Contact us
Email: ecp@cochrane.org
Twitter: @CochraneECP
Newsletter
Subscribe to our Newsletter for a ‘one-stop-shop’ of resources, training, events, opportunities, features, blogs relevant to Early Career Researchers. Register for a Cochrane Account > My account > Communications tab > Sign up for all of the newsletters you’re interested in, including the Early Career Professionals Network newsletter.
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
Our mission
This group aims to provide its members opportunities to enhance their knowledge, skills, and expertise by providing a platform for international networking with early career professionals or other members in the Cochrane community. We aim to focus on the development of leadership skills for the early career members of the Cochrane community and encourage active involvement of the Early Career Professionals in shaping the mission and vision of the Cochrane community.
Core objectives
All the activities of Cochrane Early Career Professionals Network could be classified in four ‘core objectives’:
- International networking by exchanging knowledge, experiences, and ideas members, promoting interaction between the members, and improving possibilities for research collaborations.
- Representing trainees by facilitating close collaboration with the Cochrane community, allowing active involvement of Early Career Professional Cochrane members in shaping the mission and vision of the Cochrane community.
- Active patient involvement by exploring how we, as a scientific community, can better explore the collaboration with (younger) patients in projects and research.
- Knowledge translation by investigating ways in which Cochrane reviews are used and how we can maximise the dissemination of results, in collaboration with the Cochrane community.
Activities
The Early Career Professionals Network hosts regular activities, including Journal Clubs, Online Meetups, as well as active involvement at the annual Cochrane Colloquium.
Recordings of Past Events: Check out the Early Career Professionals playlist on Cochrane's Youtube channel for recordings of past Journal Clubs and Online Meetups.
We welcome any feedback on how the Early Career Professionals Network can better serve its members and community and suggestions for new activities. Please feel free to contact us at ecp@cochrane.org.
#WhereAreTheyNow series
We have launched a series called #WhereAreTheyNow alongside the #MyCochraneStory initiative to showcase the different career paths and opportunities available to ECPs. The goal is to 1) help early career professionals in their decision making for their career and get inspired from the stories of Cochrane members with more experience, and 2) feature middle-career researchers and celebrate their dedication to Cochrane.
If you are a mid-career Cochrane member (broadly defined as someone 5-10 years beyond their PhD or last degree with a research track record) and would like to be featured, please download the questionnaire and return it, along with a headshot, to audrey.tan@ucl.ac.uk.
Steering group
Dr Elpida Vounzoulaki (Chair)
Dr Elpida Vounzoulaki is a Postdoctoral Epidemiologist at the Leicester Real World Evidence Unit, Diabetes Research Centre, University of Leicester. She has a solid background in clinical practice and research, having graduated with a BSc(Hons) in Nursing, an MSc in Medical Research, and a PhD in Diabetes Epidemiology. Recently, Elpida has been awarded the prestigious NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement (DSE) Award to enhance her skills in health data science, particularly around Artificial Intelligence. Her primary interests include cardiometabolic complications, women’s health conditions and real world epidemiology. Elpida is the current Chair of this group.
Twitter: @Elpida_Vnz
Ahmad Sofi Mahmudi
Ahmad is a dentist, graduated from Shahid Beheshti Dental School in Tehran, Iran. He is working as a member of Cochrane Iran steering group and the manager of volunteer translators. Also, he is a steering member of Oral Health Department of Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center (NCDRC) of Iran, founder and manager of Dahaan project (delivering evidence-informed dentistry recommendations to the Iranian community), and a member of the Informed Health Choices (IHC) project. His areas of interest are evidence-informed healthcare, health policy and management, and oral health inequalities.
Twitter: @AhmadSofiM
Ana Beatriz Pizarro
Ana Beatriz Pizarro is a Nurse by training from Colombia, with expertise in evidence synthesis, systematic review methods, and knowledge translation initiatives with a commitment to health equity, and diversity. Certified in Clinical Research through the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She currently works as Future of Evidence Synthesis Implementation Officer at the Cochrane Central Executive Team and is affiliated with the Department of Health Systems of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), She is interested in improving and protecting the quality of life of families and communities in the global south. She is a past member of the Editorial Board of the Cochrane Library.
Twitter: @anabeatrizpizar
João Vitor Ziroldo Lopes
I am a medical doctor from the University of São Paulo Medical School in Brazil, graduated in 2023. My main interests are Internal Medicine and Medical Education, focusing primarily on evidenced based use of laboratorial exams. I've got in contact with Cochrane during my medical formation via its online courses and lectures and tried as much as possible to engage in evidence based healthcare. My main goals are to promote a more accessible and guided approach to evidence for students all over the world during their formation.
Twitter: @JoaoZiroldo
Dr Vaibhav Sahni
Dr Vaibhav Sahni holds dual specialisations in the fields of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery as well as Periodontics. He also holds the MFDS RCPS (Glasg), MFDS RCSEd, MFDS RCS(Eng) and the FDS RCS(Eng). His areas of expertise include, in addition to the general purview of oral health, maxillofacial injuries, point of care diagnostics, oral-systemic interactions, host-microbial interactions, the resolution of inflammation as well as computational systems as they relate to oral health and rehabilitation.
