A double celebration of Cochrane was organized this year in Croatia where, apart from the annual Croatian Cochrane Symposium, held at the University of Split School of Medicine (UoSSoM) from 9th -10th June, a celebration of Cochrane Croatia’s independent Centre status was held on 8th June to a large crowd of Cochrane supporters, including government officials, health professionals, and students.

On behalf of Cochrane Croatia’s host institution, Prof. Zoran Đogaš, the Dean of the University of Split School of Medicine, gave the opening address at the Centre celebration, expressing his support of Cochrane Croatia’s work, which he confirmed the following day in the signing of the Collaboration Agreement between Cochrane, Cochrane Croatia and UoSSoM. Full support was also offered by the Director of the Croatian Centre for Global Health, Prof. Ozren Polanšek, Assistant Director of the University Hospital in Split, Dr. Anton Marović, representative of the Croatian Medical Chamber, Assist. Prof. Željko Puljiz, the Chancellor of the University of Split, Prof. Šimun Anđelinović and the State Secretary of the Minister of Health, Dr. Željko Plazonić. Letters of support were received from the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia, the Minister of Science and Education, the president of the Croatian Medical Association, and others.

The Croatian Ambassador to Canada from 2005-2010, Ms. Vesela Mrđan Korać, spoke of the diplomacy required to establish collaboration between the University of Split and the University of Ottawa, which led to the foundation of Cochrane Croatia, as well as the important role of Croatian expats in Ottawa, notably family Mamić, in hosting directors of Cochrane Croatia during their study visits to Cochrane Canada. Others who have been instrumental in the foundation of Cochrane Croatia, such as Prof. Matko Marušić, Prof. Livia Puljak, and Assist. Prof. Dario Sambunjak, shared their vision of Cochrane Croatia with all those present. Those who unfortunately couldn’t be present sent heartfelt messages, including, Prof. Peter Tugwell and Jordi Pardo, from Cochrane Canada, Prof. Roberto D’Amico, director of Cochrane Italy, Prof. Žarko Alfirević, from Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth and Prof. Davor Štimac, from Cochrane Hepato-Biliary.

The future of Cochrane Croatia was the focus of the final part of the Centre celebration; hence our main speakers were Mark Wilson, Cochrane’s CEO, Prof. Gerd Antes, Director, Cochrane Germany, and representatives of Cochrane Croatia’s partner organizations. Attendees were entertained by traditional Dalmatian singers and dancers, as well as by the Student Choir of the UoSSoM. The event would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors: Tourist Office of the City of Split, Redak Print Studio, Enter Digital Studio and Radio Sun.

The following day, Mark Wilson opened the 9th Croatian Cochrane Symposium, dedicated to the topic of ‘Evidence based dental medicine’. We were very honoured to have as our main speakers Jan Clarkson, Helen Worthington, and Anne-Marie Glenny from Cochrane Oral Health. The two-day symposium included lectures, workshops, a poster walk and lively interactions, and was attended by participants from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Poland.

Watch a video of the celebration

Irena Zakarija-Grković, Co-Director Cochrane Croatia

 

 

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Associate Professor Julian Elliott from Cochrane Australia in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University has been awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research 2017 at a ceremony in Melbourne last night. The medal is bestowed annually to the top-ranked Career Development Fellowship applicant through the National Health and Medical Research Council.

A Career Development Fellowship (CDF) is a highly competitive, four-year fellowship that supports the most outstanding early- to mid-career health and medical researchers. The medal for best application comes with an additional $50,000 research grant to be used by Associate Professor Elliott on top of his CDF funding.

Associate Professor Elliott’s work focusses on novel systems for translating research into practical healthcare solutions that positively affect patient health and quality of life. He says,“Doing research is not enough. We also need to make sure the findings of research translate into action and improved health – but there is now so much research it is hard for anyone to make sense of this ‘data deluge’. My team and our collaborators are developing and evaluating novel health data systems that make sense of health research and accelerate the translation of research into improved, evidence-based health care.”

Associate Professor Elliott’s work focusses on methods and systems to successfully gather, process and meta-analyse all research data relevant to a particular health question. This includes the development of ‘living’ systematic reviews – high quality summaries of research that are updated whenever new research is produced. These systems incorporate text mining, artificial intelligence, online software platforms, and ‘citizen science’.

For example, Covidence is a software platform that is used around the world to produce systematic reviews; and Cochrane Crowd is a citizen science platform with over 5,000 members. This platform has demonstrated that given appropriate training, members of the public can accurately identify scientific research papers that can be incorporated into systematic reviews. Such reviews often inform critical government funding and approval decisions.

“As an HIV physician at the Alfred Hospital I know the challenges of delivering health care that is based on the best possible research evidence. Using new technologies and ways of collaborating we are working to make that easier. My previous research shows it is possible to use the power of motivated communities to speed up science and I hope to build on this through my Fellowship.”

The Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award was initiated in 2000. Associate Professor Elliott’s application was the top-ranked application of 452 applicants, of which 60 were funded. Monash University submitted 41 applications of which five were funded in total. Associate Professor Elliott says,“I’m incredibly honoured to receive this award given the extraordinary talent and experience of my fellow applicants. I hope the work arising from it will result in real improvements in the ways research can be translated into better health.”

