Cochrane Crowd are running a citation screening challenge to coincide with the Virtual Cochrane Santiago Colloquium! Help Cochrane Crowd reach 48,000 classifications in 48 hours and be amongst the first to try out the all new, shiny CINAHL task! Details on this and how to join in below.

When is it running?
Start: Wednesday 4th December at 11:00 am GMT
Finish: Friday 6th December at 11:00am GMT
You can check what time that is for you here

How much time do I have to commit?
Of course, we’d love you to do the whole 48 hours! Just kidding. Any contribution is welcomed, whether it be a few five-minute grabs or a more focused effort (so you better make sure you have some screening snacks to hand to keep those energy levels up).

Sounds good so far. But I’m new to Cochrane Crowd. What is it all about?
Your best bet is to watch our 2-minute video introduction here.

What is the new CINAHL task?
For this challenge we want you to help identify possible reports of randomised trials (RCTs) that we have retrieved from a source called CINAHL. We haven’t identified RCTs from this source before. CINAHL is THE source for nursing and allied health professional research.

If I join in, what will I be doing?
Your mission for this challenge is to assess those records from CINAHL and decide whether you think they are describing a randomised trial or not. There will be a brief training module to complete if you haven’t done this kind of task before task before. Once identified, these studies go into a central register where health researchers and practitioners can access them.

Will there be prizes?
Of course! We’re glad you asked! Yes, prizes will go to the top three contributors. What are the prizes, you ask? A snazzy (limited edition!) T-shirt and a highly readable book – it’ll be like Christmas come early!

How do I sign up for the challenge?
There is no need to sign up for the challenge per se. You can just head to Cochrane Crowd anytime during the 48 hours of the challenge and get cracking!  If you’ve not been to Cochrane Crowd before, then you can sign up here.

Sounds fun, can I tell all my friends about it and get them to join in?
Yes please! We want as many as possible to join us. Feel free to share this page (share buttons below).

Is there a Twitter hashtag?
Sure is, we’ll be keeping in touch with #ColloquiumChallenge2019

How can I find out more?
You can email Emily and Anna from Cochrane Crowd at crowd@cochrane.org. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

 

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

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We are delighted to announce our plans for Cochrane’s Virtual #CochraneSantiago which will be held online from 2-6 December 2019 and open to ALL Cochrane members and supporters.

Cochrane’s annual flagship event brings together the world’s most influential health researchers, scientists, academics, opinion leaders, clinicians, and patients to promote evidence-informed decision-making.

Whilst the recent, unprecedented situation of civil unrest across Santiago led to the cancellation of our face-to face Colloquium this year, with the support of so many contributors, we are pleased to welcome the full community to participate in Cochrane’s first, virtual #CochraneSantiago Colloquium.  Whilst we recognize our virtual meeting can never replace what we would have achieved together in-person in Chile, we believe that this unique week of content will be a fitting tribute to recognizing the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of contributors and Cochrane community‘s spirit of resilience and collaboration.

Virtual #CochraneSantiago will highlight the theme of ‘Embracing Diversity’. During the week of 2-6 December, content will be curated on our Colloquium website. We have created a dedicated page for each day’s content that will include posters, plenary content, bespoke curated materials from long and short oral presentations as well as pre-produced videos posted ‘as live’ on YouTube each day. In addition, we will provide ways you can interact with our daily content including discussion questions and social media conversations; and, we look forward to hearing from you on the wide-ranging discussions happening on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using #CochraneSantiago, with Cochrane’s Content Creators helping to lead these conversations across our web platforms.

The Virtual Colloquium is an open invitation to all - whether you registered and were planning to travel to Santiago or not! More details on the final programme schedule and how you can get involved each day will be posted here soon.

We look forward to welcoming you and hope it’ll be a unique opportunity to fully embrace the diversity of voices that make up Cochrane’s global community.

Hold the date now - Monday 2- Friday 6 December 2019 for virtual #CochraneSantiago!

• Visit the virtual #CochraneSantiago website
• Learn more about this year’s Colloquium’s daily themes

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Cochrane recently supported an AllTrials report updating the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee on rates of clinical trial reporting among universities and NHS trusts.

The report, which used data from the EU Trials Tracker, updated the Committee on progress since it wrote to UK universities and NHS trusts in January 2019 urging them to fulfil their reporting requirement within six months.

