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Our Approach

At IEPI, we view ethics as a powerful tool that can enable innovation to move smoothly along its lifecycle. Understanding the nuanced ways in which ethical, social, and cultural factors influence the development, implementation, and impact of new innovations requires an interdisciplinary approach. We are a team of scholars with expertise in philosophy, the social sciences, biomedical science, public health, and health policy. Our collaborative and interdisciplinary approach allows us to tackle a broad spectrum of issues across many geographies, as we work to advance equity, diversity, and social justice in global health.

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At IEPI, we examine issues holistically through an ethics lens, considering the full social and cultural contexts — an approach we refer to as ESC thinking. We partner with experts globally and we ensure that local perspectives are foundational to our work.

Ethical, social, and cultural challenges are complex, nuanced, sensitive, and often controversial. Failure to attend to these dimensions can result in crucial programs being delayed or even derailed. These challenges can include:

  • The nature of the innovation itself, which may be controversial
  • Divergent views of various communities and stakeholders, who may have conflicting values and interests
  • The socio-political and regulatory environments, which may be unprepared to support the development, testing, introduction, and adoption of novel technologies and interventions

IEPI is internationally recognized as a trusted advisor, engaging in ethics and policy discourse in a thoughtful, inclusive manner, and often serving as a neutral broker of dialogue among stakeholders.

We operate on a demand-driven consultation model to provide researchers, funders, sponsors, policymakers, and others with immediate, real-world solutions to navigate the ethical and policy challenges that impact their work across the innovation lifecycle.

We proactively identify ethical, social, and cultural (ESC) considerations and look for enablers along the critical path to support the development and implementation of potentially life-saving technologies and interventions. We use interdisciplinary research methods to understand problems and develop practical solutions through conceptual and qualitative analyses, as well as landscape, systematic, and policy reviews.