NHMRC General Manager Tony Kingdon said Associate Professor Elliott’s research achievements make him a highly worthy recipient of the award.“It is a privilege to honour the achievements of an exceptional researcher whose work is making a significant contribution to our understanding of how we can improve the speed and accuracy of translating research into practical outcomes. I congratulate Associate Professor Elliott on this award.” 

Associate Professor Elliott has over 90 publications including papers in leading scientific journals such as Nature, Lancet and PLOS Medicine. In the last five years he has been a chief investigator on 20 grants totalling over $8million.

Media contact: Julia Veitch (03) 9903 0026 / 0438 856 481
Associate Professor Elliott is available for comment
Mr Tony Kingdon is available for comment

Thursday, June 15, 2017

The 2016 Journal Citation Report (JCR) has just been released by Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson ISI), and we are pleased to announce that Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) Impact Factor is now 6.124.

This is a slight increase on the 2015 impact factor, which was 6.103.

The CDSR impact factor is calculated by taking the total number of citations in a given year to all Cochrane Reviews published in the past 2 years, and dividing that number by the total number of Reviews published in the past 2 years. It is a useful metric for measuring the strength of a journal by how often it its publications are cited in scholarly articles.

Some highlights of the CDSR 2016 Impact Factor include:

• The CDSR is ranked 14 of the 154 journals in the Medicine, General & Internal category.
• The CDSR received 57,740 cites in the 2016 Impact Factor period, compared with 47,899 for the 2015 Impact Factor calculation.
• The total number of times the CDSR was cited increased from 47,899 in 2015 to 57,740 in 2015 meaning the CDSR received the 5th highest number of citations in its category.
• The 5-Year Impact Factor is 7.018.

The main Impact Factor report and the CRG reports will be delivered after the JCR is updated in September. This is because, as has happened in previous years, Clarivate was unable to accurately index Cochrane Reviews for this Impact Factor window; Wiley and Cochrane are following-up with Clarivate regarding the calculation of the 2016 impact factor. 

More information is available here on how the CDSR Impact Factor is calculated.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

“This generation, our generation of people who benefited, must always be the pioneers who look to younger people and say mediocrity is not accommodated in what we do.” 

Trevor Manuel, who served in the South African government as Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2009, during the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe, and subsequently as Minister in the Presidency under President Jacob Zuma, will be the first plenary speaker at the Global Evidence Summit.

Trevor Manuel will address the Summit in the opening Plenary on Wednesday 13 September, 9am-10.30am.

During his two decades as a Cabinet Minister, Trevor Manuel also served as a Member of Parliament, representing the African National Congress.

His career highlights include major social and economic developments within the South African economy. As Minister of Trade and Industry, he led the process of reintegrating South Africa into the global economy after decades of sanctions and disinvestment. He introduced extensive support measures for small, medium and micro-enterprises to boost local economic development and grow business enterprise.

As Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, he also oversaw the drafting of the broadly-accepted and first National Development Plan for the country.

Mr Manual has held leadership positions within a several international bodies, including the United Nations Commission for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the G20, the African Development Bank and the Southern African Development Community.

He has been internationally recognized for his accomplishments within social and economic development, and holds eight honorary doctorates from South African tertiary institutions in a range of disciplines including Commerce, Law and Technology as well as a Doctor of Laws from McMaster University, Ontario Canada.

Currently, he is an Honorary Professor in the School of Development Policy & Practice at the University of Cape Town where he is also a Senior Political Fellow, and Professor Extraordinaire at the University of Johannesburg.

Find out more about all our plenary speakers here.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Cochrane, a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health, is proud to announce its newest Associate Centre, Cochrane Iran.

The Cochrane Iran Associate Centre is located in the city of Tehran, within the National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD) of the Islamic Republic of Iran. NIMAD is a national public granting body for medical research, which is under supervision of Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME) of Iran.

Cochrane Iran will promote evidence-based decision making in health care across Iran by supporting and training new authors of Cochrane Reviews, as well as working with clinicians, professional associations, policy-makers, patients, and the media to encourage the dissemination and use of Cochrane evidence.

Professor Hassan Hashemi, the Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education, who gave an inaugural speech at the launch of 'Cochrane Iran Associate Centre' says it is a great opportunity for Iranian researchers to have more direct contributions in order to produce and disseminate Cochrane knowledge: "I believe that this centre will be a cornerstone to advocate evidence-informed practice in Iran, in the region and beyond, given that thousands of young talented Iranian scientists are always present and being generated across the country. This formal Cochrane presence in IR Iran will help spread the messages of the Cochrane Collaboration.”

Professor Reza Malekzadeh, Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology at MoHME and Director of NIMAD says, “We are very proud of having a Cochrane Centre in Iran. We now have the opportunity to make Cochrane evidence accessible and useful to Iranian.  This center will certainly become the leading advocate for evidence-informed health care in Iran.”