Under the European Commission’s Clinical Trial Regulation, trial sponsors must post summary results to the EU Clinical Trials Register within one year of a study ending, or six months for paediatric trials.

Figures from the report show an overall improvement in the publishing of results for UK university- and NHS trust-sponsored trials – rising from 48.1% in January 2019 to 63.9% in October 2019. However, while some sponsors went from 0% to 100% during this period, 33 NHS trusts and 6 universities had 0% of their trial results posted.

The Committee used the report as a basis for an evidence session at Parliament which took place on 29 October. Stakeholders, including universities, NHS trusts and regulators, were questioned about reporting rates, and there was discussion about the action that needs to be taken to achieve 100% compliance in the UK.
Cochrane Editor in Chief, Dr Karla Soares-Weiser, said:

“At Cochrane, we rely on the availability of clinical trial data to produce high-quality and relevant systematic reviews. We welcome this effort among UK-based non-commercial clinical trial sponsors to improve reporting rates – though there is still clearly much more to be done for all sponsors to meet their full ethical obligations and achieve 100% compliance.

Given that this issue goes far beyond the UK, we think it’s time for similar coordinated action on clinical trial transparency in other countries. We encourage researchers, healthcare professionals, patients and members of the public to get involved and to hold clinical trial sponsors to account on their reporting rates.”

• Read the full press release on the AllTrials website
• Read the full report
• Watch a video of the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee evidence session

Friday, November 8, 2019

Recently graduated doctor

This week, Dr Arnav Agarwal joins Ray to share the perspective and experiences of a young, recently graduated doctor working in a busy, metropolitan hospital. Despite the long shifts and demanding environment, Arnav makes time and space to reflect on work, life and mortality through his thought-provoking poetry and volunteer work.

Listen to Recommended Dose podcasts on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher  or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Find more details and our show notes the podcast page or follow on twitter  or facebook.

The Recommended Dose is produced by Cochrane Australia and co-published with The BMJ.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Cochrane podcasts deliver the latest Cochrane evidence in an easy to access audio format, allowing you to stay up to date on newly published reviews wherever you are. Each Cochrane podcast offers a short summary of a recent Cochrane review from the authors themselves. They are brief, allowing everyone from healthcare professionals to patients and families to hear the latest Cochrane evidence in under five minutes. Here we have curated three recent Cochrane podcasts on the subject of quitting smoking.

Podcast: What is the best way to use nicotine replacement therapy to quit smoking?

Nicotine replacement therapy has been used to help people stop smoking for more than 20 years, and a large and growing body of research has tested it. To help cope with this, some of the related Cochrane Reviews have been divided up and in April 2019 the evidence on different doses, durations and modes of delivery was updated into a new review. Here’s one of the authors, Samantha Chepkin from Cochrane UK to tell us what they found.

Podcast: Can rewards help smokers to quit in the long term?

Smoking is still the biggest cause of preventable death worldwide and there are more than 50 Cochrane Reviews of the effects of interventions to help people quit. One of these, on the use of incentives, which was last published in 2015 was updated in July 2019. We asked the new lead author, Caitlin Notley, from the University of East Anglia in the UK to bring us up to date with the evidence.

Read the Cochrane Featured Review

Podcast: Does motivational interviewing help people to quit smoking?

Smoking remains a substantial public health problem around the world and the search for effective ways to help people stop is ongoing, with more than 50 Cochrane Reviews providing evidence on a wide variety of interventions. One of these reviews, on motivational interviewing, was updated in July 2019 and the lead author, Nicola Lindson from the University of Oxford in the UK brings us up to date in this podcast.

• Listen to more Cochrane Podcasts
• Get Cochrane Podcasts on iTunes

Monday, November 4, 2019

Professor Marion Nestle

This week, Ray ventures into the notoriously complex field of nutrition with special guest, Professor Marion Nestle. Named by Forbes as one of the world's most powerful foodies, Marion’s stellar career spans five decades of research, teaching, advocacy work and the publication of countless prize-winning books.

Listen to Recommended Dose podcasts on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher  or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Find more details and our show notes the podcast page or follow on twitter  or facebook.

