Cancellation of Cochrane’s Governance Meetings, Manchester 2020

Dear Colleagues, 

As a result of the increasing travel restrictions being placed upon our delegates, and the continued spread and impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) across the world, Cochrane’s Governance Meetings in Manchester between 30th March - 1st April have been cancelled. We realize that this will be disappointing for many people; we share your disappointment.

Despite over 190 Group leaders and staff having originally registered, we are aware that employers and national governments are imposing travel restrictions and many of them are now no longer able to attend, or are increasingly concerned about doing so. We expect the number of people who are unable to make it to Manchester to increase rapidly, particularly for those colleagues travelling internationally. We are also aware that the number of people testing positive for the virus in the UK is rising, and whilst current Public Health England and the UK government advice remains the same, it is likely that guidance will change and become more restrictive over the coming weeks.

Cochrane’s Governance Meetings are an annual opportunity for leaders and executives from across our global organization to meet in person to discuss and agree strategic priorities and plans for the years ahead. We were all particularly looking forward to meeting together in Manchester after the disappointment of the cancellation of Cochrane’s Santiago Colloquium in October 2019. However, we are aware of our duty of care to Cochrane members and staff, and the increasing risks associated with the spread of the coronavirus in the coming weeks. Therefore, following a recommendation by the Senior Management Team, the Governing Board has decided to cancel all Strategic Sessions, Group Executive, the General Meeting for members and all other business meetings.

It is not feasible or appropriate to recreate the Governance Meetings in a virtual event format, so we will be considering how best to achieve the objectives of the different components of the meetings using remote working. This may involve some business meetings being held as a series of shorter teleconferences - and some of these may be scheduled in the original timetable (30 March – 1 April) - but in other cases a fundamentally different approach may be appropriate: for example, conducting consultation exercises by survey, focus groups and interviews to ensure the widest and most effective participation for people in different time zones across the world. More information will follow from the Central Executive Team in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, should you have any immediate concerns or questions, please contact admin@cochrane.org. You should cancel relevant travel tickets and accommodation bookings. Guidance and advice will follow soon on reclaiming funds from Cochrane that are not refunded to you, should you wish to make a claim.

The Board and Senior Management Team share the huge disappointment that it has been necessary to cancel this year’s Governance Meetings. However, we are all in agreement that this is the most appropriate decision given the ongoing global health situation.

We thank you for your understanding and hope that you all stay safe and well.  

With our very best wishes,

Martin Burton & Catherine Marshall
Co-Chairs, on behalf of the Governing Board

11 March 2020

The Cochrane Council aims to ensure that Cochrane Groups retain an effective voice in Cochrane’s leadership and strategic decision-making.

We are delighted to welcome Jo Morrison as new Coordinating Editor representative, Vanessa Jordan as new Authors representative and Sarah Nevitt as new Methods representative.

Jo is a gynaecological cancer surgeon and she has been Coordinating Editor for Gynaecological, Neuro-oncology and Orphan Cancer (GNOC) Group since 2011. She has experience of governance and management within the NHS and as a Council member on the British Gynaecological Cancer Society. She works on a national guidelines committee and lead a guideline development group, involving multi-disciplinary members.

Vanessa is an Author with Cochrane New Zealand and she has been involved with Cochrane for 16 years. She is a methodologist specialising in systematic reviews, and she trains authors on how to write systematic reviews in New Zealand, Australia and China. She is currently an author on 19 reviews which includes, 10 published reviews (9 interventional and 1 diagnostic), 5 published protocols (including a network meta-analysis) with a further 3 reviews and 1 protocol close to publication.

Sarah is a Research Associate in the Institute of Translational Medicine at the University of Liverpool, UK. She has been an active Cochrane author and Cochrane Methods enthusiast since 2011 and is currently the Statistical Editor of the Cochrane Epilepsy Group and the Cochrane Neuromuscular Group. She is also an active member of the Mental Health and Neuroscience Network.

In addition to the new appointments, we are pleased to inform our Community that Gail Quinn, Rene Spijker, Lotty Hooft, Erik von Elm and Miranda Langendam have all been re-elected for a second term on the Council which will end in February 2023.

Our special thanks to Maria Ximena Rojas-Reyes, Graziella Filippini and Yemisi Takwoingi for their contribution to the work of the Council in the past three years.

We seek applications to five vacant positions on the Cochrane Scientific Committee; two positions are for those from within the Cochrane community, two positions are for representation external to Cochrane, and one position is for an early career researcher. 

All positions start in May 2020. Please note the deadline is 25 March 2020.

