Comparison of Biofeedback Equipment & Grant Ethics Question

[soccercat]

I've been offered the opportunity to be part of a biostats grant using my research design and I don't know much about the equipment at the companies the other investigator has relationships with. In respect to anonymity I don't want to name the companies, but if you can share your experiences working with different brands of biofeedback equipment that would be helpful.

Also, I keep thinking about the idea of working with a specific company on a private grant opportunity as opposed to a non-profit organization and I'm not sure how this could be complicated with respects to future grant opportunities, possible conflicts of interest, etc. If anyone has any thoughts about this from that perspective I would really welcome it. I'm a junior researcher so the prospect of having a large amount of grant funding right out of the gate is attractive, but I want to make sure I make a good decision for the long-term.

Thanks!

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[Ollie123]

Not sure I completely understand the question. I don't do biofeedback, but do extensive psychophysiology research. My read of the literature is that much of the work out there is garbage. Often no more than a handful of studies on a given topic. That said, there are some legit applications that have shown promise and I think would even qualify as evidence-based though I'd want to dig deeper before saying for certain. Regardless, I do think its a perfectly legit research topic and I see nothing wrong with studying it (and am contemplating some real-time fMRI work myself).

I think a lot of naive/ignorant people blow industry ties out of proportion. Its a cause for concern. It should absolutely be disclosed and examined, but some people treat it like it invalidates any/all work. These are generally your tinfoil-hat wearing conspiracy nutjobs that aren't worth giving the time of day. There are some industries I absolutely would not consider taking money from. I did likely cost myself one gig since they wanted me to give up more control than I was willing to allow.

I think its extremely unlikely it would ever negatively impact grant applications unless you develop a reputation for doing shoddy work as a "shill" for companies. Most of the big name folks either currently have industry ties or have had them in the past. I don't have any right now, but would happily partner with industry to do certain things and am in discussions about exactly that for some of our mHealth work. Planning to apply for a grant from a pharma company. Many folks here (top AMC) have industry funding. Be careful managing those relationships, but I also think you'd be crazy to turn down an opportunity to launch a research program just because it was industry funding.

 

[soccercat]

Not sure I completely understand the question.

There are multiple companies the co-PI is talking with so I'm trying to figure out who makes the best product, essentially.

ETA: Thanks for the rest of your feedback. That's very helpful!