Paulina Onvomaha Tindana, MHSc.

Paulina Onvomaha Tindana is a Bioethicist by training and a senior research officer of the Navrongo Health Research Centre. She received a first class honours in English and Linguistics from the University of Ghana and subsequently a Masters of Health Sciences degree (Bioethics) from the University of Toronto in 2004, on a Fogarty training grant.

She also serves as a bioethicist on the Ethical, Social and Cultural (ESC) program of the Grand Challenges for Global Health Initiative, as a patient advocate on the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDI) Board of Directors and as a member of the advisory committee of the Johns Hopkins African Bioethics Training program.

Paulina’s research work at the Navrongo Health Research Centre has involved conducting empirical research on reproductive health issues, informed consent, drug advertisements on health seeking behavior as well community engagement and dissemination activities. She was instrumental in the setting up of an institutional review board at her institution following a successful one-year Fogarty training programme at the Johns Hopkins Bioethics Institute, USA.

She has been involved in a number of capacity building initiatives for research ethics committees in Ghana and other parts of Africa. She has presented several papers both nationally and internationally on research ethics especially on informed consent, collaborative research and the functions of institutional review boards (IRBs).

Paulina’s research interests are in ethical issues in international health research with particular focus on informed consent issues and community engagement, reproductive health and gender issues.

Recent Publications

1. Tindana PO, Singh JA, Tracy CS, Upshur REG, Daar AS, et al. (2007) Grand Challenges in Global Health: Community Engagement in Research in Developing Countries. PLoS Med 4(9): e273 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040273.
2. Paulina Onvomaha Tindana, Nancy Kass, and Patricia Akweongo, The Informed Consent Process in a Rural African Setting: A Case Study of the Kassena-Nankana District of Northern Ghana, IRB: Ethics & Human Research 28 No. 3 (2006).
3. Aceme Nyika, Roma Chilengi, Paulina O. Tindana, Godfrey Tangwa, Joyce Ikingura, Paul Ndebele, Wenceslaus Kilama. Capacity building of ethics review committees across Africa based on comprehensive needs assessment survey results. Accepted in Developing World Bioethics
4. Ross Upshur, James V. Lavery, Paulina O. Tindana. Taking Tissue Seriously Means Taking Communities Seriously. BMC Medical Ethics 2007, 8:11.
5. Nancy E. Kass, Adnan Hyder, Ademola Ajuwon, John Appiah-Poku, Nicola Barsdorf, Dya Eldin Elsayed, Mantoa Mokhachane, Bavon Mupenda, Paul Ndebele, Godwin Ndossi, Bornwell Sikateyo, Godfrey Tangwa, Paulina Onvomaha Tindana. (2007) The structure and function of research ethics committees in Africa: A case study. PLoS Med 4(1): e03. doi:10.1371/journal.
6. N Dickert, K L DeRiemer, P Duffy, L Garcia-Garcia, T K Mutabingwa, B Sina, P Tindana, R Lie. Ancillary-care responsibilities in observational research: two cases, two issues. Lancet 2006; 368: 874.