This is an exciting opportunity for experienced health care researchers and systematic reviewers to contribute their skill set at an influential level within a leading evidence synthesis organization, or for an early career researcher to be mentored by the group.

What is the Cochrane Scientific Committee? 

The Cochrane Scientific Committee is involved in ensuring Cochrane stays at the forefront of methodological developments and that Cochrane Reviews use the most rigorous methods available to maintain the highest integrity of our research. 

The full Terms of Reference for the Scientific Committee is available on the Cochrane Methods website. 

As Cochrane diversifies the research questions asked it needs to ensure the methods related to those questions are robust and viable. The Scientific Committee supports this endeavour and is comprised of people in leading roles in the field with a proven track record of expertise in guiding methods development and implementation. We aim for a broad spectrum of methods expertise within the Committee and members must be committed to the highest standards of integrity within the science of systematic reviews. 

Key roles and responsibilities include:

• Assess and recommend to the Editor in Chief what methods are appropriate within Cochrane by liaising with the Methods Executive, relevant Methods Groups, methodologists from the wider field and Cochrane Review Groups.
• Act as an independent forum to discuss, debate and agree current and future methodological or scientific issues, or priorities, in Cochrane.
• Advise the Editor in Chief by bringing together a wider perspective on methodological and scientific issues. 

The Scientific Committee is comprised of up to 14 members:

• Six members from within the Cochrane community (leading members from our Methods Groups, Review Groups, Centres and Fields) with either a strong focus on methods research and development, or a strong focus on editorial skills and healthcare experience with strong methods interests.
• Six external members to provide a balanced independent focus. These people are senior experienced researchers leading within their specialist field, who have a wide knowledge of systematic review methodology, or senior experienced systematic reviewers, or editors, with a known interest and experience in methodological development. At least two of the external members will also represent stakeholders and end users of reviews e.g. agencies using Cochrane Reviews in guidelines, health research funders and those representing consumer interests.
• The Editor in Chief and Deputy Editor in Chief.
• An early career researcher who is developing a relevant methodological track record (mentored, observational position). 

The terms for full committee members will be three years and the term for the early career researcher will be one year, with annual nominations for vacancies each year. Once elected, full members (not early career researchers) can request to extend their tenure by an additional term, which is subject to Committee approval (there is a two-term limit for Committee members). 

Details of the open positions on the Cochrane Scientific Committee 

We are looking for two members from within the Cochrane community, two members external to the Cochrane community and one early career researcher to join the Scientific Committee in May 2020.

It is essential that applicants have a strong methodological interest and experience in either methods research or the application of methods or both. This will include a broad spectrum of research synthesis methods. We are also looking for applicants with additional skills in senior management of evidence producing systems, e.g. guidelines; experience with similar scientific or research committees; and health research funding, grant management or health policy. In addition, we also welcome people with relevant technological skills as technology advances within the systematic review field. 

Selection will also consider geographical location, gender and language diversity and any other equity considerations.

Role commitment: 

• A term of office for three years for full members and one year for an early career researcher
• Participation in up to three teleconferences per year. 
• Attendance at possible annual face to face meeting.
• Support all activities including statement or report writing.
• 5-8 days per year.

We are unable to provide financial remuneration for these positions, although we would cover any expenses incurred in the course of Committee activity, such as travel and accommodation, based on prior agreement.

Please note following a successful application, members will be required to complete a conflict of interest disclosure. Cochrane’s Conflict of Interests and Commercial Sponsorship Policy is available here.

Apply here

Dear Cochrane colleagues,
 
We are part of the EU-funded EVBRES COST Action that aims to encourage the use of an Evidence-Based Research (EBR) approach while carrying out clinical research. Within our Working Group we want to assess what areas of the systematic review process are most resource intensive and why. To increase our understanding of why some steps of conducting and updating a systematic review are perceived resource intensive by reviewers we conduct a qualitative study.
 
As an experienced systematic reviewer in a healthcare related area (either clinical, health services, public health or health policy) you are in an ideal position to give us valuable first hand information on the review production and update processes from your own perspective, and we would very much appreciate your participation.
 
The interviews will be conducted via Skype and take around 30 minutes. Your responses to the questions will be kept confidential. Each interview will be assigned a number code to help ensure that personal identifiers are not revealed during the analysis and write up of findings.
 
There is no compensation for participating in this study. However, your participation will be a valuable addition to our research and will contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon.
 
If you are willing to participate please let us know by filling in this short form and we will soon be in contact to schedule a meeting for the interview, based on your availability.
 
