SPECIAL COMMUNICATION Conducting International Collaborative Research in Developing Nations S.E. Geller a, * , A. Patel b , V.A. Niak c , S.S. Goudar d , S.A. Edlavitch e , B.S. Kodkany f , R.J. Derman g a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA b Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, John H. Stroger Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA c Department of Community Medicine, J N Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, India d Department of Medical Education, J N Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, India e Department of Epidemiology Research, University of Missouri at Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA f Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, J N Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, India g Women’s Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Missouri at Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA Received 29 June 2004; received in revised form 24 August 2004; accepted 24 August 2004 Abstract International research partnerships bring together some of the best and the brightest in an effort to tackle global health problems. Such collaborations also pose complex challenges, such as maintaining ethical principles in the conduct of research in developing nations. In implementing a randomized clinical trial to reduce postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) during childbirth in rural India, U.S. and Indian collaborators addressed three such issues: the appropriateness of an ethical randomized controlled trial in the developing world, the inclusion of a placebo arm, and the relevance of informed consent in a semiliterate rural population. D 2004 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction International partnerships for the conduct of research are important as they bring together the best and the brightest research minds, regardless of nationality, to tackle global health problems that 0020-7292/$ - see front matter D 2004 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2004.08.019 * Corresponding author. Department of Obstetrics and Gyne- cology (MC 808), College of Medicine, UIC, 820 S. Wood Street, Chicago I. 60612, IL, USA. Tel.: +312 355 0467; fax: +312 996 4238. E-mail addresses: sgeller@uic.edu (S.E. Geller)8 ashleshapatel16@aol.com (A. Patel)8 vijayanaik@hotmail.com (V.A. Niak)8 sgoudar@jnmc.edu (S.S. Goudar)8 edlavitchs@umkc.edu (S.A. Edlavitch)8 drkodkany@jnmc.edu (B.S. Kodkany)8 dermanr@umkc.edu (R.J. Derman). KEYWORDS International research partnerships; Placebo; Ethics; Informed consent International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (2004) 87, 267—271 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijgo