A total of 240 men and women who are involved in biomedical research undertook training courses in four different regions in the Kingdom, the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) announced here on Thursday.

A KACST official said the program, held in Al-Jouf, Dammam, Riyadh and Abha, was conducted by the National Committee of Medical and Bioethics.

He said the purpose of the program was to shed light on systems and regulations and to explain the mechanisms and procedures to be followed during the submission of research proposals.

The program explained the mechanisms and steps to be followed during the evaluation and follow-up research proposals, in addition to the responsibilities of the local committee and responsibilities of the researcher, he said. The program included several lectures focused on the committee’s role and functions and the role and functions of the Food and Drug Administration.

The National Committee of Medical and Bioethics was set up through a royal decree and is headquartered at KACST in Riyadh. It consists of subcommittees, such as the legal subcommittee, the human research subcommittee, the flora and animal subcommittee and the education and media subcommittee.

Researchers can register through the committee’s website,and obtain a license for conducting research according to the conditions set by the committee through the local committee for which the researchers work.

To obtain this license, researchers must answer a number of general questions related to biological research.

Lessons include medical and bioethics in Islam and medical and bioethics in the international context.