To ensure the protection of study participants' rights, safety, and well-being, MUST CTC manages and coordinates clinical studies in strict adherence to relevant international, national, and regional ethical guidelines for human research. Examples of such standards include:

• the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association;

• the Belmont Report (i.e. the Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research which was first drafted by the U.S. National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research at the Belmont Conference Center and officially created by the former U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1979);

• the ICH GCP Guideline (International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use);

• China Good Clinical Practice Guideline for Drug Clinical Trials (China GCP);

• Good Clinical Practice Guideline for Drug Clinical Trials of Macau SAR (Macau GCP); and

• the SOP of Macau University of Science and Technology / University Hospital Clinical Research Institutional Review Board (MUST/UH IRB SOP).