The 2016 Mid-Year Review, reporting on progress of targets associated with Cochrane's Strategy to 2020, is now available. This report provides a comprehensive update of work underway on all 17 2016 targets, and a more detailed picture of the data highlighted in the 2016 Q2 Dashboard, which was published in July.

For more information on this report, or to provide feedback, please contact Chris Champion, Senior Programme Manager, CEO's Office.

Cochrane Nutrition's vision is to make Cochrane the independent, globally recognized go-to place for nutrition systematic reviews

Cochrane is delighted to announce the establishment of the Cochrane Nutrition Field (Cochrane Nutrition), under the leadership of Cochrane South Africa (SA), the South African Medical Research Council, and the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care (CEBHC), Stellenbosch University, along with international partners.

Co-Directors Solange Durão of Cochrane SA and Celeste Naude of the CEBHC will lead Cochrane Nutrition, with guidance from an international advisory board comprising representatives from multiple stakeholder and partner groups. Cochrane Nutrition has been in active development since an exploratory meeting with interested stakeholders held in Cape Town in 2015, which established that broad-based support from both Cochrane and external stakeholders.
 

Find out more on Cochrane.org

We are delighted to announce the launch of the Cochrane Style Manual, a resource that outlines Cochrane journal style for use in the preparation of Cochrane Reviews and other Cochrane content. The Style Manual results from a comprehensive update of the Cochrane Style Guide, with extensive input from members of the Cochrane Editorial Unit, Copy Edit Support, and Review Group editorial teams, and should be used alongside other resources such as the Handbook, MECIR standards and the Cochrane Editorial and Publishing Resource.

If you have questions or would like more information about the Style Manual, please contact John Hilton, Editor, or Elizabeth Royle, Copy Edit Support Manager.

For the past twelve years, the Department of Health in England has funded an annual scheme, the National Institute for Health Research Cochrane Review Incentive Scheme, which offers small incentive payments to Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs) to support preparing key new or updated Cochrane Reviews by agreed dates. Although these awards cannot meet the full costs of conducting reviews, they provide CRG Co-ordinating Editors opportunities to distribute support in ways that will facilitate and possibly accelerate activity that is already planned or underway.

Since the Scheme's launch, more than 240 awards have been made. This year, the funders expect to make around 10-20 awards. They encourage Co-ordinating Editors of all CRGs, not only those whose editorial bases are located in the UK, to nominate up to three new Cochrane Reviews or Review updates that they consider are of importance and for which they anticipate that the award of an incentive payment would lead to significantly earlier completion of work.

Nominations are being accepted until 31 August 2016. For complete information on what the scientific panel is looking for and how to apply, please see the submission criteria and form.

The International Society for Evidence-Based Healthcare is pleased to announce its fifth annual Congress, representing one of the largest gatherings of clinicians, researchers, and policy makers in the field of evidence-based health care and policy making.  The 2016 conference will take place on Kish Island, Iran from 7-9 December 2016, focusing on the theme of 'Best evidence and healthcare decisions: Connecting the dots.'

For complete information on the event, venue, and key dates, please visit the Congress website. 

The Finance and Core Services (FCS) team has announced that Maria Burgess is leaving Cochrane after seven years, deciding to enjoy other aspects of her life.

Maria has been a part of Cochrane since 2009 when she joined Cochrane UK. She has worked with the Central Executive team (CET) as Core Services/Office Manager for the last three years, and before that was part of the administrative team in the Cochrane Collaboration Secretariat in Oxford.

During this time, she has provided administrative management and support to a number of CET staff and teams, as well as supporting the change in leadership in the FCS team in late 2015 and the many changes to systems and process in FCS over the last seven months.

Maria’s last day with us will be 22 July.  Please join us in thanking Maria for her passionate contribution to Cochrane, and in wishing her every happiness and success for the future.

FCS are taking the opportunity to review how this role supports Cochrane’s future plans,  and there will be a further announcement in due course. For all relevant enquiries in the meantime, please email the team at admin@cochrane.org.

Sarah Watson
Head of Finance and Core Services

Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing to invite you to attend one of a series of four webinars (each presenting the same content at different times) to introduce the structure and function changes to Centres, Branches, and Networks; and to update you on how the organisational structure and function changes announced following the London meeting and the proposals we have developed since then are likely to impact them in future.

We recommend that all Centre and Branch staff attend one of the four webinars. These webinars are open to all Cochrane Groups, so if you are from a CRG, Field or Methods Group you are also welcome to attend. This is a formal consultation process and we will welcome your ideas and suggestions on the proposals.

