VolREthics and the Global Ethics Charter
Global Advocacy, Ethics, and Participant Protections for Healthy Volunteers in Clinical Research
Note: This page was shared with representatives of VOLRETHICS prior to publication.
Their feedback was incorporated into the final version, and publication proceeded with their knowledge and support.
The Healthy Volunteers Alliance (HVA) created this page to help bring greater awareness to VOLRETHICS and the Global Ethics Charter for Healthy Volunteers.
The goal is to help participants, research staff, sponsors, and the public better understand what the Charter represents, why it was created, and why these discussions matter for healthy volunteers participating in clinical research.
What is VOLRETHICS?
VOLRETHICS is an international organization focused on ethical standards, transparency, and participant protections involving healthy volunteers in clinical research.
The organization brings attention to issues affecting healthy research participants and promotes greater awareness, fairness, and understanding throughout the clinical research process.
The name” VOLRETHICS” comes from “Volunteers in Research and Ethics,” reflecting the organization’s focus on healthy volunteers, ethical clinical research practices, participant protections, transparency, and international discussions surrounding the treatment and well-being of research participants.
The term “VOLRETHICS” refers to the ethics initiative launched by Inserm in 2022 focused on healthy volunteer protections and global research ethics.
VOLRETHICS refers to the nonprofit organization established in 2025 to provide a formal framework for ongoing collaboration, advocacy, and organizational support related to these efforts.
What is the Global Ethics Charter?
The Global Ethics Charter was developed to help encourage greater ethical standards, transparency, fairness, and participant understanding within clinical research involving healthy volunteers.
The Charter addresses important topics involving participant protections, informed consent, communication, compensation, and the ethical treatment and respect of healthy volunteers throughout the research process.
See the full PDF version of the Global Ethics Charter for Healthy Volunteers below.
VOLRETHICS and Global Healthy Volunteer Advocacy
The following resources provide additional information about VOLRETHICS, the Global Ethics Charter for Healthy Volunteers, and ongoing discussions involving healthy volunteer protections, research ethics, transparency, informed consent, compensation, and participant rights within clinical research.
Healthy Volunteers Alliance (HVA) first connected with VOLRETHICS after members of their organization came across HVA while researching healthy volunteer advocacy and participant protection efforts online.
Since then, both organizations have remained in communication and have shared many similar concerns involving ethics, transparency, informed consent, participant understanding, compensation, and the overall treatment of healthy volunteers within clinical research.
One of the reasons HVA created this page is to help bring greater awareness not only to VOLRETHICS and the Global Ethics Charter for Healthy Volunteers, but also to the fact that many of the concerns involving healthy volunteer protections extend far beyond the United States alone.
HVA believes it is important for participants, sponsors, researchers, and the public to recognize that these discussions are taking place globally and that organizations such as VOLRETHICS are working to encourage broader awareness and stronger ethical standards for healthy volunteers worldwide.
While both organizations operate independently, HVA recognizes strong alignment in many of the goals and discussions discussed through VOLRETHICS and the Global Ethics Charter.
HVA looks forward to continuing these conversations and supporting broader awareness surrounding the ethical treatment, visibility, and respect of healthy volunteers participating in research worldwide.
Related Publications, Research, and Additional Resources
Dr. Jill Fisher: Bioethics and Healthy Volunteer Research
Dr. Jill Fisher is a Professor of Social Medicine and core faculty member at the UNC Center for Bioethics at the University of North Carolina. Her research has focused extensively on healthy volunteers in clinical trials, research ethics, informed consent, compensation, participant protections, and the overall experiences of healthy research participants.
Dr. Fisher has also collaborated on publications involving members of the VOLRETHICS community, including François Bompart and François Hirsch, surrounding healthy volunteer protections and ethical standards in biomedical research.
Dr. Fisher’s work focuses heavily on clinical trial participation, healthy volunteers, research ethics, and the impact of social inequality within biomedical research.
Her award-winning book Adverse Events: Race, Inequality, and the Testing of New Pharmaceuticals specifically examines the experiences of healthy volunteers participating in Phase I clinical trials, including issues involving compensation, risk, stigma, and participant protections. She has also authored Medical Research for Hire and numerous publications involving clinical research ethics, participant experiences, and the broader clinical trials industry.
DR. JILL FISHER PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH
View Dr. Jill Fisher’s research publications and academic work on clinical trial participation, healthy volunteers, research ethics, informed consent, and participant protections.
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
• “The VolREthics initiative to protect the well-being of healthy volunteers in biomedical research”
Nature Medicine (2023) By François Bompart, Jill A. Fisher, François Hirsch, et al.
• “A global ethics charter to protect healthy volunteers”
The Lancet (2024) By Dr. Jill Fisher, François Bompart, Shadreck Mwale, et al.
• “Implementing a Global Ethics Charter to Protect US Healthy Volunteers”
The American Journal of Medicine (2025) By Jill A. Fisher, Roberto Abadie, François Hirsch
ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS AND ARTICLES
• “Global efforts aim to protect health and safety of human ‘guinea pigs’ in drug trials” Science (2024) By Martin Enserink
• “Declaration of Helsinki’s missed opportunity for healthy volunteer trials” The Lancet (2024) By François Bompart, Jill A. Fisher, Shadreck Mwale, et al.
• “Over-volunteering in Phase I clinical trials: data from a healthy volunteers’ registry in Japan” Medical Research Archives (2026) By H Fukase, François Bompart, François Hirsch, Y Kumagai