Dr Alexis Ceecee Britten-Jones
Dr Alexis ‘Ceecee’ Britten-Jones is a postdoctoral research fellow in ophthalmology and vision research at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her primary research foci are genetic eye diseases and gene therapy. Her broader research interests include clinical trial design and outcomes, research implementation, and evidence synthesis methodology. As a clinician-optometrist, Ceecee is passionate about developing practical methods to bridge the gap between evidence and clinical care implementation. Ceecee is also a strong advocate for effective science communication and is open to engagement and collaboration with others in the Cochrane networks.
Twitter: @alexisceecee
Dr Ariel Yuhan Ong
Ariel is an NIHR doctoral fellow at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, and senior ophthalmology registrar at the Oxford Eye Hospital. She has been involved in the Cochrane community since 2016, and has led two reviews with the Cochrane Eyes and Vision group. Her doctoral research focuses on the clinical validation, safety and bias of artificial intelligence diagnostics, using ophthalmology as an exemplar. Her broader research interests include retinal diseases, retinal imaging, and evidence synthesis.
Twitter: @ArielYHOng
Amin Sharifan
Amin is a PhD candidate at the University for Continuing Education Krems. With a background as a PharmD hospital pharmacist, he has clinical experience in patient care across various settings, including the vascular surgery, urology, and neurosurgery wards, as well as the intensive care unit and the emergency department. Within Cochrane, Amin serves as a spoke leader for the Cochrane Planetary Health Thematic Group. He has collaborated with several groups, including the Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group, contributing to the latest findings from the LIVING VACCINE Project, and working with Cochrane Sweden on various initiatives. His contributions also encompass writing Cochrane Clinical Answers and creating informative blogs for Cochrane First Aid. Amin is committed to engaging with patient consumers in his projects, ensuring their perspectives are integrated into his work. He believes that evidence-based medicine can bridge the gap between the medical community and the general public, and he is dedicated to promoting its principles through his professional endeavours.
Twitter: @Amin_Sharifan
Soumya Shivananda
Soumya is a research assistant in the health data privacy group at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, Germany. She strives in identifying the needs of primary stakeholders in electronic health records (EHR) and is committed to drive innovation and efficiency in healthcare delivery. She is originally from India and earned her medical degree from Dr. DY Patil Medical College and Research Centre, Pune, India, and pursued her Masters in Epidemiology at Utrecht University, Netherlands. She has previously worked in various health and nutrition based industries. Beyond her career pursuits, she finds joy in expressing herself through singing.
Twitter : @SShivananda3094
Dr Bahaaeldin Baraka
I am Bahaaeldin Baraka, currently working as an Oncologist at Nottingham University Hospitals. Over the course of several years, I have accumulated substantial experience in the comprehensive care of cancer patients and have actively contributed to cancer research.I have been deeply involved in numerous Phase III clinical trials related to cancer as a sub-investigator. Additionally, my contributions extend to published research within the domain of oncology. My primary areas of focus revolve around conducting systematic reviews and evaluating the quality of evidence in the context of cancer guidelines, as well as enhancing patient care.
Dr Lucy Elauteri Mrema
Meet Lucy, a diabetes researcher from Tanzania. I am a Ph.D. student and researcher at the National Institute for Medical Research - Mbeya. I am passionate about diabetes research in sub Saharan Africa. My work is focused on understanding the unique sociodemographic factors, environment and biological factors and its impact on diabetes care in the region.
Twitter: @Mrema_lucy
Etienne Ngeh
Etienne Ngeh is a trained Cameroonian Physiotherapist and Cardiac Rehabilitation Specialist. He is the Head of Physiotherapy Department St. Louis University Bamenda, Cameroon and leads the Physiotherapy service of the Regional Hospital Bamenda. He is the founder and promoter of the Research Organization for Health Education and Rehabilitation-Cameroon. He joined the Early Career Professionals Network in 2019, currently working with other members to revamp the Africa Regional and Cameroon working groups.
Twitter: @ngehetienne
Samuel Reeves
Sam is a specialty registrar in orthodontics at King's College London. He has previously worked in paediatric dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery, during which he led research on the ability of artificial neural networks to predict the risk of post-operative complications for cancer patients undergoing major head and neck surgery. More recently, he has published extensively on gender disparities within academia and publishing within dentistry and surgery, and has provided teaching for Health Education England trainees on conducting non-clinical research during full-time training. His current research interest involves action to reduce unnecessary research and wasted resources, specifically by implementing 'Living' systematic reviews utilising artificial intelligence within the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Thank you to our past members:
Alejandro Hernández Posadas, Ibrahem Hanafi, Mariam Alwerdani, Meisser Madera Anaya, Tom Calberbank, Wouter Timmerman, Audrey Tan, Daniel A. González-Padilla, Jana Stojanova, Dolly Sud, Eugenie Johnson, Cecilie Utke Rank, Joel Pollet, Santiago Castiello, Robin Vernooij, Amena El-Harakeh, Emma Doble, Yamikani Chimwaza, Sandul Yasobant, Anna Harvey.
