerned African countries), will be updated and upgraded with new features allowing easier access to the laws and regulation, as well as their comparison in multiple languages.

TRREE started in 2006 with a grant from the first EDCTP programme led by researchers from Cameroon, Canada, Mali, Switzerland and Tanzania. The first training modules and four national supplements were launched in 2009 in three languages, including English and French. Thanks to additional support from EDCTP, it was followed by many new countries and new training modules, including good clinical practice (GCP), in more languages, including Portuguese and Chinese. The latest EDCTP grant was in 2019 as part of the project, “Strengthening National Ethics Committees in West and Central Francophone Africa (SNECFA)”.

Read the full announcement from the TRREE team.