CCInfo: Electronic news bulletin of The Cochrane Collaboration 28 September 2006 Contents: A. Changes at the Neurological Network B. Honorary doctorate for Sir Iain Chalmers C. 5th Canadian Cochrane Symposium - Call for Abstracts D. Bursary Scheme - Call for Proposals E. Study On Data Extraction in Systematic Reviews - Call for Participants F. Short Course - Qualitative Research Methods G. Workshop - Qualitative Systematic Reviews In Health & Social Care Workshop H. Cours d'introduction pour les auteurs de revues systématiques Cochrane I. Job Ad - Research Associate J. Job ad – Systematic Reviewer K. Next issue of CCInfo XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX A. Sender: Debbie Jordan [debbie.jordan@unimi.it] Subject: Changes at the Neurological Network Livia Candelise, who began efforts to establish the Neurological Network in 1993 and has been its director since the Field's official registration with Cochrane in March 2000, is planning to retire at the end of next year. Direction of the Neurological Network will be transferred to her younger colleague, Teresa Cantisani, a neurologist in Perugia, Italy,beginning in January 2007. Therefore the base of the Neurological Network will be moved from Milan to Perugia, where Teresa has already secured logistics and funding from the local regional health council (Livia is now beginning to transfer her activities to Teresa). Teresa will be supported by three other "co-directors", Maria Grazia Celani, Enrico Righetti, and Stefano Ricci, all of whom are neurologists in Perugia. The new Field Coordinator in Perugia will be Kathy Mahan, an American who has lived in Italy for over 30 years. The current Field Coordinator in Milan, Debbie Jordan, will continue in the role until January 2007. During the next few months, Debbie and Kathy will be working together closely, along with Livia, Teresa and the rest of the Perugia team, to ensure a smooth transition. To those who will be attending the Colloquium in Dublin, you will have the opportunity to meet Teresa and Kathy at the Neurological Network table during Meet the Entities, 15.30-17.00 on Monday 23 October in the Burlington Hotel. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX B. Sender: Rob Scholten [r.j.scholten@amc.uva.nl] Subject: Honorary doctorate for Sir Iain Chalmers We are delighted to announce that on 20 October 2006, Sir Iain Chalmers will receive an honorary doctorate at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam for his outstanding contributions to evidence-based medicine, especially through his efforts in developing and disseminating the principles of systematic reviews in modern-day medicine. Professor Lex Bouter, former co-ordinating editor of the Cochrane Back Group and currently the Rector Magnificus of the Vrije Universiteit will act as honorary promoter. For further information, please contact the Dutch Cochrane Centre (cochrane@amc.uva.nl). XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX C. Sender: Miranda Cumpston [mcumpsto@uottawa.ca] Subject: 5th Canadian Cochrane Symposium - Call for Abstracts Abstracts are now invited for the 5th Canadian Cochrane Symposium, to be held in Ottawa on February 12th-13th, 2007, with the theme of Knowledge for Health. Abstracts for oral, poster and workshop presentations relating to the Symposium’s theme and evidence-based health care will be considered. Presentations from all interested parties are welcome (students,consumers, practitioners, policy makers, review authors and researchers). Suggested topic areas for abstracts are: - Evidence-informed public health - International health and equity - Evidence-based health care in low- and middle-income countries - Innovative approaches to knowledge translation with different target audiences (consumers, health professionals, managers, policy makers) - Advances in systematic review methods Deadline: Abstracts must be submitted by November 1st, 2006. Details: www.cochrane.uottawa.ca/abstractcall.asp. Contact: cochranesymposium@uottawa.ca, or call 613 562 5800 ext.2954. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX D. Sender: Eric Manheimer [emanheimer@compmed.umm.edu] Subject: Bursary Scheme - Call for Proposals The Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field is pleased to announce our 2006 bursary scheme made possible through funds from the US National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The purpose of this bursary scheme is to ensure that reviews relevant to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are completed and published in The Cochrane Library. Funding offered: 2 review proposals in the amount of $5,000 USD each will be funded Eligibility requirements: - Review must be registered with a Cochrane Collaborative Review Group, and a protocol of the review must already be published in The Cochrane Library - The topic of the review must relate to CAM (see scope in Call for Proposals) - Bursaries will be targeted to reviews for which substantial progress has already been made and whose completion has been stalled due to a lack of funding Timeline: Completed application forms must be received by the Complementary Medicine Field by 6 November 2006. Contact: All application forms and letters of support should be sent by e-mail to Eric Manheimer (emanheimer@compmed.umm.edu). Forms and letters sent by postal delivery or fax will not be accepted. Successful candidates will be notified by 20 November 2006. Funds will be distributed to successful applicants in a single installment, after the award notification. Details: Please see the Call for Proposals and Application Form (available at: http://www.compmed.umm.edu/Cochrane/bursary.html). XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX E. Sender: Lisa Tjosvold [tjosvold@ualberta.ca] Subject: Study on Data Extraction in Systematic Reviews - Call for Participants Study Title: Data extraction in systematic reviews Principal Investigator: Terry P. Klassen On behalf of Dr. Terry Klassen, Coordinator of the Cochrane Child Health Field, we invite you to participate in a study we are conducting to assess data extraction in systematic reviews. Through this research, we aim to improve systematic review methodology. If you are interested in participating, and are enrolled in the study, we will reimburse you $75 CAD for your participation upon completion of the study. We will also provide you with a summary of the findings. If you are interested in participating in the study, the first step is for you to complete a questionnaire. Based on your match with eligibility criteria, and whether or not our quota has been reached, we will make a decision as to whether you will be enrolled in the study. If you are eligible to participate and our quota has not been reached, you will be asked to complete an informed consent form prior to participation. None of the investigators of this study will be aware of your decision on participation, since