The Recommended Dose is produced by Cochrane Australia and co-published with The BMJ.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

A report on Saturated Fats and Health by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has recently been published by Public Health England using evidence from the Cochrane Heart Group review, Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease.

The report from Public Health England considers the relationship between saturated fats, health outcomes and risk factors for non-communicable diseases in the general UK population.

Dr Saverio Stranges, author of this Cochrane Review explains,

“There is good evidence supporting the notion that reduction of saturated fat intake is likely to produce beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors and clinical events, although the findings on mortality outcomes are less consistent. In addition, the current trial evidence suggests that replacing the energy from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat should be considered as an effective strategy to reduce cardiovascular risk, whereas replacement with carbohydrate or proteins is unlikely to produce any cardiovascular benefit.

The current trial evidence, although not perfect and conclusive, is strongly suggestive of potential cardiovascular benefits from saturated fat reduction and relative increase in unsaturated fats.

This evidence is reflected in the report from Public Health England.”

• Read the review
• Read the report on Saturated Fats and Health by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published by Public Health England
• Learn more about the Cochrane Heart Group

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Due to widespread violence and civil unrest in Santiago, Chile, this year’s Cochrane’s Colloquium was cancelled on Sunday 20 October 2019.

Our annual event would have featured a four-day wide-reaching scientific programme entitled ‘Embracing Diversity’ as well as a Gala Dinner open to all delegates on Thursday 24th October. Due to the cancellation, we are delighted to announce that all the pre-ordered food including catering provisions for a three-course Gala dinner has been donated to a local charity in Santiago.

Over the last few days, members from Cochrane Chile our Local Organizing Committee have been in contact with Movidos x Chile, a local, collaborative network of civil society organizations that focuses on coordinated action in response to humanitarian emergencies and disasters. Through this network, Cochrane Chile was connected with Corporación la Esperanza, who have successfully taken all the food from the Colloquium venue, CasaPiedra, for distribution to local good causes.

Corporación la Esperanza operates multiple drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities in Santiago free of charge to low-income patients and families, as well as running prevention programmes and public policy advocacy.

Through their work, they provide much-needed food supplies to approximately 100 people every day and recently they have had difficulty receiving new provisions due to the ongoing social unrest across Chile.

On receiving the supplies, they have expressed their heart-felt thanks and gratitude to all Cochrane delegates, members and supporters for this generous donation.

With our very best wishes,

Cochrane Chile and Santiago Colloquium’s Local Organizing Teams

Thursday, October 31, 2019

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Dear Cochrane community,

Last week the unprecedented situation of civil unrest across Santiago led to the cancellation of the physical gathering of Cochrane's annual Colloquium. Whilst it has caused huge disappointment and inconvenience for hundreds of Colloquium delegates, we have been impressed by the generosity and perseverance to make the most out of this sad situation by our members and supporters.

On behalf of Cochrane and the Local Organizing Committee, I would like to invite those accepted for a poster or oral presentation to present their material virtually. Working with Cochrane Training, we will collect and curate the Colloquium content by topic and host them on our Colloquium website, the week of 2-6 December 2019. In addition, we will also be collecting plenary presentations and workshop materials and more details on these will follow.

Whilst we recognize our virtual meeting can never replace the valuable face-to-face interactions, we feel this week of virtual content it will be a fitting tribute to Cochrane community‘s spirit of resilience and collaboration. We invite the full community of Cochrane members and supporters to engage with virtual #CochraneSantiago from 2-6 December, 2019. Please mark your calendars and look out for more details as we get closer.

The theme of this year’s 26th Colloquium is ‘Embracing Diversity’. We hope that the virtual #CochraneSantiago can help contribute to reaching diverse audiences with diverse evidence needs for diverse health decisions.

With my personal thanks for all your support and best wishes,

Dr. Gabriel Rada
Chair of the Local Organizing Committee
Co-Director of Cochrane Chile

Here’s how to submit your poster or oral presentation for the virtual Colloquium:

If you were accepted for a poster presentation, your poster and optional audio can be uploaded to the Colloquium website. We will curate the posters by topic and be back in touch with the wider community when posters are available to view.

