Category: Events

We are delighted that EBR will be well represented at the 10th International Conference of EBHC Teachers & Developers, joint meeting with the 10th Conference of the International Society for Evidence-Based Health Care taking place in Siciliy 25th-28th October 2023. As well as abstract presentations there will be a workshop on “The Importance of End-User Perspectives in Reducing Research Waste”.

BACKGROUND

For health research to be relevant, it should meet the needs and demands of the end users, especially patients. The evidence-based research (EBR) approach suggests using a systematic and transparent approach to incorporate the perspective of end users in planning new research and placing the research results in context.

AIMS

A European Union COST Action (network building grant) called EVBRES (Evidence-Based RESearch) was established in 2018 to establish an international European-based network to raise awareness about EBR. During the course of implementing EVBRES, opportunities and challenges to using an EBR approach to identifying and incorporating end-users’ perspectives have been realised. This workshop aims to interactively explore with attendees solutions to incorporating end-user perspectives in research and initiate the development of communication (e.g., white paper, position statement) for broader dissemination within the research community.

PROGRAM

There will be two short presentations with time for questions and answers, one providing an overview of EBR situated within the Produced Evidence component of the Evidence Ecosystem and another focusing on incorporating end users’ perspectives when planning, performing and disseminating health research. The majority and remainder of the workshop will be dedicated to 3 facilitated, small-group and summary large-group discussions about existing and new solutions to incorporating end-user perspectives in a) the justification of new research, b) the methodological design of new research, and b) the contextualisation of the results of new research. The workshop will conclude with the identification of a timeline of deliverables for drafting, finalising, and disseminating communication of “best practices” to incorporate end-users’ perspectives in the new research.

Visit the conference website: https://www.ebhcconference.org/

“Along with other types of research, it has been stated that the extent of redundancy in systematic reviews has reached epidemic proportions. However, it was also emphasized that not all duplication is bad, that replication in research is essential, and that it can help discover unfortunate behaviors of scientists. Thus, the question is how to define a redundant systematic review, the harmful consequences of such reviews, and what we could do to prevent the unnecessary amount of this redundancy.”

This new article by Livia Puljak and Hans Lund on redundant systematic reviews was inspired by talks from the 3rd EBR conference of EVBRES. The article also includes advice on how to kill a zombie!

You can read it here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13643-023-02191-8

A reminder that the call is still open for the thematic series ‘The role of systematic reviews in evidence-based research’. Appropriate articles could include:

• those using evidence syntheses as a method,
• evaluation of the use of systematic reviews for justifying and designing new studies and when placing new results in the context of existing evidence, and
• exploring the challenges related to the preparation of systematic reviews that will specifically affect researchers when implementing the EBR approach.

Submissions can include research articles, systematic reviews, methodology and commentaries; however protocols are not being included in this series.

Find out more here.

The Global Evidence and Implementation Summit (GEIS), taking place in Melbourne from 22-24 October 2018, will deliver the latest evidence synthesis and implementation research and practice strategies for improving the lives of individuals, families and communities globally.

GEIS 2018 has an impressive line-up of speakers from around the world. Alongside headlining speaker Caroline Fiennes, other key summit speakers include Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Professor and Co-Director of New York University’s Global TIES for Children centre, and Richard Weston, CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation.

The summit will be specifically valuable for individuals and leaders working in sectors with a strong focus on the uptake of evidence, including child and social welfare, education, humanitarian aid, crime and justice, international development, environment and climate change, or health and human services.

Expected to attract more than 700 attendees from 30 countries, the summit will be a unique learning and networking opportunity for funding and implementing agencies, policy makers, practitioners, knowledge brokers and researchers.

Summit themes include:

• Understanding what works
• Achieving scale and sustainability
• Methods for impact and implementation evaluation and synthesis
• Using evidence for better policy, programs and practice
• National and global cooperation and partnerships

GEIS 2018 is being co-hosted by the Campbell Collaboration and the Centre for Evidence and Implementation. The summit combines their two prominent conferences: the 4th Australasian Implementation Conference and the What Works Global Summit 2018.

The summit has garnered support from many well-known organisations worldwide, including Save the Children, the European Implementation Collaborative, and IFAD. Bursaries for accepted speakers to attend the summit from developing countries are being generously supported by UNICEF.