The webinars are scheduled to run for 90 minutes. The format of the webinar will be a 30 minute presentation followed by a question and answer session.

If you have any queries about this series of webinars or anything else relating to the structure and function review of Centres and Branches, please contact Chris Champion (cchampion@cochrane.org).

The four webinar times are as follows (please note that all times are UK). Please click on the link for your chosen webinar now to register and receive details on how to join the webinar:

1. Wednesday 13th July 16:00-17:30 https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8731371745466752771  Webinar ID: 148-934-587
2. Thursday 14th July 08:00-09:30 https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2064572050888901123  Webinar ID: 118-322-907
3. Tuesday 2nd August 08:00-09:30 https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5561201546146818051  Webinar ID: 105-944-395
4. Thursday 4th August 16:00-17:30 https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4927439745361868035  Webinar ID: 105-647-435

I hope that you’ll be able to join us for one of these webinars and I look forward to joining you later this month or in August.

With my very best wishes,

Mark

Mark G. Wilson

Chief Executive Officer

The Informatics and Knowledge Management Department (IKMD) is delighted to welcome Deirdre Beecher to the Cochrane Central Executive team (CET) and to IKMD as our Metadata specialist.

Deirdre will start in a full-time role on 18 July. She will be based in London and will report to me.

Deirdre will work alongside her IKMD colleagues to annotate systematic reviews and studies using the PICO framework. She will also support the annotation and ontology group in the maintenance of the Cochrane ontology.

Many of you may already know Deirdre, as she joins the CET from the Cochrane Injuries Group where she’s currently the Information Specialist. Prior to working with the Cochrane Injuries Group, Deirdre worked with the Cochrane Multiple Sclerosis and Rare Diseases of the CNS Group in Italy; she has been a part of Cochrane since 2007. She also has a professional membership with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) in London.

I am sure you will join me in welcoming Deirdre to the CET. You can contact her on email at dbeecher@cochrane.org.
 

Chris Mavergames
Head of IKMD

The Cochrane Steering Group (CSG) invites the nomination of candidates for the position of CSG Co-Chair. Cindy Farquhar’s first term as Co-Chair will be completed at the Seoul Colloquium in October 2016, and nominations are now open to fill this position. Cindy has indicated that she will nominate for a second term, but nomination is open to anyone who holds or has held a leadership position within Cochrane.

For full details of the position, including the duties and requirements, please see the job description and election questions.

To nominate for the position, the following documentation must be received by Lorna McAlley, Executive PA to the CEO, by Friday 29 July 2016:

1. Acceptance of the nomination by the candidate, and commitment of sufficient time to the position of Co-Chair.

2. Candidate answers to the ‘Questions to be completed by candidates’ provided on the final page of the attached document.

3. Nominations from three active members of the organization, including a current member of the CSG. Nominators should describe the capacity in which they know the nominee, why they consider the nominee to be an appropriate candidate in the light of this job description, and the extent to which they think the nominee has the necessary attributes. A CSG member cannot nominate more than one candidate.

Note that some remuneration is possible for CSG Co-Chairs – further details are available in the job description.

Final selection from amongst the nominated candidates will be made by the CSG following the close of nominations, and the successful candidate will take office from the CSG meetings at the Seoul Colloquium. The term of office is for two years, after which a Co-Chair may apply for re-election for a second two-year term.

The Cochrane Editorial Unit has announced the 10 successful titles from the second Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) funding round.

1. Delayed antibiotics for respiratory infections (Acute Respiratory Infections Group)
2. Bisphosphonates and other bone agents for breast cancer (Breast Cancer Group)
3. Psychological therapies for the treatment of mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries affected by humanitarian crises (Common Mental Disorders Group)
4. Drug eluting stents versus bare metal stents for acute coronary syndrome (Heart Group)
5. Withdrawal of antihypertensive drugs in older people (Hypertension Group)
6. Pharmacotherapy for hypertension in adults aged 18 to 59 years (Hypertension Group)
7. Interventions for preventing obesity in children (Public Health Group)
8. Taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages for reducing their consumption and preventing obesity or other adverse health outcomes (Public Health Group)
9. Interventions for treating depression after stroke (Stroke Group)
10. Interventions to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss (Work Group)

These titles were selected from a pool of 23 applications received from 16 Cochrane Review Groups. For complete details of the selection panel and process, please see the full announcement on cochrane.org.

The next funding round will open in September 2016 and will be advertised via the usual Cochrane communication channels.