CCInfo: Electronic news bulletin of The Cochrane Collaboration 4 September 2008 Contents: A. Final dates for Cochrane Colloquium B. Australian Review Completion and Update Program C. Updating reviews – piloting a decision tool D. UK Cochrane Centre staff changes E. Changes in Cochrane Skin Group F. Completing a Cochrane systematic review workshop G. 7th Canadian Cochrane Symposium – call for abstracts H. Teaching EBM project I. Job ad – Knowledge Transfer/Clinical Advisor, CADTH J. Job ad – Research Fellow I. Next Issue of CCInfo XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX A. Sender: Bärbel Schätzle [schaetzle@cochrane.de] Subject: Final dates for Cochrane Colloquium We are drawing closer to the 16th Cochrane Colloquium in Freiburg - only one month left! Therefore please be aware of following deadlines: - 3 September: cancellation deadline for registration - 4 September: Hotel registration deadline - 30 September: Virtual Poster Session submission deadline (send your poster as PDF to: posters@cochrane.de) - Details of the Plenary Sessions are online now. - Don't forget to sign up for workshops and meetings. - Please create your 'Colloquium space' if you haven't done it yet. - The Child Care Service is offered on an hourly basis from 07:00 till 18:00 and can be booked at the registration desk. - Some social events are fully booked, so make your choice soon. - Also, have a look at our checklist to help you plan your travel and your stay in Freiburg. Visit www.colloquium.info. See you soon in Freiburg, The Team of the German Cochrane Centre XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX B. Sender: Miranda Cumpston (miranda.cumpston@med.monash.edu.au) Subject: Australian Review Completion and Update Program Are you trying to finish or update a Cochrane review? The Australasian Cochrane Centre's review completion and update program is designed to provide dedicated time and support to review authors who are struggling to find the time to complete or update their Cochrane systematic review. Run over five days from 17-21 November 2008 in Melbourne, the course allows dedicated time to work on your review, supported by experienced trainers. Hands-on assistance and targeted training sessions will be tailored to your needs, and will include advice on new methods introduced with the revised Cochrane Handbook in 2008, such as: * appraising your included studies using risk of bias tables * using RevMan 5 * generating Summary of Findings tables Our aim is that by the end of the week, your review will be ready to submit to your Review Group. All authors with a published protocol on The Cochrane Library are welcome to register. For more information and registration, visit www.cochrane.org.au/training or contact donna.duyvestyn@med.monash.edu.au. Please note that the course is free of charge, but authors will need to pay their own travel and accommodation expenses. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX C. Sender: Kirsty Loudon [kloudon@cochrane.co.uk] Subject: Updating reviews – piloting a decision tool There is a project underway within the Cochrane Collaboration to develop and validate a set of criteria that can be used to assess whether, and when, to update a Cochrane review. We would like to hear from anyone who is about to update their review who would be interested in piloting this decision tool. We would like to ask you to use the decision tool whilst updating any Cochrane reviews in the coming months, telling us how it helped or hindered the process. Importantly, as this is part of the piloting process, we ask that you use the tool alongside and not instead of your normal updating process. We hope that this tool will make it easier to identify which Cochrane reviews are ripe for updating and ensure that the decision making process is made clearer and more transparent to the end user. If you are interested in participating please get in touch with Kirsty Loudon at kloudon@cochrane.co.uk. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX D. Sender: Nicola McDowell [NMcDowell@cochrane.co.uk] Subject: UK Cochrane Centre staff changes The UK Cochrane Centre would like to advise colleagues of the following staff changes. Catherine Francis-Baldesari left the UK Centre in March 2008 and has been helping short term with the Web based Training project. Amy Drahota has joined the UKCC team on a half time basis. She is being seconded by the School of Health Sciences & Social Work at the University of Portsmouth. Amy has been involved with the Collaboration since 2004 when she joined the Effective Practice & Organisation of Care CRG as a review author. As well as conducting primary research in the field of healthcare environments, Amy teaches research methods on a number of courses at the School of Health Sciences & Social Work (University of Portsmouth), as well as on a CPD short-course for allied health professionals ('Putting Evidence into Practice'), one-to-one consultations and workshops. Amy is working with the UKCC Training Team in a facilitator capacity and various other projects including the Web based Training for Cochrane Review Authors Project. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX E. Sender: Finola Delamere [Csg@nottingham.ac.uk] Subject: Changes in Cochrane Skin Group Just in case there are some Cochranites out there who have not heard, Tina Leonard, the Managing Editor/ Review Group Co-ordinator of the Cochrane Skin Group retired due to ill health in July. We at the editorial base in Nottingham, UK wish her all the best in her retirement and thank her for her hard work over the years. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX F. Sender: Ervin, Ann [aervin@jhsph.edu] Subject: Completing a Cochrane systematic review workshop Event: Completing a Cochrane Systematic Review Workshop Date: 15 – 17 January 2009 Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA) Details: This workshop guides participants through the steps of developing a systematic review and includes presentations about Cochrane methodology and hands-on practice using the Cochrane Collaboration’s Review Manager (RevMan) software. Priority registration for those interested in contributing to the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group. Those with Cochrane registered titles, protocols, and reviews as well as those interested in learning more about systematic reviews are also accepted, space permitting. Contact: Ann Ervin (uscevg@jhsph.edu) or go to the website http://www.cochraneeyes.org/workshops/systematicreview.htm for more information. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX G. Sender: Lisa McGovern [Cochrane@uottawa.ca] Subject: 7th Canadian Cochrane Symposium – call for abstracts Event: 7th Annual Canadian Cochrane Symposium - Wave to the Future: Navigating the Health Connection among Systematic Reviews, Policies and Practices Date: 11-12 March 2009 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Details: Abstracts and workshop proposals are now invited in either English or French. All submissions relating to the Symposium's theme will be considered. Presentations from all interested parties are welcome (students, consumers, practitioners, policy makers, review authors and researchers). Please note that those whose abstracts are accepted are required to register and pay for the conference. There is no financial assistance available for registration, travel or any other costs associated with attending or presenting. Deadline: Abstracts and proposals must be submitted no later than 12:00 a.m. Atlantic Time October 15, 2008. Website: www.wavetothefuture.ca. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX H. Sender: Gemma Barnfield [g.barnfield@bham.ac.uk] Subject: Teaching EBM project Harmonising teaching and training in evidence-based medicine (EBM) is a challenge. A European Union funded project aims to develop distance learning courses using e-learning for (a) teaching EBM and (b) teaching trainers how to teach EBM. Important outputs from this project are available at www.ebm-unity.org/ www.ebm-unity.org/. The project publications have been highly accessed and can be found at www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/7/46 www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/7/46 and, www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/8/27 Please browse these resources and contribute your ideas to the development of this field. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I. Sender: Marilyn Robertson [marilynr@cadth.ca] Subject: Job ad – Knowledge Transfer/Clinical Advisor, CADTH Position: Knowledge Transfer/Clinical Advisor Organisation: Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Application Deadline: 18 September 2008 Website: Please visit www.cadth.ca to apply online. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX J. Sender: Jayne Tierney [jt@ctu.mrc.ac.uk] Subject: Job ad – Research Fellow Position: Research Fellow Organisation: MRC General Practice Research Framework Location: London, UK (Off Euston Road) Application deadline: 19 September 2008 Details: This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced researcher, with a background in medical research, to lead a MRC Population Health Sciences Research Network (PHSRN) funded study on participant recruitment and attrition in randomised controlled trials. The post-holder will lead on an important systematic review of attrition in trials, and update the literature on trial recruitment. In addition they will lead a scoping exercise in MRC Units to investigate effective participant recruitment and retention strategies, and may also contribute to other projects that arise. They will work closely with systematic reviewers, trialists and epidemiologists from MRC Units collaborating on the project. The post is full-time for two years, and may also be suitable as a secondment opportunity. Contact: Greta Rait at GR@gprf.mrc.ac.uk. Website: For the full job description, person specification and to apply online, visit job listings at http://jobs.mrc.ac.uk quoting reference GPRF08/490. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX K. Sender: Cheryl Arratoon [cochrane@uottawa.ca] Subject: Next Issue of CCInfo The next issue of CCInfo will be published 4 September 2008. Please submit your items to cochrane@uottawa.ca and 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. Best regards, Cheryl Arratoon Knowledge Broker Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre 1 Stewart St, 2nd Floor Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5 Email: cochrane@uottawa.ca Web: www.ccnc.cochrane.org 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