Víctor Rojas-Zumaran

The digital transformation of medical research has outpaced the ethical frameworks designed to govern it, creating systemic vulnerabilities that legacy governance models cannot adequately address. Drawing on the Peruvian experience, we examine the convergence of metric-driven research evaluation, regulatory gaps, and digital disruption, and we argue for hybrid governance as an operational necessity for preserving scientific integrity. Our analysis reveals three interconnected findings. First, regulatory codification alone is insufficient to prevent misconduct. Peru’s National Code and RENACyT system proved vulnerable to large-scale authorship trafficking, exemplified by the “La Granja de Científicos Bamba” scandal involving over USD 53 million in state incentives. Second, institutional risk, assessed via SCImago IRIS, is not linked to the performance of university publications. Most of Peru’s top 20 universities fall into medium or significant risk categories, though low-risk cases indicate that maintaining integrity is possible at the institutional level. Third, the digital era compounds these vulnerabilities through challenges that legacy frameworks cannot address. We propose a reorientation of medical research ethics along five axes: from privacy to data justice, from consent to continuous engagement, from individual to systemic accountability, from voluntary RRI to mandatory Ethics by Design, and from national codes to global hybrid governance. The Peruvian case offers distinctive lessons for the international community: rapidly expanding research output, a regulatory framework that appears robust yet is operationally weak, and organized fraud at scale. This combination exposes the universal vulnerability of metric-driven systems to gaming when oversight lags behind digital realities.

Background: Campylobacter causes gastroenteritis worldwide with increasing antimicrobial resistance. Furazolidone (FZD) shows potential in resource-poor areas but needs further study. We aimed to assess the in vitro susceptibility of Campylobacter spp. to FZD, ciprofloxacin (CIP), and erythromycin (ERY) in a high-risk pediatric cohort and to evaluate the clinical relevance of resistance patterns using inhibitory quotient (IQ) pharmacodynamics. Methods: A two-phase prospective study (2012–2013, 2014–2015) was conducted at a tertiary pediatric hospital in Lima, Peru. Stool samples from children ≤24 months were cultured on selective media, with Campylobacter isolates identified via conventional bacteriological methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion and regression-derived minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). IQ analysis correlated inhibition zones with therapeutic outcomes. Results: Among 194 Campylobacter isolates (C. jejuni: 28%; C. coli: 72%), resistance to CIP declined from 97.7% (2012–2013) to 83% (2014–2015), while ERY resistance rose from 2.3% to 9.4% (p= 0.002). No FZD resistance was observed, with mean inhibition zones of 52 ± 8 mm (2012–2013) and 43 ± 10.5 mm (2014–2015). MICs for FZD were predominantly p = 0.724) but discordance for CIP (p = 0.022 vs. 0.008). Conclusions: FZD exhibits sustained in vitro efficacy against Campylobacter spp., even among MDR strains, contrasting with escalating fluoroquinolone and macrolide resistance.

Our objective was to assess the perception of body image and physical activity in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of 74,270 papers found on 13 search engines between 12 August 2020, and 2 November 2021, we identified six studies (n = 1392 and 1097 were women). We found several results on the perception of both variables during the pandemic. First, physical activity tended to decrease or have negative changes, either because they dedicated less time to it, decreased the type of intensity or because they dedicated more time to sedentary activities. In addition, women were more physically active than men, since men perceived a decrease in their levels of physical activity. Secondly, there were also slight changes in the perception of body image; several students perceived that they gained weight and others had an increase in their BMI. It is even noted that those who were physically active or who were older in the population studied had a better perception of their actual physical condition. Similarly, we found that a concern for body image and even negative changes in the perception of appearance during confinement were reported. In conclusion, we found changes in the perception of physical activity and body image in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.