To upload your poster to the Colloquium website:

1.  Log in to the Colloquium website
2. Go to “My submissions"
3. Click on “Edit” next to your poster abstract
4. Next to “Poster file” click on “Browse” to select a poster file (preferably a PDF)
5. Select the poster file from your computer and then click “Upload"
6. If you wish, you can also share an audio file of you ‘presenting’ your poster. Next to “Poster audio” click on “Browse” to select an audio file, select the audio file from your computer and then click “Upload"
7. IMPORTANT: When you are finished, click on “save"
8. The deadline for uploading posters is Friday November 8th

If you had a short or long oral presentation at the Colloquium, there are two options for you to submit this as a screencast (a video file of your slide presentation together with audio of you presenting). You can schedule a time with us to record your presentation online, and we will create a screencast for you. Or, you can record your own screencast of the presentation and share that with us.

We ask that duration be 5 minutes for short oral presentations and 10 minutes for long oral presentations. We will upload screencasts to the Cochrane Training YouTube channel and share these on the Colloquium website, so they will be publicly available.

To book a time with us to record your oral presentation as a screencast:

1. Go to https://doodle.com/poll/hvs5frnudahe7fif
2. Select a suitable half hour presentation slot
3. You can select more than one slot if you have more than one presentation, but otherwise please select only one suitable slot
4. If you have more than one presenter, please book one slot and liaise with the other Colloquium colleague
   
5. Use the 'Contact the poll creator' field to let us know the title of your presentation(s)
6. IMPORTANT: Click “continue”, enter your email address and click “send"
7. The deadline for booking slots is Monday 4th November

To submit your own screencast of your oral presentation:

1. Go to: https://www.dropbox.com/request/qDruuCMEzftqAUoF9Un
2. Upload your file. It’s helpful if you name the file with the same title as your presentation with first and last name in brackets afterwards
3. The deadline for uploading presentations is Friday November 8th

Any questions? If you have any questions or need assistance with sharing your posters or oral presentations, please contact support@cochrane.org

Monday, October 28, 2019

Most Cochrane Reviews look at the effects of interventions on health, but a growing number provide evidence on how to diagnose a disease. In June 2019, one of these, on a test used to detect tuberculosis, was updated. The lead author, David Horne from the University of Washington in Seattle in the USA, sets the scene and tells us what the review found.

Tuberculosis, or TB, causes more deaths than any other infectious disease: 1.6 million people died from it in 2017. Most of these deaths could have been averted with earlier detection. The early diagnosis of TB is also important to prevent disease progression and long-term consequences, alleviate symptoms, and to protect public health by interrupting its transmission.

An important aspect of the global TB epidemic is the threat from drug-resistant TB. Unlike most other infectious diseases, TB treatment requires multiple drugs given for at least 6 months to prevent the emergence of drug-resistance and cure TB. But, some patients’ TB is resistant to the most potent drugs in a standard treatment regimen, rifampicin and isoniazid. Treatment of this multi-drug resistant or MDR-TB takes longer and requires drugs that are much more expensive and toxic than standard therapy. Every year, over half a million people develop MDR-TB or rifampicin-resistant TB; but, in 2017, only one in four of these started appropriate treatment and just over one-half of those were cured.

Culturing TB in the laboratory is the best test for diagnosing TB and is the first step in detecting drug resistance. Unfortunately, though, this complex and slow procedure is not widely available in many resource-constrained settings.

As an alternative, in 2010, the World Health Organisation recommended GeneXpert MTB/RIF as a rapid test that can simultaneously detect both TB and rifampicin resistance in sputum and other specimens. It’s designed to be used outside of reference laboratories in settings nearer to patients, such as hospitals and clinics in low-resource settings. The test has been a giant leap forward and called a “game changer” but it struggles if the patient has something called smear-negative pulmonary TB, when their sample contains too few TB bacteria. To try to overcome this limitation, the manufacturer introduced a new version called Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra.
We performed our first systematic review of GeneXpert in 2014 and this update allows us to bring in the more recent studies of both GeneXpert and Xpert Ultra for detecting TB in the lungs and for detecting rifampicin resistance in adults. We now have 95 studies, with 68 that were not previously available for our 2014 review, and data from more than 37,000 people.