Cochrane works with collaborators from more than 130 countries to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest.  Cochrane’s work is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.
Cochrane Iran will be co-ordinated and led by its new Associate Centre Director, Professor Ali-Akbar Haghdoost and Co-Director Dr. Bita Mesgarpour, who will offer methodological support, mentoring, and supervision. Professor Ali-Akbar Haghdoost says this is a hugely exciting opportunity, “The launch of Cochrane Iran is very important, both to Iran and its neighbouring regions. Producing and increasing the dissemination of the best available information on health care is critical for clinicians and patients everywhere in the world, including Iran.”

Cochrane’s CEO Mark Wilson, welcomed today’s news, “I am delighted we are announcing the launch of Cochrane Iran, which will deepen and expand the scope, reach, and impact of Cochrane activities in Iran. I’m grateful for the outstanding support from NIMAD for this new Associate Centre, which brings together both those who have been involved in Cochrane activities for many years with new collaborators across the country. Iran is a regional leader in scientific research; and I’m sure that Cochrane Iran will help Iranian researchers, clinicians and policy makers to produce and use synthesized evidence which is so important for effective outcomes in health decision-making.”

•  Vist the Cochrane Iran website
• Follow Cochrane Iran on Telgram at CochraneIran

--END--

For further information about Cochrane Iran, please contact:
Dr. Bita Mesgarpour
Co-Director of Cochrane Iran
M +98(21)66900920  E info@cochrane.ir

 For more infromation about Cochrane, please contact:
Jo Anthony
Senior Media and Communications Manager, Cochrane 
M +44(0) 7582 726 634 E janthony@cochrane.org or pressoffice@cochrane.org

If you are a journalist or member of the press and wish to receive news alerts before their online publication or if you wish to arrange an interview with an author, please contact the Cochrane press office: pressoffice@cochrane.org

Friday, June 9, 2017

Specifications: Part Time/ 3 days pw
Salary: Competitive
Location: London
Application Closing Date: 7 July 2017

This role is an exciting opportunity to use your experience in contract management to make a difference in the field of health care research. 

As the organisation’s sole manager for contracts, the Senior Contracts Specialist will take the leading role in the implementation and maintenance of an effective contracts service for a portfolio with a range of complexity and requirements. They will provide operational contract management, developing solutions which reduce legal liability and risk and provide optimal terms for Cochrane.

We are looking for a self-motivated and highly organised individual who is able to work effectively and collaboratively with a diverse range of contacts across the world.  The successful candidate will also have:

• Higher education to degree level, or equivalent, or substantial relevant experience.
• Experience of contracts management within the Higher Education, health research, charity, and/or publishing sectors.
• Knowledge of contract and intellectual property laws (particularly related to the UK).
• Experience, ability and mindset to work as the sole contracts manager for the organisation.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Proven ability to understand, interpret, apply and develop policies and procedures.
• Ability to quickly gain an understanding of Cochrane’s operational context, activities and arrangements with contractual partners and apply these to delivery.
• The ability to use judgement, initiative and creativity to identify and solve complex problems.
• Excellent organisational and planning skills including proven ability to organise and prioritise workload, work efficiently and meet tight deadlines.                                                                                                                                                                                        

Cochrane is a global, independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. Our work is recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

If you would like to apply for this position, please send a CV along with a supporting statement to recruitment@cochrane.org with Senior Contracts Specialist in the subject line.  The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements for the post outlined in the job description using specific examples.  List your experience, achievements, knowledge, personal qualities, and skills which you feel are relevant to the post.

For further information, please download the full job description.

Deadline for applications: 12 midnight GMT, 7 July 2017

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 Category: Jobs

Cochrane is delighted to announce that Cochrane Croatia has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by being awarded full, independent Centre status.

The Centre consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located at the University of Split School of Medicine, where it is part of the Croatian Centre for Global Health.

Cochrane Croatia will continue to promote evidence-based decision making in health care in Croatia and the region by supporting and training new authors of Cochrane Reviews, as well as working with clinicians, professional associations, policy-makers, patients, and the media to encourage the dissemination and use of Cochrane evidence.

Cochrane Croatia has been part of Cochrane since 2008 when it was established as a Branch of the Italian Cochrane Centre. Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers, and people interested in health. Cochrane works with collaborators from more than 130 countries to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest.  Cochrane’s work is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high-quality, trusted information.

Cochrane Croatia will be co-ordinated and led by Drs Irena Zakarija-Grković and Tina Poklepović Peričić, who, together with their team, will offer methodological support, mentoring, and supervision to Cochrane members from the whole region.

Co- Director of Cochrane Croatia, Dr Irena Zakarija-Grković, says this is a hugely exciting opportunity: “The launch of Cochrane Croatia as a full Centre is very important, to Croatia, Europe and globally. Producing and increasing the dissemination of the best available information on health care is critical for clinicians and patients everywhere in the world, including in South-Eastern Europe.”