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask us (moriah.ellen@gmail.com).
 
 
Thank you,
Moriah Ellen and Barbara Nussbaumer-Streit
On behalf of EVBRES WG3

Register before the 2 July 2020 to receive the reduced early bird rate

The 2020 Cochrane Colloquium will be held at The Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Canada on the October 4-7, 2020. 

This year’s theme is ‘Rapid-learning Health Systems’, exploring approaches to improving people’s experiences and health outcomes while keeping costs manageable and health care stakeholders engaged. Rapid-learning health systems apply to all levels of health care (from clinical encounter to program, organization and system) and across all parts (from home care to primary and specialty care and public health). The Colloquium will also address the role of technology in achieving Rapid-learning health systems. More information on the theme can be found here.

To ensure that all levels of health care decision-makers feel welcome and included, we were recently excited to announce that this year’s Colloquium, will now become a Patients Included Accredited Event. The choice to make the 2020 Colloquium a Patients Included event also furthers some of the key goals identified in Cochrane’s Strategy to 2020. As Cochrane prepares a new organizational strategy beyond 2020, Cochrane Canada and the 2020 Colloquium will play a key role in launching the next phase of Cochrane’s future growth and sustainability plans. This includes continuing to bring together stakeholders under the common goal of creating better health outcomes for patients.

See how the Toronto Colloquium will meet the 5 charter criteria here.

• Register today by clicking here  (Please note that you will need to login in using your Cochrane account details).
• Registration fees
• Registration guidelines and policies 

Further information:

Website: colloquium2020.cochrane.org
Twitter:  @CochraneCanada and #CochraneToronto

January 16th and 17th - Twenty-eight people from across Cochrane (and the world) gathered together in London, UK to attend a 2-day intensive training on how to apply Cochrane’s new dissemination checklist in practice.  Led by Claire Glenton and Sarah Rosenbaum from Cochrane Norway, participants learned how to improve their dissemination products and what steps they can take in their work to maximize the impact of sharing Cochrane evidence.

Participants learned a number of new skills – from how to write in plain language, to how to avoid giving recommendations in dissemination products.  From how to interpret GRADE and Summary of Findings tables and their implications on creating dissemination products, to how to involve target audiences in the dissemination of Cochrane reviews.  There was ample time for feedback and group discussion on the barriers and facilitators to doing dissemination and to applying this checklist in practice. All of this feedback will inform how the Cochrane KT department delivers the next cohort of training, and what additional resources and trainings we provide to the Cochrane community.

The diverse group of people who made up the first cohort of this training all have a large part to play in disseminating the results of Cochrane systematic reviews to their communities. They came from Fields, Networks Cochrane Review Groups, Geographic Groups, and the Central Executive team. A large portion of the training included discussion on how this first cohort could support others to apply the checklist in practice, through sharing what they learned from attending this training.

The training also offered a valuable opportunity for this geographically dispersed group to come together to form and strengthen relationships between one another, to share their knowledge and work with one another.  These connections create a synergy that will fuel further dissemination efforts – peer-to-peer learning, not duplicating efforts, and offering possibilities for new ways for us to work together at Cochrane.

• For more information on this training, please contact Stephanie Lagosky at slagosky@cochrane.org
• Learn more about the dissemination checklist

A new paper published in BMC Research Methodology describes a novel approach for supporting collaboration between review authors and stakeholders.

The paper, published by a team of Cochrane review authors and editors, is intended to help review authors engage with stakeholders and use their expertise to consider applicability of review findings. The TRANSFER Approach supports this collaboration from the beginning of the review process so as to systematically and transparently consider factors that may influence the transferability of systematic review findings.

Lead author, Heather Munthe-Kaas, from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, notes that “This paper provides systematic review authors with a template for how to engage with decision makers and other stakeholders. All too often we conduct systematic reviews and fail to consider how the review findings will be used in real life. When we have the opportunity to discuss the review beforehand with practitioners and decision makers, we are sitting on a wealth of knowledge and expertise that we ourselves often lack. TRANSFER helps us to use stakeholder knowledge to consider context and how an intervention may work in a local context.”

The paper is intended primarily for researchers undertaking systematic reviews that will be used to inform decision making processes, but it is also relevant for decision makers and practitioners.

• Read ‘The TRANSFER Approach for assessing the transferability of systematic review findings’

In 2017, Cochrane Sweden initiated the Cochrane International Mobility Programme  to promote research projects and training periods across the Cochrane network. Modelled on the European student exchange program, Erasmus, the scheme currently on trial is aimed at giving people interested in contributing to Cochrane, the opportunity to learn from Cochrane members in different parts of the world. The scheme is the idea of Matteo Bruschettini, Centre Director of Cochrane Sweden. He tells us more about this in this short interview.