Looking first at the detection of TB, we found that GeneXpert’s sensitivity was 85% and its specificity was 98%. This means that it correctly identifies TB in 85 of every hundred people with it, but suggests that TB is present in two in every hundred people without it. The sensitivity of GeneXpert was significantly lower for people with smear-negative pulmonary TB at 67%, compared to 98% in those with smear-positive disease. Similarly, sensitivity was lower in people living with HIV at 81%, compared to 88% for those who were HIV-negative.
The accuracy of GeneXpert was high for the detection of rifampicin resistance: sensitivity was 96% and specificity was 98%.

There is much less evidence for Xpert Ultra. We could include just one study, which compared Xpert Ultra to GeneXpert in over 1400 participants. It found that Xpert Ultra was more sensitive than Gene Xpert, 88% versus 83%, but its specificity was slightly lower, 96% versus 98%.

In summary, GeneXpert is sensitive and specific for the detection of both TB and rifampicin resistance. For TB detection, it has higher sensitivity in people who are smear-positive or HIV-negative. Based on a single study, Xpert Ultra had higher sensitivity and lower specificity for TB detection, but was similar for detecting rifampicin resistance. Therefore, we can conclude that both GeneXpert and Xpert Ultra provide accurate results and can allow rapid initiation of treatment for MDR-TB. However, there is still a need for additional studies of Xpert Ultra in diverse patient populations, including those with a prior history of TB. 

• Read the Cochrane Review
• Listen to more Cochrane Podcasts
• Get Cochrane Podcasts on iTunes
• Visit the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group

Monday, October 28, 2019

At its recent meeting in Santiago, Cochrane’s Governing Board has awarded Dr. David Tovey the title “Emeritus Editor-in-Chief.” This title is given in special recognition of David’s distinguished service as Cochrane’s first Editor-in-Chief of the Cochrane Library, 2009-2019. David stepped down from the role at the end of May 2019 following ten years in the role.

In hearing the news, David passed on his personal thanks to the Governing Board and Cochrane’s Community. He said, “I am extremely honoured to receive this honorary award from the Governing Board. Being Cochrane’s first Editor-in-Chief remains the highlight of my career to date, and I am most grateful for this recognition of my contribution.”

• Visit the Cochrane Library
• Listen to the David on the Recommended Dose Podcast

Friday, October 25, 2019

Cochrane recently joined policymakers, civil society organizations and academics at the European Parliament for a roundtable event on clinical trial transparency.

Under the European Commission’s Clinical Trial Regulation, which came into force in July 2014, trial sponsors must post summary results within one year of a study ending, or six months for paediatric trials. However, there has been a lack of commitment towards implementation.

The event, which took place on 17 October, called for further action to ensure greater transparency of clinical trial data. It was organized by Health Action International and TranspariMED and hosted by Michèle Rivasi MEP.

The panel discussion also involved representatives from the European Commission, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Transparency International Health Initiative and Prescrire.

Sylvia de Haan, Head of External Affairs & Geographic Groups’ Support, spoke on Cochrane’s behalf, highlighting the value of clinical trial data to systematic reviewers and the fact that, without complete transparency, our reviews will not be able to provide a full view of the evidence.

Karla Soares-Weiser, Cochrane Editor in Chief, said of this issue: “The availability of clinical trial data is essential for Cochrane to produce high quality and relevant systematic reviews. Without this, we risk basing our reviews on partial data and to exaggerate benefits of a health intervention or underestimate its possible harms. Good health care decision making by policymakers as well as patients will be hindered.”

Read the full press release from Health Action International.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Knowledge Translation (KT) in Cochrane is delighted to announce the launch of its Dissemination Checklist - a new resource that can improve the quality, consistency and translatability of dissemination products that present findings of a Cochrane intervention review. 

The 18-item Checklist and accompanying guidance is for anyone in Cochrane who produces, or wants to produce, dissemination products or dissemination product templates.  It shares the components of a high-quality dissemination product that you can check against your own product, along with tips and suggestions to use when creating your product, and examples of applying the new Checklist in practice. 

The Checklist is an output of Theme Two of Cochrane’s KT Framework, ‘Packaging and Push’ - a programme of implementation work to ensure that the users of Cochrane’s evidence can receive and act on our reviews and products. Effective dissemination of our evidence is a critically important part of our knowledge translation activities to ensure our review content is available to all people in a format and style they can interpret and use.