Cochrane’s CEO Mark Wilson, welcomed today’s news, “I am delighted we are announcing the launch of Cochrane Croatia as a full Centre, the highest recognition of a Cochrane Group. Cochrane Croatia is one of the most energetic within the Cochrane world. Their impact in dissemination, knowledge transfer, combined with their continued development of Cochrane authors has been outstanding. Thanks to the growing base of our collaborators from the University of Split, we’re delighted to recognize the achievements of Cochrane Croatia, and now welcome them as  one of 17 Cochrane Centres internationally, committed to the fullest range of Cochrane activities.”  

He added, “The work of Dr Irena Zakarija-Grković and her team will deepen and expand the scope, reach, and impact of Cochrane activities on health and healthcare decision making not only in Croatia but throughout the region. There are already groups in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina inspired by the work of Cochrane Croatia and looking to join Cochrane. Cochrane Croatia will promote recognition of studies conducted and published in Croatia and the region, and this will not only increase the access of evidence, but also promote sharing of clinical experiences across the country, and the world, especially given Cochrane Croatia’s active role in the translation of Cochrane evidence.”

 “This is an excellent opportunity for scientific growth and gives us the chance to train students and a future generation that will develop high-quality research. Our chance to support health professionals in improving their decision making based on the best available evidence will support patient care.” Tina Poklepović Peričić, Cochrane Croatia’s Co-Director, concluded, “This is an innovation for our region and we intend to collaborate in the dissemination of Cochrane Reviews and to continue supporting Cochrane to reach its 2020 strategic objectives.”

For more information on the work of Cochrane Croatia, please visit the Centre's website.

--END--

For further information, please contact:

Jo Anthony
Senior Media and Communications Manager, Cochrane
M +44(0) 7582 726 634 E janthony@cochrane.org or pressoffice@cochrane.org

About Cochrane
Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health.

Cochrane produces reviews which study all of the best available evidence generated through research and make it easier to inform decisions about health. These are called systematic reviews.

Cochrane is a not-for-profit organization with collaborators from more than 130 countries working together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest. Our work is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high-quality, trusted information.

Find out more at cochrane.org

Follow us on twitter @cochranecollab

If you are a journalist or member of the press and wish to receive news alerts before their online publication or if you wish to arrange an interview with an author, please contact the Cochrane press office: pressoffice@cochrane.org

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Professor Álvaro Atallah, founding Director of Cochrane Brazil, has received the Medal of the Order of Merit from the Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories (MPDFT). Professor Atallah is head of the Evidence-Based Medicine and Urinary Medicine Unit at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp). The Order is awarded every two years in recognition of exemplary service for the benefit of society.

Please join us in congratulating Professor Atallah and Cochrane Brazil on receiving this honour.

• Cochrane Brazil website
  
• News item in Portuguese

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Vivli, the Center for Global Clinical Research Data, is seeking an Executive Director.

The Vivli Executive Director (ED) is the key management and operations leader of Vivli, Inc. The Executive
Director position reports directly to the Board of Directors and will work with the Board to execute the
organization’s strategic mission and vision. The ED has overall strategic and operational responsibility for the
administration, programs, staff, alliances and plan for the organization. Key duties include strategic direction
and oversight, fundraising, marketing and advocacy for the organization’s mission.

For more information on the position and how to apply, please see the full job posting.

Monday, June 5, 2017 Category: Jobs

Participants will enjoy:Plenaries where you can…

• Understand how evidence can achieve a more equitable world. Hear from speakers such as Sipho Mthathi from Oxfam South Africa and John-Arne Røttingen, from the Research Council of Norway who will be sharing their real-life experiences of how international collaboration and innovation can solve humanitarian crises.
• Learn how a digital and trustworthy evidence ecosystem is leading the way for guideline development.
• Find out what key evidence tools are needed for emerging international health and social crises.
• And be inspired by how the evidence community, working together, can conquer the post-truth world.

Join further debate and discussion in post-plenary sessions, which will include… 

• How big and diverse data impact on the production of systematic reviews and guideline development.
• Learning about the integration between evidence-based health care and shared decision-making, and how to solve current global controversies.
• Improving our understanding of how living guideline recommendations are linked to living systematic reviews.
• Understanding challenges within the post-truth world, related to providing best current evidence and practice.

Find out more from oral and poster presentations on global themes such as…

• Real-world evidence
• Priority setting for evidence tools
• Guideline development
• Building capacity for dissemination and implementation

Enjoy South Africa’s cultural highlights…

• Meet colleagues and network at the Welcome Reception and Gala Dinner
• Join one of the many sightseeing tours of our country
• and leave us knowing how to gumboot dance!

We look forward to seeing you at the first-ever Global Evidence Summit! Monday, June 5, 2017

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) aims to improve the quality of health care for South Africans.  The SAMRC’s Cochrane Centre recently procured a national Cochrane Library licence that will make evidence-based scientific reviews accessible to healthcare decision makers in South Africa. 

This collaboration between Wiley and the SAMRC offers free access, through IP recognition, to the Cochrane Library throughout South Africa. This has been made possible by funding from the SAMRC, and will enable all South Africans to access the gold-standard in evidence-based healthcare research. The national licence will commence in June 2017.

