I suggested an interesting research question (exploratory data analysis) to my advisor and he really wants me to get started. However, I realized today in reading the agreement attached to the data enclave (with deidentified patient data or allegedly that), that there’s an obvious potential conflict of interest given that I founded a company sometime ago that focuses on a specific, but relevant patient population.
My advisor, to my knowledge, doesn’t know about this company. And this data set has millions. The other, non-government data set I’m considering has tens of thousands or thousands but may not have as immediate means of answering my research question, if it has them at all.
What should I tell my advisor?
I have this other research question that he liked that would not require the government dataset. Does it look wishy washy to say I want to return to that without saying exactly why? And this same COI would likely come up in the publication of any report I do with this lab group. (For context, I’m a first year MA student.)
I do have a third idea that I feel is as interesting and would not require me to access government data. So, should I pivot entirely and bring that up? I am almost certain that he would be interested in it based on what he’s mentioned in recent lab meetings. So, if I bring this up do I still add that the reason I am abandoning the other idea is a conflicting commercial interest?
He himself has disclosed a conflicting commercial interest in past work. But my preference is to keep that side of things as separate as humanly possible from academic work so there is no room for mishaps or cognitive dissonance. I also want separation because I don’t want to give the university ammunition to claim stake in anything on the entrepreneurial side.
Basically, I really need help in figuring out how to redirect him without sabotaging my academic/research future with him re letters of recommendation, etc?