We are delighted to announce the recent relaunch of Cochrane Ireland and its establishment as an Associate Centre. The official launch will take place at the upcoming joint Cochrane UK and Cochrane Ireland Symposium in Oxford in March 2019.
Cochrane Ireland will be hosted within the newly-established Evidence Synthesis Ireland (ESI), based at the National University of Ireland Galway. ESI is supported by funding from the Health Research Board of Ireland and the Health and Social Care Research and Development Division, Northern Ireland and aims to build evidence synthesis knowledge, awareness and capacity among the public, health care institutions and policymakers, clinicians and researchers on the Island of Ireland. A key goal of ESI is to re-establish the activities of Cochrane Ireland; these include the development of an extensive programme of Cochrane training events and Cochrane fellowship and studentship schemes.
Cochrane Ireland will be led by Professor Declan Devane as Director of Cochrane Ireland and Evidence Synthesis Ireland, and the Cochrane Ireland team; Dr Elaine Toomey (Associate Director of Cochrane Ireland), Dr Patricia Healy (Programme Manager of Evidence Synthesis Ireland) and Sheena Connolly (Administrator of Evidence Synthesis Ireland). Speaking about the relaunch of Cochrane Ireland, Professor Devane said: “We are delighted to be part of Cochrane’s work across the Island of Ireland and are excited by the potential it has to make a difference to health care decisions across the Island. Health care decisions should be based on the full range of information that is available on a topic; it can't rely on one or more individual pieces of information, or studies. Together with our friends in Cochrane UK and our wider team of collaborators, we look forward to helping build capacity to conduct syntheses of evidence for which Cochrane is a global leader”.
Cochrane CEO Mark Wilson commented: “I’m thrilled with the re-launch of Cochrane Ireland and the appointment of Professor Declan Devane as its new Director. Declan is a highly experienced systematic reviewer and trainer, and we look forward to working together. Given the passion and generosity Declan brings to everything he does, I am sure that he and the new team will expand the reach and impact of Cochrane evidence in health decision making in Ireland in the coming years.”
Cochrane Ireland will join its international Cochrane colleagues to represent and promote Cochrane on the island of Ireland, facilitate engagement with regional stakeholders to improve knowledge translation and dissemination of Cochrane reviews, and build capacity for review production and use.
Professor Martin Burton, Director of Cochrane UK, commented: “All of us at Cochrane UK have enjoyed working with our friends and colleagues on the island of Ireland. We are delighted that Cochrane Ireland is re-launching itself under the auspices of Professor Declan Devane and his team in Galway. We wish them every success and look forward to meeting them at the joint Cochrane UK and Cochrane Ireland Symposium in Oxford in March”.
A full list of the Cochrane Ireland training events is available here, and more information on the Cochrane Ireland fellowship and studentship schemes is available here. For more information or to get in touch, contact us on esi@nuigalway.ie, follow us on Twitter at @CochraneIreland or visit our website at https://ireland.cochrane.org.
