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 Helen Bulbeck and Rachel Plachcinski as the new Consumer Executive representatives on the Council. Sara Yaron has decided to step down with immediate effect and we thank her for her contribution over the past few months.

Helen has experienced cancer from a carer’s perspective and also as a cancer patient. Her roles in brainstrust, a UK brain cancer charity which she founded, and as a consumer representative with various bodies, are as a disseminator of information and provider of a network and community, so that she can give advice on achieving effective consumer involvement in health care.

Rachel came to the Cochrane community and the Pregnancy and Childbirth Group via her involvement with NCT, a UK charity supporting parents through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood, which she joined after the birth of her first son. She really appreciated NCT's commitment to information, evidence-based care and peer support, and went on to train as one of their practitioners, delivering antenatal courses for 18 years.
 

Governing Board member Jan Clarkson has been appointed as Honorary Treasurer from 1 September 2019, as previous Treasurer Catherine Marshall is now Co-Chair.

Cochrane’s Articles of Association provide the Governing Board with the power to make ‘Executive Appointments’ amongst its membership.

The role of Honorary Treasurer is an Executive Appointment. The Honorary Treasurer supports the Trustees (the Board members) to fulfil their obligation to provide financial oversight for the organisation. In Cochrane’s context, the Honorary Treasurer is often referred to as ‘Treasurer’.

Dear Cochrane Colleagues,

We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the forthcoming Colloquium in Chile, 21-25 October. The theme is: The challenge of diversity in Cochrane: diverse reviews for diverse health decisions by diverse audiences. We particularly want to hear from you about how well you think Cochrane is responding to this specific challenge. Comments and questions about it can be submitted to the Council at support@cochrane.org or discussed in person at the ‘Meet the Governance’ session in Chile on Thursday 24 October.

A key part of the Council’s remit is to raise important matters with, and provide input to, the Governing Board on behalf of Cochrane Groups and members. The Board and Council will then work together, with the Central Executive Team, to address these. So, one of the key outputs from this year’s Colloquium will be a better understanding of how we might take forward priorities for improving organizational diversity.

The Board and Council are making good progress in a number of priority tasks to be completed before the Colloquium. We seek to create a framework which encourages cooperative and effective working practices, allows safe and constructive discussion of controversial issues, and protects the well-being of individuals and the reputation of Cochrane. These are essential in an accountable, international and diverse organization like Cochrane.

• After wide consultation, the Council is finalizing a set of ‘Principles of Collaboration’ (previously referred to as a ‘Code of Conduct’) which describe the behaviour expected of everyone interacting with Cochrane. These principles complement our other official policies. They will be considered by the Board in Santiago, and we expect them to be presented to Cochrane members at the Annual General Meeting on 23rd October 2019.
• A new Complaints Resolution Procedure is being developed by a joint Board-Council working group to complement the Principles of Collaboration document. It is a fundamental principle that, in the first instance, complaints should be dealt with directly between those involved, and then at the most local level possible within the organization. This recognizes that the earlier and more directly a complaint is raised, the greater the chance that it will be resolved successfully. This Procedure will also be submitted for the Board’s approval and then presented to members at the Annual General Meeting.

Once again, we look forward to seeing many of you in Santiago. If you are not able to come, please consider giving feedback by e-mail or the online forums.

With best wishes

Martin Burton and Catherine Marshall
Board Co-Chairs

Miranda Langendam and Craig Lockwood
Council Co-Chairs

As many across the Cochrane community may be aware, Professor Chris Del Mar, Co-ordinating Editor of Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections and long-time Cochrane contributor, was involved in a serious surfing accident earlier this year. During one of his regular early morning surfing sessions on Australia’s Gold Coast, Chris sustained a very high level spinal cord injury and as a result, spent over three months in intensive care. 
 
In recent months Chris has moved to the Brisbane hospital’s spinal injury rehabilitation unit. Arrangements are now being made for home modifications and purchase and installation of equipment that will enable Chris to return home and participate in daily life. Some of the priorities include a hospital bed, power wheelchair, a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, and specialized communication devices.

