Welcome to new members
The Governing Board met twice in December. At the first meeting on 5 December, Joerg Meerpohl, Giordano Perez-Gaxiola and Vanessa Jordan were welcomed to their first meeting after being elected to the Governing Board. Emma Persad was congratulated on being re-elected to the Board.
Joerg, Giordano and Vanessa have all made significant contributions to Cochrane in a number of different ways, learn more about new and other members of the Governing Board here.
Report from the Chief Executive Officer
At each meeting of the Governing Board, Catherine Spencer presents a report which summarises operational activity across the organisation. Catherine reported that the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework developed by the Executive Leadership Team and the Wider Leadership Team helped to develop a plan for implementing the strategy, allowing teams to prioritise more effectively and to see where all of our work contributes to the high level goals set out in the Strategy.
Report from the Editor in Chief
Karla Soares-Weiser presented the Editor in Chief’s report which included an update from the Editorial Board and some metrics around proposals, submissions and key achievements in the Central Editorial Service as well as plans for long-term sustainability. Karla also updated the Board on recent developments with Cochrane’s involvement in the establishment of a Global Evidence Synthesis Community.
Other item on the agenda included reports from the Governance and Nominations Committee, the Product Development Oversight Committee and the Future of Evidence Synthesis Committee which all met during October and November.
Budget and plan 2025
Nigel Jones, the newly appointed treasurer presented the budget and plan for 2025 at a second meeting of the Governing Board held on 10 December. Nigel reminded members of the Governing Board that all they all share responsibility for protecting the charity’s money, ensuring that adequate controls are in place and that resources are spent only on charitable activity.
After discussion, the Governing Board approved the plan and budget for 2025. The Board recognised that a lot of work had gone into developing the budget and thanked Casey Early, Director of Finance and Corporate Services, and his team for overseeing such a thorough process.
Implementing the Scientific Strategy
A proposal for establishing two pilot projects which will demonstrate Cochrane’s ability to deliver on the Scientific Strategy was approved too. Additional resources from strategic reserves will be used to develop scalable projects to address global health priorities, strengthen partnerships with local communities and policymakers and build a compelling case to attract additional funding.
The proposed pilots will focus on two areas:
- Dengue in Brazil – addressing the health impacts of climate-sensitive vector-borne diseases and
- Infant Mortality in India – targeting maternal and child health challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The Governing Board thanked Karla and colleagues for developing an exciting proposal, the pilot projects will demonstrate how Cochrane's high-quality evidence can contribute to achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Roadmap towards Open Access
Laura Ingle, Director of Publishing and Technology, gave an update on the roadmap towards Open Access that has been agreed with Wiley. The roadmap includes a number of different work steams which will allow us to achieve our Open Access ambitions in a measured way. Good progress has been made with the public access licensing strategy which will enable more access for more people worldwide. Protocols and Editorials will be published Open Access from 2025.
Cochrane events
Nicky Benn, Director of External Affairs, gave an update on some of the events planned for 2025-2029. Cochrane (the charitable company, staffed by the Central Executive Team) hosts, co-hosts, participates in or attends many events as a strategic investment to further the mission and operational goals of the organization.
Cochrane Groups (Geographic Groups, Evidence Synthesis Units, Fields, Review Groups and Thematic Groups) host, co-host, participate in and attend many events on behalf of the Cochrane community too.
Plans for the 2026 Colloquium in India are progressing well and a schedule for annual events in 2027, 2028 and 2029 is in development. The Request for Proposal (RFP) to host a Colloquium in regions where there is an active Cochrane Group to provide local support will be issued at least 20 months in advance.
The Governing Board will meet again in March at a face to face meeting to be held in Manchester, UK.