Starting in January 2020, we will deliver a wide range of opportunities to help people apply the checklist and disseminate their Cochrane evidence. More details will follow on how you can participate in our webinar series, new learning resources, and training opportunities.

We have also recently updated our Cochrane Training webpages on How to Share Cochrane Evidence.  On these pages, you will find information on:

• The difference dissemination is making in Cochrane
• How to choose the right dissemination product for your audience, including information on how to create a number of popular Cochrane dissemination products;
• More information about the Dissemination Checklist.

To find out more about the Checklist, join us for an introductory webinar on October 31st 13:00-14:00.

You can register here

For more information on KT in Cochrane https://training.cochrane.org/online-learning

Friday, October 25, 2019

Job type: Fixed-term for 1 yearWorking hours: Full time, 80% FTE considered on requestSalary: £29,176
Location: Liverpool, UKApplication deadline: 24 November 2019, 23:45

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine's department of Clinical Sciences has an exciting opportunity for a Research Assistant to join the team working as part of the “Research, Evidence and Development Initiative” (READ-It)

LSTM’S Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health leads developments in evidence synthesis for tropical medicine and global health. In the 1990s, we helped establish Cochrane. We now run the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group (CIDG), with over 150 Cochrane reviews and 600 authors throughout the world; we work closely with the World Health Organization and co-ordinate a global evidence ecosystem, with active partner programmes in South Africa, India and Sri Lanka.

As part of this, we are recruiting staff as part of a six year “Research, Evidence and Development Initiative” (READ-It) programme. The successful applicant will be part of this process and join the teams in the existing and new review portfolio, which will include working with the team to complete an ongoing Cochrane review on insecticide residual spraying for malaria. Our priorities are developing rapidly, and we are seeking to engage the successful applicant in a second high-priority area commensurate with their areas of interest.  For example, some topics under consideration include rapid diagnostic tests in malaria; triple therapy in filariasis; self-testing for HIV; and counselling after stillbirths. There are also a variety of methodological projects related to Cochrane including review updating and non-financial conflicts of interest; and formal evaluation of ease of access in LMICS to the Cochrane Library. Overall, we aim for a mixed portfolio to provide a broad exposure to evidence informed science.

The successful candidate will have a Masters that includes training in interpreting statistical and quantitative data; ideally you will also hold a postgraduate qualification in epidemiology or related quantitative topic. You will have experience in biomedical or social science research in low and middle-income countries and have the ability to critically appraise medical literature at postgraduate level.

You need to have completed a systematic review or an applied research project.  Additionally, you must possess evidence of critical insight into priority policy questions in international health relevant to infectious diseases.

If you have authored a Cochrane review, have experience of using GRADE, or have a track record in published research, it will be an added advantage to your application.

Take a look at our website http://www.evidence4health.org/ where you will find annual reports of our work and learn more about the CIDG team.  Any further informal inquiries, please contact paul.garner@lstmed.ac.uk

• Closing Date: 24th November 2019
• View the job description here

This job is unlikely to attract a Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship (formerly a work permit).  Applications from candidates who require Tier 2 immigration status to work in the UK may not be considered if there are a sufficient number of other suitable candidates.  To apply for a Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship, employers need to demonstrate that they are unable to recruit a resident worker before recruiting an individual overseas.  For further information, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration

We believe that this post will not be suitable for individuals on Tier 5 visas as these posts are not considered to be supernumerary to the organisation. For further details, please visit the UKVI website: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

LSTM actively promotes Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding Policies

To apply online click HERE

Please note: Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early

Friday, October 25, 2019 Category: Jobs

Editor in Chief, Cochrane Library

After ten years at the helm of the Cochrane Library, Dr David Tovey recently stepped down as Editor-in-Chief. This week he joins Ray to reflect on Cochrane’s past, present and future and share some of the challenges and rewards of leading one of the world’s largest and most trusted health research networks.

Listen to Recommended Dose podcasts on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher  or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Find more details and our show notes the podcast page or follow on twitter  or facebook.

The Recommended Dose is produced by Cochrane Australia and co-published with The BMJ.

 

Thursday, October 31, 2019

National Science Editor, The Age

Our latest series kicks off with Australia’s multi-award-winning health and science reporter, Liam Mannix. He joins Ray to share his insights into the role and impact of evidence, advocacy and investigative reporting in today’s ever-changing media landscape.