you will be identified by number and not by name, and you will communicate solely with me during the course of the study. I will be the contact person for the study, but I will not be involved in data analysis or interpretation. We will notify you if you are not eligible to participate or if our quota has been reached. We expect that the amount of time you will need to devote to this study is minimal. First, you will be asked to complete an online questionnaire that will take approximately 15 minutes of your time. By completing the questionnaire, you will have implied your consent to take part in the screening process for the study. If you are enrolled in the study, you will be asked to extract data from three articles, track the time spent extracting data from each article, and have completed the data extraction forms by Monday, November 20, 2006. Based on the results of a previous study we conducted, we anticipate that it will take about 60 minutes/study for data extraction. Therefore, we expect that you will spend approximately 3 hours on data extraction. You will be considered to have completed the study if you complete data extraction on three studies using the online data extraction forms by Monday, November 20, 2006. Reimbursement will be pro-rated for participants who complete some of the data extraction and then choose to withdraw. The project is funded by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (formerly Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment), and has received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Health Research Ethics Board. If you are interested in participating in this study, please proceed with completion of the questionnaire at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=876692059269. You will be notified as to whether you are eligible to participate in the study or whether our quota has been reached by Monday, October 16, 2006. Deadline: by Tuesday, October 10, 2006 Contact: Marilyn Josefsson (marilyn.josefsson@ualberta.ca) or 780-492-1078 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX F. Sender: Annette Yang [cpdhealth@conted.ox.ac.uk] Subject: Short Course - Qualitative Research Methods This 5 day course is structured to help students to design and carry out a qualitative project. Students must identify a work-based issue that can be investigated using a qualitative approach. Students conduct fieldwork to collect data, and practical assistance is given with data analysis and writing up. Small group sessions are used to critically appraise the quality of qualitative research. The course helps students learn how to design research projects to explore a wide range of social factors. Host: University of Oxford Health Sciences Dates: 2, 4, 9, 10, 12 October 2006 Location: University of Oxford Details: http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/cpd/healthsciences/courses/short_courses/QRM/ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX G. Sender: Sender: Annette Yang [cpdhealth@conted.ox.ac.uk] Subject: Workshop - Qualitative Systematic Reviews In Health & Social Care Qualitative research in the context of systematic reviews is a new and growing area of research. There are many learners who are developing methodology - we are all in the position of being learners. This 2 day workshop will be participatory with speakers and participants sharing experiences and learning from each other. Contributors include leading institutions in the development of QSR and members of the Cochrane Qualitative Methods Review Group. Experiences will be fed back to the Cochrane Qualitative Methods Review Group, to help in the development of training. Host: University of Oxford Health Sciences Dates: 20-21 October 2006 Location: University of Oxford Details: http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/cpd/healthsciences/courses/short_courses/qsr/ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX H. Sender: H. Sender: Myriam Rège [Myriam.Rege@chuv.ch] Subject: Cours d'introduction pour les auteurs de revues systématiques Cochrane Ce cours de trois jours sera donné en français. Il est destiné aux personnes qui désirent commencer une revue systématique Cochrane ou s’informer sur la méthode utilisée dans le travail de revue systématique développé par la Collaboration Cochrane. Limité à 15 personnes pour favoriser l’interactivité et basé principalement sur la pratique,ce cours d’initiation devrait vous permettre de développer les compétences requises au démarrage d'une revue systématique et à l'identification des sources à consulter pour de plus amples informations si nécessaire. Hôte: Le Réseau Francophone Cochrane et Le Centre d’Epidémiologie Clinique Dates: 6 au 8 décembre 2006 Lieu: Lausanne, Suisse Détails: Vous trouverez la description du cours, le talon d'inscription, le programme et une annonce du cours pour affichage via le web: http://www.chuv.ch/cepic/CochraneCours.html Contact: Mme Nathalie Rouge (+41 21 314 72 86): nathalie.rouge@chuv.ch XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I. Sender: Nicole Floyd [floydn@ohsu.edu] Subject: Job Ad - Research Associate Position: Research Associate (Methods Team Leader) Full Time Organisation: The Scientific Resource Center (SRC) for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care Program Location: Portland, Oregon, US Deadline: none Contact: Please submit cover letter and CV/resume to Jill Rose (Email: roseji@ohsu.edu) Web: http://www.cochrane.org/jobs/index.shtml XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX J. Sender: Claire Allen [CAllen@cochrane.org] Subject: Job ad – Systematic Reviewer Position: Systematic Reviewer Organisation: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), National Collaborating Centre for Nursing & Supportive Care Deadline: 4 October 2006 Location: Oxford, UK Contact: For further information contact Dr Ian Bullock 07818 090865; quote reference number NU0335/0608 Web: www.rcn.org.uk/aboutus/jobs; http://www.cochrane.org/jobs/index.shtml XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX K. Sender: Cheryl Arratoon [cochrane@uottawa.ca] Subject: Next issue of CCInfo The next issue of CCInfo will be published October 12, 2006. Please submit your items to cochrane@uottawa.ca and please include "CCInfo" in the subject line. Unless you request otherwise, your submissions to the CCInfo may be duplicated in other regular Cochrane Collaboration news channels such as Cochrane News and the Cochrane Collaboration web site, at the discretion of the editors. regards, Cheryl Cheryl Arratoon Knowledge Broker Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre 1 Stewart St (227) Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5 Email: cochrane@uottawa.ca Web: www.cochrane.uottawa.ca XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the CCInfo list, please go to http://lists.cochrane.org/mailman/listinfo/ccinfo, or contact the Editor at cochrane@uottawa.ca.