5 Questions With Dr. Martin Lalumiere

trevor.kenney — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 22:03:02 +0000

Dr. Martin Lalumiere is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology. He studies the etiology of sexual aggression, the development of atypical sexual preferences, the physiological assessment of sexual arousal, sex differences in genital arousal, the effect of birth order on development and the determinants of risk taking.

Prior to joining the U of L, he was a research psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and associate professor of psychiatry and criminology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto (1997-2004).

Lalumiere teaches courses on criminal behaviour, psychopathology and evolutionary psychology and is a past Chair of the Human Subject Research Committee.

Dr. Martin Lalumiere is a foremost expert on sexual aggression and the development of atypical sexual preferences.

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

As an undergraduate student at the Université de Montréal, I signed up to be a research participant for a study on the Pavlovian conditioning of sexual arousal in humans (how can one not be curious about a study like that!). I had a long chat with the PhD student who was running the study, and soon thereafter I applied for a research assistant position in that laboratory. I immediately started running similar studies and discovered that the study of human sexuality was fascinating, complex and extremely rewarding.

How is your research applicable in "the real world"?

I will say that sex is pervasive, important to people and associated with important health and life satisfaction outcomes. Increasing knowledge about sex is bound to have important impacts on things like sex education, prevention of sexually transmitted infections and sexual and relationship satisfaction. In our lab we also study the link between sexual preferences and crimes, with the hope of better preventing sexual crimes.

What is the greatest honour you have received in your career?

I would say the Governor General's Academic Gold Medal, for best graduating student at Queen's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. As a graduate student I didn't even know that such a prize existed, and all I was trying to do was to learn English and become a good scientist.

How important are students to your research endeavours?

I spent the first nine years of my career working in research institutes, without much help from students. I was sufficiently productive but felt that something was missing. Since arriving at the U of L in 2004 and establishing the Human Sexual Arousal Laboratory, I discovered the joys and benefits of having undergraduate and graduate students involved in my research. They are very important to my research program. In fact, most of my recent successes are a direct result of having very qualified students in my lab. Their work has shaped the direction of my own research activities.

If you had unlimited funds, which areas of research would you invest?

Currently, my students and I are spending most of our energies attempting to discover why women's genital arousal is not quite consistent with their experience of sexual arousal. It is a great mystery that fascinates us. Is it the most important research question in the world? Probably not. Is it an important question that is likely to lead to concrete answers? Very likely. Will those answers allow us to better understand women's sexuality (a mostly neglected topic in human science)? Very likely.

Already we have received emails from women who have been the victim of rape, and who were tortured by the memory of experiencing genital arousal during the event. We are now able to provide them with a possible explanation, and they find it quite reassuring.

The most important areas of research are those where questions are answerable and can lead to improvement in human welfare.

Having said all this, I think the most important research question for human research has to do with the effects of economic and health inequalities, and the measures needed to diminish those inequalities. We have done some research on this topic and I hope that we will continue to do so.

Each month, the Legend will present 5 Questions With . . . one of our researchers. For a look at the entire catalog of 5 Questions With . . . features, check out the Office of Research and Innovation Services website at www.uleth.ca/research/research_profiles. If you'd like to be profiled, contact Penny Pickles at pickpj@uleth.ca

This story first appeared in the October 2012 issue of the Legend. To see the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

U of L partners in research ethics agreement

trevor.kenney — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:20:11 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is pleased to partner in a Research Ethics Reciprocity Agreement for the review of multi-site health research.

This agreement, signed by Dr. Dan Weeks (Vice-President, Research) and Dr. Monique Sedgwick (Chair, Human Subject Research Committee), will streamline the process of ethics review application for studies that are conducted across multiple research jurisdictions.

Once implemented, ethics review applications for multi-site studies need only be submitted at one institution or agency, rather than at each research site as has been the practice to date. The agreement is good news for researchers who will see these process efficiencies translated into savings in time, resources and competitiveness. It is also good news for research and development companies that want to invest in Alberta. A harmonized process for health research ethics review translates into cost savings and value added investment.

Alberta is the first jurisdiction in Canada to have a harmonized ethics review process for multi-jurisdictional health research through the signing of the Research Ethics Reciprocity Agreement. This is a legal agreement among six major institutions and agencies that have Research Ethics Boards which perform and oversee reviews of ethics for health research.

These partners are: ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta, Alberta Health Services, and Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions. Alberta Health and Wellness, and Advanced Education and Technology provided valuable advice.

The agreement is the result of a collaborative process among the partners, initiated by the Chairs of the Health Research Ethics Boards (the Council of Chairs), and is the first step in a strategic plan developed last year by the Chairs in consultation with key stakeholders.

Once implemented, the agreement will streamline the process of ethics review for multi-site health research studies and response time to health research ethics review requests.

Currently, researchers who are part of networks, collaborations, partnerships or teams involving other institutions need to apply for ethics approval at each institution for the same research, a process that can cost researchers valuable time and resources.

UNews - Human Subject Research Committee

5 Questions With Dr. Martin Lalumiere

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U of L partners in research ethics agreement

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