Early-bird registrations for GEIS 2018 are now open. Student rates and day registrations are also available.

For more information please visit the conference website.

For more information please visit the conference website

Professor Hans Lund, Chairman of the EBRNetwork, is presenting at the EBHC International Conference on the topic “Evidence-Based Research – placing research in the context of existing knowledge: a systematic review”. He will present the findings from a systematic review aimed at addressing the following questions:

1. What is the current best available evidence on the impact of evidence-based research (EBR), i.e. are systematic reviews used to support decisions to plan, fund, approve, conduct, report and publish research? If so, are they effective?
2. What is the current best available evidence of the benefits of EBR?
3. What is the current best available evidence of harms caused by research that is not evidence-based?
4. What is the current best available evidence on the perceived or actual adverse effects of EBR?

For more information please visit the conference website.

For more information please visit the conference website

Judith van Luijk, PhD student at Radboud University Medical Center, recently submitted her PhD thesis entitled: “The Next Steps Towards Responsible Animal-based Research”. The thesis concerns research into the effectiveness of the 3Rs and systematic reviews (SRs) of animal studies, and what SRs can contribute to animal-based research and what actions are needed.

This work contributes to reducing waste in animal research and encourage evidence-based research in laboratory animal science.

The thesis has been approved for public defence which will take place on May 24th at 10.30 AM in Nijmegen (Geert Grooteplein Noord 21, The Netherlands). Everyone are welcome to attend the public ceremony. More information available here. 

We wish Judith good luck in defending her thesis!

Abstract “Evidence-Based Research Network (EBRNetwork) – A call to action for evidence-based research” has been accepted as a poster at “Tenth World Congress Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences“. Session: Ethics of Animal Use in Research – Harm/Benefit Analysis. Presenter: Marlies Leenaars from The Netherlands.

Welcome to the seminar “Redundant and dangerous health research – how can you support better research practices?”

The seminar is organised in collaboration with the Centre for Evidence-Based Practice and is a follow-up to the seminar about evidence-based research and redundant health research in Norway that the Centre and the EBRNetwork arranged in December 2014.

When conducting evidence-based research the research questions are based on systematic reviews of previous research and the results are put into context with earlier research.

Scientists often assume that if they refer to well-known sources when they prepare new research and interpret results, they fulfill the expectation that they work evidence-based. A number of studies clearly shows, however, that many researchers are selective and uncritical in their use of individual studies if they do not conduct a systematic review of the literature. This can result in patients participating in unnecessary, and potentially dangerous, research projects.

We invite you to a seminar with interesting presentations and discussions where patients are the primary focus!

Program

CHAIR: Hans Lund

09:30 – 10:00 Coffee

10:00 – 10.05 Welcome

10:05 – 10:20 The scientific process involves a systematic approach at each step to avoid bias – but the awareness about current knowledge is not based upon a systematic /scientific approach
Dr. Hans Lund, Associate Professor, University of Southern Denmark and Professor, Bergen University College

10:20 – 10:35 Do researchers demonstrate knowledge about all earlier studies within their area?
Dr. Caroline Blaine, Clinical Editor, BMJ

10:35 – 10:55 Do researchers conduct redundant health research?
Dr. Malcolm Macleod, Professor, University of Edinburgh

10:55 – 11:10 How do researchers cite earlier research?
Dr. Jennifer Yost, Assistant Professor, McMaster University

11:10 – 11:30 Presentation of the EBRNetwork – invitation to participate
Dr. Hans Lund, Associate Professor, University of Southern Denmark, Professor, Bergen University College

11:30 – 12:30 Lunch

12:30 – 12:45 Evidence-based research – what does it mean for consumers?
Peg Ford, Co-founder, President, Ovarian Cancer Alliance of San Diego & Hanna Nykvist, Associate Professor, Bergen University College

12:45 – 13:30 Response from consumers to the challenges presented in the first session
Tone Hansen, Chairperson, Leukaemia Association & Claus Ingebrigtsen, Lecturer, Hordaland County Council

13:30 – 14:30 Panel Discussion
Consumers & the EBRNetwork Steering Group