Despite everything he has been through in recent months, Chris is continuing to do some work. His PhD students and research colleagues visit him at his hospital bedside to discuss projects and papers and Chris plans to return to work next year aided by a wheelchair and voice- or eye-activated computers and other devices. ‘Chris is a very inspiring man and very brave,’ says his wife and fellow Cochrane contributor Professor Tammy Hoffmann. ‘It’s taking a ton of courage to get through this situation.’
 
Concerned friends, colleagues and organizations from around the world have been reaching out to support Chris since his accident, and many have asked how they can best help. Some colleagues have now set up a crowdfunding campaign to make Chris’s home wheelchair-accessible. It is also hoped the funds will enable the purchase of other assistive equipment that he needs, including the specialized computers and input devices needed for him to continue working. If you’d like to support Chris and his family, this recent update on his progress contains links to further information.

• https://www.gofundme.com/f/85svf-help-get-chris-home

Every year Cochrane awards members of its Community a range of prizes that highlight high-quality methodological research through to supporting health decision-making in developing countries, and contributors who have made a significant contribution to the organization.

The prizes and awards that are presented at the annual Colloquia, will this year be awarded at the Santiago Colloquium from the 22-25 October 2019.

You have until the 2 August 2019 to make your nominations.

Submissions to the Kenneth Warren Prizes, Bill Silverman Prize, and the Anne Anderson Award can be made through this online survey. 

To find out more about each prize and the criteria, please click on the links below:

The Kenneth Warren Prize is awarded to the principal author of whichever Cochrane Review authored by a national living in a developing country is judged to be both of high methodological quality and relevant to health problems in developing countries.

The Chris Silagy Prize is awarded to an individual who has made an "extraordinary" contribution to the work of Cochrane which would not be recognized outside the scope of this prize.

The Bill Silverman Prize is awarded to acknowledge explicitly the value of criticism of Cochrane, with a view to helping to improve its work, and thus achieve its aim of helping people make well-informed decisions about health care by providing the best possible evidence on the effects of healthcare interventions.

The Anne Anderson Award is awarded to a female member of Cochrane who has made a significant contribution to the enhancement and visibility of women's participation within Cochrane.

The Thomas C Chalmers Prize will also be awarded at the Santiago Colloquium to the principal author of the best oral and the best poster presentation addressing methodological issues related to systematic reviews. Submission to this prize closed on the 26 April 2019 alongside the closure of abstract submission for the Colloquium.

Learn more about the 2018 winners and their stories, here.

The minutes from the Governing Board’s teleconference, July 2019, are now available.

Governing Board members are Cochrane’s directors and trustees, and are elected to direct the strategy and policies of the organization.

Questions about the minutes can be sent to support@cochrane.org

At its teleconference on 10 July, the Governing Board voted unanimously to appoint Catherine Marshall as its new Co-Chair from 1 September 2019. Catherine will work alongside fellow Co-Chair Martin Burton, and replace Marguerite Koster, who is stepping down from the role after one year due to increased commitments in her job at Kaiser Permanente, in Southern California, but will remain on the Board as a member.

Catherine was one of the first two appointed members of the Cochrane Governing Board in 2016. She is also a member of the Board’s Governance Committee, and Finance Audit and Investment Committee, and was elected as Treasurer in September 2018.

Outside Cochrane, Catherine is an Independent Guideline Adviser and Health Sector consultant based in New Zealand. She is currently Co-Chair of the Partnership Advisory Group with the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) and was previously Vice Chair of its board of trustees. She was also the inaugural Chief Executive of the New Zealand Guidelines Group, where one of her key responsibilities was the development and implementation of evidence-based guidelines and advice – which often relied on evidence from the Cochrane Library. Catherine is also a prominent health consumer advocate, working on the development of health consumer legislation in New Zealand and as a former member of the NZ Stronger Consumer Voices Alliance. In 2018, she helped organize and participate in the consumer programs for the Cochrane Colloquium in Edinburgh.

“Catherine is a recognized leader in the global evidence-based medicine community” says outgoing Co-Chair Marguerite Koster. “Her experience leading non-governmental and charitable organizations will be a significant asset to Cochrane as she assumes the position of Co-Chair of the Governing Board.”
 