Tell us about yourself
I’m a neonatologist working at Lund University, where I am an Associate Professor of pediatrics. I first learned about systematic reviews in 2010-11, when I attended a master’s course at Instituto Mario Negri in Milan. Soon afterwards, I started to prepare my first Cochrane review, mainly in neonatology. Since its launch in 2017, I have worked as Cochrane Sweden’s director.

Can you tell us about the Cochrane International Mobility programme (CIM)?
It is an initiative which Cochrane Sweden launched at the end of 2017 to promote research projects and training periods at Cochrane Centres in other countries. It is a kind of Cochrane Erasmus program and is not limited to Europe only. The programme is for everyone engaged in health research. Though the original aim was for the program to be for students, anyone with an interest in Cochrane and our work is welcome to participate in the program.

How did it come about?
Well, the idea came to me as I wanted to develop research projects, enrich the training of medical students and to promote international relationships between Cochrane units, in line with the Cochrane principles. So, we figured out a kind of Cochrane-Erasmus initiative. A few months after the launch of Cochrane Sweden (May 2017), we explored the possibility of offering high-quality training to the medical students coming to our Centre for a 20-week research period during their last year at medical school. The first experience involved Petter who spent 4 weeks in February 2018 at Cochrane Austria. This Centre was involved because of our ongoing collaborations and because of language needs, (Petter is fluent in German). It worked very well; Petter has published two systematic reviews (one with Cochrane Austria and one with Cochrane Sweden), became co-author in an ongoing Cochrane review, introduced other medical students to Cochrane, and attended the 2018 Colloquium contributing to a presentation on how to engage medical students.

What has happened so far?
In September 2018, a colleague of Petter; Kevin, contacted me and enquired about participating in a similar program.  Kevin has spent three weeks at Cochrane Netherlands and in collaboration with them, we, with Kevin, are currently completing a systematic review. In early 2019, another student called Sandra had her 20-week period at Cochrane Sweden. She has spent four weeks in Denmark working with the Cochrane Anaesthesia, Critical and Emergency Care Review Group, resulting in Sandra along with others producing a review, which has just published.

In March 2019, Chiara, a physician, moved from Italy to Cochrane Sweden, where she spent 3 months training and conducted two reviews with us, including a Cochrane review (submitted in 2019). During the summer 2019, Franciszek Borys, from Cochrane Poland, has been involved in a research project on harms reporting in Cochrane reviews, in collaboration with the Director of Cochrane Sustainable Health Care, who is also based at Lund University Hospital, like Cochrane Sweden. In September 2019, Astrid contacted our Centre because she wanted to prepare a systematic review for her master thesis. After a four-week training period at Cochrane Netherlands, she has now completed a review of diagnostic studies (to be submitted). Currently there are two “CIM people” at our Centre: Mari, a physician and PhD student from Cochrane Japan; Israel, a physician from Cochrane Brazil. All these eight students and medical doctors are involved in projects in neonatology, which is my main research area. However, we are open to different topics as well.

Have these achievements been presented within the international Cochrane community?
Absolutely! Dina, Communication Consultant at Cochrane Sweden, presented a poster on CIM at the virtual Cochrane Colloquium 2019, in collaboration with 19 Cochrane groups. There are also other Cochrane Centre’s communicating about CIM and we have started profiles on Cochrane.org on our participants.

View Franciszek's CIM Profile

Our aim is to share our initiative and experience with others in Cochrane to inspire them to consider doing something similar. We would like to foster new partnerships  with others in Cochrane. So, my ‘take-home message’ from this interview would be for Cochrane groups across the world to consider joining us in offering a placement.  Do feel free to get in touch with me if you’d like to know more about CIM and our experience with the programme. You can also read more about researchers who have trained with us at our Centre.

What are you hoping might happen next?
At Cochrane Sweden we are proud of the enthusiastic feedback we have received so far from the students. Moreover, CIM also supports staff from different Cochrane centres in building relationships and collaborating on research. In March 2020, Simon, a Swedish junior researcher is heading to Cochrane South Africa for a month, then back to our Centre to complete his training. We are planning to build joint projects with steering committee of Cochrane Early Career Professionals, chaired by Robin Vernooij, and hopefully to expand and enrich CIM activities.

Furthermore, we’re delighted to have started further conversations with Cochrane Croatia, Cochrane Australia, Cochrane Norway and Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group. 