“This licence means that healthcare practitioners will have sustained access to reliable and unbiased Cochrane Reviews in order to apply well-informed decisions at the point of care to deliver quality healthcare to patients,” says Cochrane South Africa Director Professor Charles Wiysonge. “We also know that systematic reviews of the evidence, such as those produced by Cochrane, can guide decision makers in the development of policies and clinical practice guidelines.”  

Although some universities and hospitals have had access to the Cochrane Library, by way of institutional subscriptions, most healthcare practitioners are not directly affiliated with these institutions leaving access to the Cochrane Library largely unavailable in clinical settings. Similarly, government technical teams and healthcare workers, responsible for developing and implementing policies and guidelines, have limited access to the Cochrane Library and therefore do not always have easy access to evidence-based information for decision making.

“A national licence for South Africa will ensure that all those looking for reliable, up-to-date evidence on healthcare interventions, would have simple ‘one-click’ access without discrimination,” says SAMRC President, Professor Glenda Gray. “This will be of specific benefit to the many doctors and nurses working under less than ideal circumstances in rural and remote areas of South Africa.”

Cochrane Reviews provide reliable and unbiased evidence through the identification, assessment, synthesis, and dissemination of research findings. The Cochrane Library houses more than 7000 systematic reviews. The national licence in South Africa will provide students, practitioners, researchers, and patients with one-click access to this leading resource in evidence-based research. Subject areas include pregnancy, mental health, cancer, paediatric care, surgical procedures, public health, plus many more.

To date, 506 South African researchers have contributed to Cochrane research.  It is hoped that increased access will also encourage young researchers to engage further with evidence-based research.

Who can access the Library?

All South Africans who need to make a health-related decision will have one-click access.

Who will benefit?

Making a healthcare decision based on best available evidence will benefit anyone who uses the Cochrane Library. This might include civil society, healthcare providers, policy makers, managers and educators, students, and parents.

What is Cochrane evidence and how can it help you?

 

Cochrane Reviews are systematic reviews of primary research in health care and health policy. They investigate the effects of interventions for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. They are published online in the Cochrane Library.

A systematic review addresses a clearly formulated question. For example: can antibiotics help in alleviating the symptoms of a sore throat?

To answer this question, we search for and collate all the existing primary research on the topic that meets certain criteria; then we assess it using stringent guidelines, to establish whether or not there is conclusive evidence about a specific treatment.

Cochrane Reviews are peer reviewed, dynamic, and updated regularly. This ensures that treatment decisions can be based on the most up-to-date, reliable evidence.

 About Cochrane South Africa (http://www.mrc.ac.za/cochrane/cochrane.htm)
Cochrane South Africa (CSA), an intramural research unit of the SAMRC, was established in 1997 and is part of The Cochrane Collaboration. The CSA is currently one of 15 Cochrane Centres worldwide and the only Centre in Africa. The Centre’s vision is that healthcare decision-making within Africa will be informed by high-quality, timely, and relevant research evidence.

About Cochrane (www.cochrane.org)
Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers, and people interested in health.

Cochrane produces reviews which study all of the best available evidence generated through research and make it easier to inform decisions about health. These are called systematic reviews. Cochrane is a not-for-profit organization with collaborators from more than 130 countries working together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest. Our work is recognised as representing an international gold standard for high-quality, trusted information.

The Cochrane Library is published by Wiley.

About Wiley
Wiley, a global company, helps people and organizations develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. Our online scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, combined with our digital learning, assessment, and certification solutions help universities, learned societies, businesses, governments, and individuals increase the academic and professional impact of their work. For more than 200 years, we have delivered consistent performance to our stakeholders. The company's website can be accessed at www.wiley.com.

Media enquiries:

Michelle Galloway
Communications Officer
Tel: +27 (0) 84 604 4955
Fax: +27 21 938 0836
E-mail: michelle.galloway@mrc.ac.za

Keletso Ratsela
Media Strategist
Tel: +27 (0) 71 214 5272
Fax: +27 21 938 0676
E-mail: kratsela@mrc.ac.za

Saturday, June 3, 2017

31 May is World No Tobacco Day. It is organized by the World Health Organization to highlight the health and other risks associated with tobacco use, and advocate for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.

In support of World No Tobacco Day, the Cochrane Library presents a Special Collection which highlights a selection of new or recently updated clinically relevant Cochrane Reviews that address tobacco addiction in the general population. There is free access to all reviews included. The Cochrane Reviews in this collection are maintained by the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group, and you can find more information about the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group’s work to ensure that interventions to treat or prevent tobacco addiction are supported by good-quality evidence that can inform healthcare policy at their website.

Featured Evidence:

• Featured Review: Different doses, durations and modes of delivery of nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation
• Featured Review: Nicotine replacement therapy versus control for smoking cessation
• Featured Review: Psychosocial interventions to support pregnant women to stop smoking
• Featured Review: Individual, family, and school-level interventions targeting multiple risk behaviours in young people

Additional resources

• Find answers to various questions about smoking cessation on Cochrane Clinical Answers
• All of the Cochrane Reviews produced on smoking
• Visit the Cochrane Tobacco and Addiction website

Thursday, May 30, 2019

31 May is World No Tobacco Day. It is organized by the World Health Organization to draw attention to the health risks associated with the use of tobacco and what can still be done to reduce tobacco consumption around the world.