Listen to Recommended Dose podcasts on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher  or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Find more details and our show notes the podcast page or follow on twitter  or facebook.

The Recommended Dose is produced by Cochrane Australia and co-published with The BMJ.

Friday, October 25, 2019

At the close of its meeting today, Cochrane’s Governing Board extended its grateful thanks to Gabriel Rada, the Local Organizing Team at Cochrane Chile, Cochrane Iberoamerica, and support from Cochrane’s Central Executive Team for their outstanding work in preparing for the 2019 Santiago Colloquium.

The Board and Senior Management Team share Cochrane Chile’s huge disappointment that it was necessary to cancel the Colloquium however all were in agreement that this was the most appropriate decision in the wake of the ongoing civil unrest in Santiago.

They have also been inspired to see the best of Cochrane’s collaborative spirit demonstrated by the organizing teams and every Cochrane member and supporter who came to Chile under these most difficult circumstances.

 We send our best wishes to the staff of Cochrane Chile and hope for a peaceful resolution to the current political situation.  

Cochrane’s Governing Board

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Specifications: Fixed Term, up to 12 months
Salary: £35,000
Location: London
Application Closing Date: 11th November 2019 at Midnight GMT

This role is an exciting opportunity to use your experience as a Business Analyst to make a difference in the field of health care research. 

As the Business Analyst (BA) you will gather, analyse, validate and document business requirements using workshops, interviews, document analysis, site visits, user cases, business analysis, workflow analysis and observations, ensuring they are sufficiently detailed, reviewed, signed off, and kept up-to-date and are fully traceable. You will create and manage functional specifications and help identify and validate appropriate solutions, to support business objectives.

We are looking for a self-motivated and highly organised individual who is able to work effectively and collaboratively with a diverse range of contacts across the world.  The successful candidate will also have:

• Experience of working with Agile software development methodologies.
• Experience evaluating information gathered from multiple sources, reconciling conflicts, and translating high-level requirements from the customer into detailed tasks for the technical team.
• In-depth knowledge of feature definition, technical analysis, and software development processes, and a drive to help improve the Cochrane Library’s processes through constructive criticism and a willingness to implement process changes.
• Ability to assess project requirements and understand processes for gathering, validating and documenting.
• Excellent written English.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to interact professionally with executives, managers, and subject matter experts.
• A highly organised, logical and object-oriented approach to the work with ability to work to deadlines and prioritise competing activities.
• Able to work efficiently and effectively with a geographically-dispersed department and organization.

Cochrane is a global, independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. Our work is recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

If you would like to apply for this position, please send a CV along with a supporting statement to recruitment@cochrane.org with “Business Analyst” in the subject line.  The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements for the post outlined in the job description using specific examples.  List your experience, achievements, knowledge, personal qualities, and skills which you feel are relevant to the post.

• For further information, please download the full job description from here
• Deadline for applications: 11th November 2019 (12 midnight GMT)
• Interviews to be held on: (TBC)

Tuesday, October 22, 2019 Category: Jobs

An unprecedented situation of civil unrest across Santiago has led to the cancellation of Cochrane's annual flagship event, this year’s 26th Colloquium. Chair of the Local Organizing Committee and Co-Director of Cochrane Chile, Gabriel Rada, expresses his thanks for everyone’s support this week.

Dear friends,

At this very instant, as chair of the Local Organizing Committee, I should be inaugurating the 26th Cochrane Colloquium here in Santiago. 

However, as you already know, an unprecedented situation of civil unrest across Santiago and the rest of the country, gave us no option but to cancel Cochrane's annual flagship event.

Even though it was an extremely painful decision, we are convinced it was the right one and taken at the right time.

I want to thank the Governing Board and the Central Executive Team for their unquestioning vote of confidence when we recommended cancellation as the only possible course of action. The safety of all delegates, both physical and emotional, and the empathy with the sad situation all Chileans are currently living have been the drivers of all the decisions made, even when there were many other things at stake.

I want to thank all the people that worked so hard in organizing this event: the Local Organizing Committee, the Scientific Committee, and the Central Executive Team. I also want to thank all the participants. We recognize the enormous effort behind each presentation, workshop, oral session or poster.