We just find it important to share this knowledge with others in Cochrane to create awareness about this initiative and share our experiences also.

How can people interested in this program fund an exchange?
So far, no funding has been allocated to support the program. All Cochrane groups have provided training and supervision for free. Swedish students received a small travel grant from Lund University; the Italian student will benefit from an Erasmus Plus grant (to cover a small part of the costs). Cochrane Croatia may provide accommodation for free. We are delighted that CIM has successfully spread across all continents, in line with our organization, which is a global collaboration with researchers from around the world. We at Cochrane Sweden do not have the resources to undertake an exchange program for all of Cochrane and it would be great if this initiative might grow in to an established Cochrane program sometime in the near future.

Who can get involved?
So far, nothing is set in stone and we tailor each program. Opportunities to join a CIM programme are listed on Cochrane Training website, where a wide range of programmes are listed. CIM is for everyone, all ages and all backgrounds.

How can people get in touch with you?
Any staff member at Cochrane Sweden can be easily contacted here. 

• #CochraneInternationalMobility on Twitter

Mark Wilson, CEO and Karla Soares Weiser, Editor in Chief extend their warmest wishes to the Cochrane community at the beginning of this new year.

Here, they reflect on the achievements from the last 12 months, including their personal highlights and summarize what lies ahead for Cochrane over the next year.

The Governing Board has approved five organizational targets this year, as part of the Strategy to 2020, which the Central Executive Team and Cochrane community will focus on. They are:

1. Improving our technology and revising our processes to create more timely, consistent and efficient editorial and production systems. This will include selection of a new Editorial Management System, which will be implemented in 2020 and into 2021.
2. In 2020, new, more rigorous policies on Conflict of Interest will be implemented and Cochrane will strengthen and clarify its position on financial interests.
3. This year there will be a consultation with external and internal stakeholders to achieve a common understanding of the challenges and opportunities for Cochrane in delivering universal, immediate Open Access to Cochrane Reviews whilst continuing to ensure organizational financial sustainability.  The outputs of the consultation will directly inform any future revisions to existing policy.
4. Plain Language Summaries (PLSs) are a key dissemination product created and published with every Cochrane Review. This project aims, through a pilot, to determine a new approach and format that simplifies and standardizes Cochrane’s PLSs to improve the readability and understandability of Cochrane evidence.
5. In 2020, a new strategic framework and plan will be developed and launched, setting out Cochrane’s priorities and decision-making framework from 2021 onwards.

Read the Strategy to 2020

Read more about Cochrane’s 2020 Annual Targets

We are seeking volunteers for a brief informal discussion to share your experiences or to be part of an international Working Group helping to guide evaluation tools and case studies.

Cochrane’s vision is a world of improved health, with decisions informed by high-quality research evidence. But to what extent are we formally achieving our vision? In 2020, we are beginning an exciting journey to understand how well we are succeeding, what is working and where we could develop further.

During the delivery of our Strategy to 2020, we have been working hard at making our evidence more accessible to people across the world and encouraging the use of our evidence to inform and change policy and practice.

We now want to look more closely at what we’ve achieved and how we could develop further expanding our knowledge translation activities in more meaningful ways. The first step is to understand how people use Cochrane’s health evidence, what helps them and what gets in the way.

From February 2020, Cochrane’s Knowledge Translation (KT) Department together will embark on the ‘Cochrane KT Evaluation Support Project’ looking at how Cochrane evidence is used by our target audiences and how we might formally evaluate our impacts. And, most importantly, we want to develop tools and training to help evaluate the benefits of our work.

To begin, we want to talk to as many members of the Cochrane community and other stakeholders as we can about how audiences’ access and use evidence, and possible evaluation approaches. We are wanting to hear from you if you would like to:

• Volunteer for a brief informal discussion to share your experiences sharing Cochrane evidence with any of our target audiences (consumers/patients and the general public, healthcare practitioners, policymakers, and/or researchers/research funders); through a one-hour Skype call; And/or:
• Be part of an international Working Group of people across Cochrane helping to guide evaluation tools and case studies with monthly one-hour teleconferences.

If you’d like to be involved or want more information, please contact Jo Anthony, Cochrane’s Head of Knowledge Translation, janthony@cochrane.org or Karen Head, Cochrane’s Knowledge Translation Project Manager khead@cochrane.org by Friday 7th February, 2020.

• Find out more about Cochrane’s KT Support Project overview document
• Find out more about Cochrane’s KT monitoring and evaluation project
• Find out more about knowledge translation in Cochrane