"This book is a tour de force! Shah weaves history and ethical analysis to deliver an insightful, nuanced, and forward-thinking study of controlled human infection research. Taking readers beyond dichotomies, Shah makes a compelling case that controlled human infection research sometimes is more - and sometimes less - ethically complex than we might think." -- Ana Iltis, Director of the Center for Bioethics, Health, and Society, Wake Forest University; editor of the Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics"Can you intentionally infect a person with a deadly bacteria or virus? In a lucid and tremendously insightful book, Seema Shah explores the history and controversies surrounding this question, concluding that such infections can be ethical. But she also cautions against deeming them "quick fixes" for emergencies like COVID. Medical research, global health, and bioethics will be the better for following Shah's excellent guidance on this thorniest of research ethics questions." -- Zeke Emanuel, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and Levy University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania; author of Eat Your Ice Cream, Which Country Has the World's Best Healthcare?, and Reinventing American Health Care"Intentionally Infecting Humans is the most thorough treatment to date of the thorny ethical issues that are part of controlled human infection (CHI) research. Shah situates her analysis in the history of CHI studies to navigate a path to future, ethically sound uses of this controversial research approach." -- Jill A.

Fisher, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; author of Adverse Events: Race, Inequality, and the Testing of Pharmaceuticals"Seema Shah's rigorous and timely analysis brings that tension into sharp focus. Shah's treatment of public trust-not as a background condition but as an active, fragile resource that policymakers must steward-resonates deeply with the realities we navigate daily, particularly in the developing world, which houses both the bulk of the infectious disease burden and a skepticism about clinical research built on sometimes exploitative practices. She argues rightly that looser risk thresholds cannot be justified in emergencies. Equally important is her call to elevate the status of research participants, whose contributions to science are too rarely recognized and too easily exploited. This book deserves a central place in policy conversations about where research is done, how it is governed, and whose interests it ultimately serves." -- Gagandeep Kang, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.