Marcela Cortés, Rachel Klabunde, Sabrina Khamissa, Julio Villanueva, Gabriel Rada
Not pictured: Eva Madrid, Pamela Serón, Jana Stojanova, Luis Ortiz

During the coming weeks, we will put in place a virtual space for you to share your presentations or posters, so you can share your work. Please do, and help us make this year's Colloquium into a truly unique experience.

The theme of this Colloquium was ‘Embracing diversity’. In my inaugural speech, I was going to draw a parallel between the diverse geography and composition of the society of this country, and the challenges that diversity imposes to Cochrane, the scientific community in general, and society. 

I was going to expose how far we are from addressing the challenges that inequities and diversity bring, specifically in the context of information overload, conflict of interests and structural problems that lead to massive research waste. Our chance to keep providing reliable evidence for decision-making to everyone, especially to those most in need, are critically endangered.

It is paradoxical that the same problem we wanted to address is the one that underlies the crisis in Chile that impeded us to celebrate our Colloquium. 

However, we can also consider it a reminder of the urgency of the matter. We are working to provide reliable evidence, useful to everybody, everywhere in the world. If we do not act now, if we do not address diversity and inequality now, then it might be too late.

To all those in Santiago, I wish you safe travels home. And we look forward to showing all your extraordinary work here in the coming weeks.

Dr. Gabriel Rada

 

Our Local Organizing Committee are working on plans to digitalize some of the key Colloquium content that was planned for the week, and more information about how this will be implemented will be shared here soon.

If you have specific concerns and questions today, you can email us at colloquium@cochrane.org; or phone (or WhatsApp) these support lines: +44 7539 997-549 / +44 7984 421-980.

Our best wishes,
Local Organizing Committee

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Dear Colloquium delegates,

* Latest Update: Sunday 20 October - 17:00 - There is a curfew 19:00 to 06:00 this evening in Santiago

Sunday 20 October: Update – 11:00 – COLLOQUIUM IS CANCELLED

Due to the worsening situation of civil unrest across the city of Santiago, the decision has been taken to cancel this year’s Cochrane Colloquium.

 The situation in the city centre has deteriorated in the last 24 hours and remains volatile and uncertain: a curfew is in place, there is extremely limited public transportation and there are reports of a two-day national strike beginning on Monday.

 The safety and security of all Colloquium delegates is our highest priority. For this reason, we believe cancelling this year’s annual event is the most appropriate decision.

 The Colloquium in its entirety has been cancelled, this includes all pre and post-Colloquium events, workshops, meetings, social events and the Gala dinner.

 Clearly, these are challenging times and we would like to provide delegates in Santiago, or in transit to the city, with the following advice:

• If you have arrived, please stay near to your hotel, ask your hotel reception for any advice regarding facilities in the local area, opening times of supermarkets and shops, and public transport updates.  Please ensure you are aware of daily curfews and stay safe.
• If you are currently traveling to Santiago, or in transit, we can report that the airport is open but understandably busier than normal. We advise that you make your way to your accommodation using the official transfer operator, DELFOS. You will find them in the main concourse section at Exit Four after leaving baggage claim. In addition, there are members of the local organizing team wearing Cochrane T-shirts at the airport offering advice and support during the day.
• If you already in Santiago, please send us a short email with information about your accommodation (hotel, Air BnB, etc.) and your contact details (mobile phone number) so that we can have a better understanding of which delegates have arrived and where they are staying.

 The situation is fast-changing and we are uncertain as to how events will develop. However, hotels and some shops are open, Uber and taxi providers are operating across the city during the day. We recommend that you stay close to your accommodation and seek the advice of local staff.

 We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and will provide regular updates.

 If you have specific concerns and questions today, you can email us at colloquium@cochrane.org; or phone (or WhatsApp) these support lines: +44 7539 997-549 / +44 7984 421-980.

 Our Local Organizing Committee are responding to all enquiries.

 We are sorry to have had to cancel our annual flagship event, and recognize the huge disappointment and inconvenience that this will cause. Nevertheless, we are convinced that for the safety and wellbeing of everyone this is the right decision. 

Gabriel Rada                    Mark Wilson      Martin Burton                   Catherine Marshall                       
Cochrane Chile                CEO                       Co-Chair                             Co-Chair    

Sunday, October 20, 2019