In support of World No Tobacco Day 2017, the Cochrane Library presents an updated Special Collection which highlights a selection of new or recently updated clinically relevant Cochrane Reviews that address tobacco addiction in the general population. There is free access to all reviews included.

Other Cochrane evidence resources for World No Tobacco Day:

Help to quit smoking: Nicotine receptor partial agonists

Psychosocial interventions for supporting women to stop smoking in pregnancy

Tobacco packaging design for reducing tobacco use

Help to quit smoking nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)

Legislative smoking bands: do they benefit health?

Help to quit smoking: E-cigarettes

Help to quit smoking: Motivational interviewing

Help to quit smoking: behavioural support

Helping smokers quit before surgery

Nursing interventions for smoking cessation.

Institutional smoking bans

Mobile phone-based interventions to help people quit smoking.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Cochrane is delighted to announce that Cochrane Austria has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by being awarded full, independent Centre status.

Opened in 2010 as a branch of Cochrane, Cochrane Austria consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located in the Department for Evidence-based Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at the Danube University, Krems.

Cochrane Austria will continue to promote evidence-based decision making in health care in Austria and the region by supporting and training new authors of Cochrane Reviews, as well as working with clinicians, professional associations, policy-makers, patients, and the media to encourage the dissemination and use of Cochrane evidence.

Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health. Cochrane works with collaborators from more than 130 countries to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest.  Cochrane’s work is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

Cochrane Austria, situated at the Danube University Krems, will be co-ordinated and led by Director, Prof. Gerald Garlehner and Associate Director, Barbara Nussbaumer-Streit, who, together with their team, will offer methodological support, mentoring, and supervision to Cochrane members from the whole region.

Director, Prof. Gerald Garlehner, says this is a hugely exciting opportunity: “The launch of Cochrane Austria as a full Centre is very important, both to Austria and globally. Producing and increasing the dissemination of the best available information on health care is critical for clinicians and patients everywhere in the world, including Austria. Being awarded full Centre status means that we will now have the opportunity to expand the scope and impact of our Cochrane activities.” He added, “Becoming a Centre is a great honour that acknowledges our achievements of the past, like the successful hosting of the 23rd Cochrane Colloquium in Vienna in 2015.”

Associate Director Barbara Nussbaumer-Streit added, “We are also very proud of our Medizin-Transparent.at project which answers questions about medical claims made by the media in easy to read blog posts. With more than 1.5 million visits per year, it has led to a huge increase in the reach and impact of Cochrane’s profile and work across Austria.”

Cochrane’s CEO Mark Wilson welcomed the news: “I am delighted that we are announcing the launch of Cochrane Austria as a full Centre. The team’s impact in dissemination, knowledge transfer, combined with their continued development of Cochrane authors has been outstanding. Thanks to the growing base of our collaborators from the Danube University in Krems, we’re delighted to recognize the achievements of Cochrane Austria, and now welcome them as one of 17 Cochrane Centres internationally, committed to the fullest range of Cochrane activities.”  

 For more information on the work of Cochrane Austria, please visit http://austria.cochrane.org

--END--

For further information, please contact,

Jo Anthony
Senior Media and Communications Manager, Cochrane
M +44(0) 7582 726 634 E janthony@cochrane.org or pressoffice@cochrane.org

Find out more at Cochrane.org

About Cochrane
Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health.

Cochrane produces reviews which study all of the best available evidence generated through research and make it easier to inform decisions about health. These are called systematic reviews.

Cochrane is a not-for-profit organization with collaborators from more than 130 countries working together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest. Our work is recognised as representing an international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

Find out more at cochrane.org

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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

The first Cochrane-REWARD prizes for reducing waste in research have just been awarded. This year’s winners were the Adding Value in Research programme of the English National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Systematic Review Center for animal Experimentation (SYRCLE) in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) Initiative coordinated in Liverpool, England. The ceremony took place during the 5th World Conference on Research Integrity in Amsterdam on May 30th. The prize, of GBP 2500, recognizes local or pilot initiatives that could lead to reductions in research waste. Given the high standard of the 18 applicants, the panel decided to award three prizes this year, with SYRCLE and COMET being awarded a joint second prize.

NIHR’s Adding Value in Research programme aims to ensure that research funded by the NIHR addresses questions that are relevant to clinicians, patients and the public; uses appropriate design and methods; is delivered efficiently; results in accessible full publication; and produces unbiased and useable reports. It therefore matches the key goals of the REWARD campaign in tackling waste at every stage of research. Examples of activities promoted by the programme include requiring funding applications for primary research to reference systematic reviews showing what is already known on a topic; ensuring NIHR-funded research is fully reported; and involving patients not only on funding committees but also in monitoring trials.

SYRCLE undertakes teaching, coaching and research about systematic reviews of animal studies. These activities are designed to improve the reliability of laboratory animal research and its relevance for patients. Systematic reviews help to make existing evidence more transparent, prevent duplication, and identify knowledge gaps. Since commencing the systematic reviews of animal studies, Radboud University has seen a 35% drop in animals used, and the Netherlands 15% lower. Started in the Netherlands, SYRCLE is building a global network of ambassadors to promote its work.