Martin Burton adds, “I am delighted that Catherine has been elected to the Co-Chair position. She is passionate about Cochrane and brings a unique set of skills to the role. At the same time, I am sorry to say “goodbye” to Marguerite. She has been a truly outstanding Co-chair and a wonderful colleague to work with. I am very pleased that she is prepared to continue to serve on the Governing Board.”

And of her appointment, Catherine says, “In the last three years as a Governing Board member of Cochrane, I have been deeply impressed by the strength of Cochrane and the talent of the people who contribute to the collaboration. I am strongly committed to expanding our reach around the globe and finding ways Cochrane advice can assist health consumers.”
 
Members of the Governing Board can be contacted at support@cochrane.org
 

Dear Colleagues,

The 2019 financial and resource monitoring of Cochrane Groups is taking place from today, Friday 19 July 2019, to Friday 20th September 2019.

Monitoring of Cochrane Groups takes place annually. The information provided by Groups supports an organization-wide data-gathering exercise that gives a picture of Cochrane’s overall ‘financial health’:

• It enables the Governing Board and Central Executive Team to provide information to the public about who funds Cochrane, the collective monetary cost of the organization’s work, and the number of people involved in Group activities;
• It supports the preparation of statistics about Groups in order to benchmark operations and identify best practice;
• It identifies whether Groups are operating sustainably, highlighting any actual or potential resource issues.

Given its important purpose, all registered Cochrane Groups are required, as a condition of their involvement in the organization, to complete a Financial & Resource Monitoring form for their last complete financial year by Friday 20th September 2019. This includes Affiliates and Satellites.

Access the monitoring form, and more information about the process, on the 2019 Monitoring webpage.

You can email the Central Executive Team at monitoring@cochrane.org if you need help or have any questions. A summary of the collated data will be publicly available by early 2020. Specific details about Groups will remain confidential.

With our grateful thanks,
 

Martin Burton and Marguerite Koster, Co-Chairs of the Governing Board

Mark Wilson, Chief Executive Officer

Karla Soares-Weiser, Editor-in-Chief

Priority setting is a hot topic in Cochrane!  This is understandable as, in order to be relevant to the needs of our users, Cochrane evidence needs to respond to national, regional, and global health priorities.  However, with the big push towards conducting more priority setting processes across Cochrane, we know it’s difficult to keep up to date with what is currently going on!

With this in mind, we have launched a ‘Current Cochrane Group Priority Setting Projects’ page. We hope this will become a ‘go-to’ place to keep up-to-date with which groups are conducting priority setting exercises and how you could get involved, rather than having to trawl through individual group websites.

If you are running a priority setting process and would like your process to be included on this page, the information to provide is below.  Once completed, simply submit the information requested and send to Muriah (mumoquit@cochrane.org) who will ensure that it is posted. If part of your priority setting process involves a survey open to a broad group of users, then you can consider sending to Muriah to be included as part of the weekly Comms Digest and advertised through the ‘Survey round-up’ page.

As well as the guidance note for Cochrane groups, the Knowledge Translation Working Group on Priority Setting has also developed a number of other resources for priority setting. These include, case studies and examples of documents from around Cochrane such as priority setting plans, surveys, workshop agendas and publications. All of these are freely available in the ‘Priority Setting’ pages of the Cochrane Training - Knowledge Translation Resources website . 

And if you can’t find what you’re looking for or have suggestions – please let us know (khead@cochrane.org)!

Cochrane Group:
URL of Group website:
Twitter Handle:
Title of Priority Setting:
General information: 1-2 sentences explaining what the scope of the priority setting is, any specific methods and/or stakeholders which will be involved.
Target Audience: 1-2 sentences explaining the target audience of your current stage in your priority setting. e.g. general public, health professionals. 
Special requests: Optional; Is there anything (with approximate dates) that the Cochrane Central Executive or other Cochrane Groups/Cochrane members could help with? e.g. Disseminating surveys, linking up with stakeholders etc.
End date: What is the date after which input from other Cochrane Groups would be unhelpful? When should your information be removed from this page?
Further information: e.g. Link to priority setting plan on Group website, link to survey.