The COMET Initiative brings together people interested in the development and application of agreed standardised sets of research outcomes, known as ‘core outcome sets’, relevant to health service users and clinicians. These outcome sets represent the minimum that should be measured and reported in all clinical trials of treatments for a specific condition, and can also be used in clinical audits. Use of COMET’s core outcome sets facilitates comparability of trials and use in systematic reviews. Importantly COMET has two current initiatives: (i) a funder (NIHR) requests trial applications check and refer to COMET, and (ii) with a trials registry (ISRCTN) to provide advice at the time of registration.

The Cochrane-REWARD Prize will be awarded again in 2018. Details for applicants for the 2018 prize will be announced late 2017.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Keen to get experience with systematic reviews, but not sure where to start? Or perhaps you’re already experienced, and want to help out? Can you help with translations? 

TaskExchange is an online platform that connects people needing help with their systematic review with people who have the time and skills to help. A variety of tasks are posted on the platform, from literature searching, article screening and translation and data extraction, to statistical analysis, and consumer reviews. Whether you’re a complete beginner or very experienced, you’re bound to find a task that suits you! Any tasks completed count towards a Cochrane Membership.

Thilo von Groote, author of 'Novel Coronavirus Infection (COVID-19) in Humans: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis'  says, "We were only able to recruit such a skilled team of systematic reviewers in such a short time due to Cochrane's TaskExchange. Also, most of of use were trained by Cochrane. We have members of Cochrane Iran, Cochrane Croatia, and Cochrane Kidney and Transplant on the author team."

COVID-19 specific tasks will be posted in the coming weeks.  We invite you to get started today with TaskExchange - sign up, browse the tasks, and respond to the tasks that catch your eye!

 

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Growing evidence to support the use of patient decision aids

Deciding on the best treatment or screening option can be hard. People can use decision aids when there is more than one option and neither is clearly better or when options have benefits and harms that people value differently. Decision aids may be pamphlets, videos, or web-based tools. They state the decision, describe the options, and help people think about the options from a personal view (e.g. how important are possible benefits and harms).

A team of Cochrane authors based in Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and the United States worked with Cochrane Consumers and Communication to investigate the effects of decision aids on people facing health treatment or screening decisions. 18 new studies were added to a previous version of this review, bringing the total to 105 studies, involving 31,043 people. The decision aids focused on 50 different decisions; 89 studies evaluated a patient decision aid used by people in preparation for the visit with the clinician, and 16 studies evaluated its use during the visit with the clinician.

Compared to usual care across a wide variety of decision contexts, people exposed to decision aids feel more knowledgeable, better informed, and clearer about their values, and they probably have a more active role in decision making and more accurate risk perceptions. There is growing evidence that decision aids may improve values-congruent choices. There are no adverse effects on health outcomes or satisfaction. New for this update is evidence indicating improved knowledge and accurate risk perceptions when decision aids are used either within or in preparation for the consultation. Further research is needed on the effects on adherence with the chosen option, cost-effectiveness, and use with lower literacy populations.

The original review was published in 2001 and it was last updated in 2014. “Updating this Review was important because there have been health policy changes in several countries since 2010 that require shared decision making and better patient engagement in health decisions. For example, the 2014 NICE Guidelines for Patient Experience recommend the use of high-quality patient decision aids for adults facing treatment or screening decisions and reference this Review,” says Dr Dawn Stacey, the lead author of the Cochrane Review. “We added 18 new studies to this update. This brought our total to 105 included studies and we had enough trials to conduct a sub-analysis that compared outcomes for patient decision aids used in preparation for the consultation versus in the consultation. Our findings showed that patient decision aids improve knowledge and realistic expectations without any difference between timing in their use.”

“A project stemming from this Cochrane Review is hosting the international inventory of patient decision aids rated against the International Patent Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) criteria. We originally presented this information as a table in the Cochrane Review but we moved the inventory to a website so that it is accessible to the public and searchable,” added Dr. Stacey. “It’s a great resource for patients, caregivers, clinicians, and policy makers. Given the evidence supporting use of decision aids, we hope that they will be more widely used in clinical practice.”

• Read the full Cochrane Review
• Read the Plain Language Summary - Spanish, French, Malay, Russian, Chinese,
• Visit the Cochrane Consumers and Communication website
• Search the A to Z Inventory of patient decision aids

 

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Cochrane Japan has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by moving from a Cochrane Associate Centre to being awarded full, independent Centre status – one of only two full Centres in Asia-Pacific. 

The Centre consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located at the National Centre for Child Health and Development (NCCHD) in Tokyo, Japan.

Cochrane Japan, part of Cochrane since 2014, will continue to promote evidence-based decision making in health care in Japan by supporting and training new authors of Cochrane Reviews, as well as working with clinicians, professional associations, policy-makers, patients, and the media to encourage the dissemination and use of Cochrane evidence.

 

Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health. Cochrane works with collaborators from more than 130 countries to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest, and our evidence is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high-quality, trusted information.

Cochrane Japan’s Director Rintaro Mori says this is a hugely exciting opportunity: “The launch of Cochrane Japan as a full Centre is very important, both to Japan and globally. Japan is the world’s third-biggest economy with most developed healthcare sectors. The Centre has been recognized for its promotion of Cochrane evidence, produced and published in Japan, and this will not only simply increase the amount of evidence, but also promote sharing of clinical experiences across the region. In a time where this are concerns about misinformation on health topics in Japan, we are excited to increase our reach and highlight trusted Cochrane evidence.”

Rintaro Mori added, “This is an excellent opportunity for scientific growth, and gives us the chance to train students and a future generation that will develop high-quality research. Our chance to support health professionals in improving their decision-making based on the best available evidence will support patient care across Japan. We intend to collaborate in the dissemination of Cochrane Reviews and to continue supporting Cochrane to reach its 2020 strategic objectives.”

Cochrane’s CEO Mark Wilson, welcomed today’s news. “I am delighted we are announcing the launch of Cochrane Japan as a full Centre, the highest recognition of a Cochrane group. Cochrane Japan’s impact in dissemination, knowledge transfer, combined with their continued development of Cochrane authors, has been outstanding. Thanks to the growing base of our collaborators, and tremendous support from The National Centre for Child Health and Development (NCCHD) in Tokyo, we’re delighted to recognize these achievements, and now welcome them as one of 17 Cochrane Centres internationally, committed to the fullest range of Cochrane activities. The work of Dr Rintaro Mori and his team will deepen and expand the scope, reach, and impact of Cochrane activities on health and healthcare decision making not only in Japan but throughout Asia.”

For more information on the work of Cochrane Japan, please visit http://japan.cochrane.org/

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Specifications:  Full Time or Part Time, Permanent
Salary:Dependant on Experience,
Location:Flexible location
Application Closing Date: 23 June 2017

Cochrane Response is Cochrane’s evidence consultancy unit, providing a broad range of literature review and evidence synthesis services to international policy makers, guideline developers and research organisations, to support evidence-informed healthcare decision making. We provide tailored evidence synthesis services, responding to commissioners’ needs on a project by project basis. We work closely with Cochrane networks to increase Cochrane’s capacity to respond to requests for commissioned evidence reviews and tailored evidence services.

Cochrane is a global independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making the vast amounts of evidence generated through research useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by identifying, appraising and synthesizing individual research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. The primary results of this work are Cochrane Systematic Reviews, recognised by healthcare professionals, policy makers and patients as the benchmark for high-quality information about the effectiveness of treatment interventions.

This is an exciting opportunity to become part of the systematic review team for Cochrane Response. Reporting to the Systematic Review Manager and team leader you will provide a range of systematic review tasks to support the delivery of commissioned systematic reviews, responding to commissioners’ needs on a project by project basis. Systematic review tasks include protocol development, publication screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment, meta-analyses, interpretation of results and report writing, and performing GRADE and Summary of Findings.

The Ideal Candidate will have:

• First degree in related field e.g. medical sciences, biology, statistics and ideally, a higher degree relevant to research area or equivalent qualifications.
• 4+ years of relevant experience in systematic reviews.
• Publication of at least one Cochrane Review, with responsibilities in data extraction and assimilation.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment within generally defined practices and policies that lead to methods or processes for obtaining results.
• Good organization and planning skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and communication skills (both written and oral).
• Excellent presentation skills.
• Ability to problem solve and delegate appropriate tasks to subordinates.
• Able to collaborate effectively with the project team, and experience in working with deadlines.
• Adaptable and flexible to changing business and customer needs.
• Proficient IT skills, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, EndNote and RevMan.
• Knowledge of CMA, STATA, R, WinBugs or SAS advantageous
• Able to travel internationally.

The full job description is available here: Job Description

If you would like to apply for this position, please send a CV along with a supporting statement, your interest in a full time or part time position, and your salary expectations to recruitment@cochrane.org with “Systematic Reviewer Cochrane Response” in the subject line.  The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements for the post outlined in the job description using specific examples.  List your experience, achievements, knowledge, personal qualities and skills which you feel are relevant to the post.

Deadline for applications: 23 June 2017

Wednesday, May 24, 2017 Category: Jobs

A group of researchers, including two Cochrane founding members, has designed and run a trial which evaluates an intervention designed to teach primary school children to assess claims about the effects of health treatments. The trial included 10,000 children in more than 120 primary schools in the central region of Uganda, and used a combination comic book and textbook to provide information to students. A linked study targeted parents, testing the effectiveness of a podcast series on their ability to assess health claims.

The Lancet has published a series of articles and media resources about the trial and the results. For complete information, please see the following links:

Press release: THE LANCET: Health literacy lessons help children make sense of health claims, study finds

Effects of the Informed Health Choices primary school intervention on the ability of children in Uganda to assess the reliability of claims about treatment effects: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Effects of the Informed Health Choices podcast on the ability of parents of primary school children in Uganda to assess claims about treatment effects: a randomised controlled trial

 

Wednesday, May 24, 2017