Thursday 22nd May

What is the Cochrane Collaboration Co-ordinating Editors’ Editorial Board and how did it come about?
Sophie Hill, Convenor Cochrane Editorial Board
The story of how the Editorial Board came about, what it is, the people involved, and what is going to happen next.

Cochrane IMS – Past, Present and Future
Monica Kjeldstrøm, Director IMS
The development of the new Cochrane Information Management System (IMS) started in 1993. With the introduction of a workflow component, the system is now entering the third and last phase of its first generation development. What comes next? We take a look at what brought us to the development of the IMS, how its concepts were developed, and what possibilities lie ahead.


EVIDENCE MAPPING
Chair: Russell Gruen, Global Evidence Mapping Initiative

Using knowledge gaps to guide research into preventing or reducing stillbirths
Philippa Middleton, National Co-ordinator WOMBAT Collaboration  
An example of using research implications in Cochrane reviews to identify gaps in knowledge. This project aims to identify which research topics are needed to provide further knowledge to guide future clinical and community practice in the area of preventing or reducing stillbirths.

The Global Evidence Mapping Initiative
Ornella Clavisi, Project Manager Global Evidence Mapping Initiative
In contrast to detailed systematic reviews of specific research questions, evidence maps address broad topic areas and convey what research exists; what the evidence gaps are; and the relevance of existing research to different users in a range of contexts and settings. The current focus of the GEM Initiative is to gather and evaluate research into traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI).

What works for youth mental health disorders: mapping the evidence of effective interventions  
Sarah Hetrick, headspace Centre of Excellence
We have used the methodology of evidence ‘mapping’ to collate, appraise, and disseminate best evidence for diagnosing and treating youth mental health disorders for headspace (Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation). An evidence ‘map’ for depressive disorders will be presented as well as plans for disseminating and implementing existing evidence.


12.30pm
Lunch


1:30pm
Workshop: Summary of Findings
Cindy Farquhar, GRADE Working Group
Miranda Cumpston, Trainer Australasian Cochrane Centre
A hands-on workshop to familiarise people with the Cochrane Collaboration’s new Summary of Findings Tables. Using a worked example, GRADE assessment of the evidence will be discussed as well as a demonstration of GRADEPro, the software program used to construct Summary of Findings Tables. 


3:00pm
Afternoon Tea


3:30pm
Special topics in Cochrane Methods
Chair: Joanne McKenzie, Statistical Methods Group

Networking Meta-analysis: Rationale, Potentials and Pitfalls
Peter Jüni, Bias Methods Group
Direct comparisons of interventions in randomised controlled trials often represent only a small proportion of a growing number of possible pairwise comparisons in a clinical area. Network meta-analyses or mixed treatment comparisons provides greater flexibility for comprehensive analysis of a body or network of evidence by allowing simultaneous comparison of all relevant treatment strategies across an entire network. The potentials and pitfalls of this novel approach will be discussed.

Beyond Review Manager: Meta-regression Analysis in Context
Robin Christensen, Statistical editor Musculoskeletal Group (Australian Editorial Base)
Meta-regression analysis is an extension to subgroup analyses that allows the effects of multiple factors to be investigated simultaneously. It is commonly used to investigate heterogeneity in systematic reviews but requires use of additional statistical software packages (STATA, Excel). An overview of recent research on appropriate methods, the limitations and pitfalls of meta-regression analysis in Cochrane reviews will be presented.

Prognosis Methods
Katrina Williams, Convenor Prognosis Methods Group
The Prognosis Methods Group has recently been registered as a new Cochrane entity. This talk will present the aims of the Prognosis Methods Group, the rationale of why prognosis systematic reviews are important, and a discussion of some of the challenges in completing prognosis systematic reviews.


5.00pm
Close


6.30pm
Symposium Dinner at Mures Upper Deck Restaurant, Victoria Dock (including launch of the Public Health Cochrane Review Group)

Friday 23rd May

9:00am
Knowledge Transfer & Exchange
Chair: Miranda Cumpston, Australasian Cochrane Centre

Knowledge translation for local policy-makers: expanding the reach of the Cochrane Library
Rebecca Armstrong, Cochrane Public Health Review Group
We have designed a cluster randomised controlled trial involving local government in Victoria to explore the effectiveness of a suite of knowledge translation strategies. Exploring how local policy-makers perceive and use different types of evidence to inform their decision-making will provide invaluable information about the best ways to share Cochrane reviews with policy-makers in order to support evidence-informed decision-making.

Providing an Evidence Service to the Victorian Traffic Accident Commission
Veronica Pitt, TAC Health Services Group Evidence Service
The Southern Health Centre for Clinical Effectiveness in collaboration with the Australasian Cochrane Centre have recently been contracted to provide an evidence service to TAC. This presentation will explore an evidence service model for knowledge transfer and exchange, including the planning that was undertaken and learnings thus far about the enablers and barriers to this type of relationship between researchers and decision-makers.

Prioritising Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Reviews for Policy-makers
Emma Tavender, Co-ordinator Australian EPOC Group Satellite

Evaluating a Policy Liaison Initiative
Sue Brennan & Marie Misso, Australasian Cochrane Centre Policy Liaison Initiative
 
Using Evidence: Perspectives of a Policy-maker
Kylie Jonasson, Research Policy & Biotechnology Branch of Department of Health and Ageing

Discussion Panel
All members


10:30am
Morning Tea


11.00am
PARALLEL SESSION

Workshop: Continuous Data
Peter Jüni, Bias Methods Group
Joanne McKenzie, Statistical Methods Group
This interactive workshop will address issues surrounding the pooling of continuous data using mean difference and the standardised mean difference. Worked examples will be presented to highlight some of the issues of meta-analysing continuous data as well as a discussion of current advice and potential solutions.

OR

Workshop: Guidelines for Consumers - Peer-Reviewing Cochrane Protocols and Reviews
Janet Wale, Cochrane Consumer Network (CCNet)
CCNet supports and guides consumers to comment on Cochrane protocols and reviews from a consumer, patient, caregiver and community perspective. This workshop aims to provide people with the tools to make relevant and useful comments on systematic reviews from a consumer perspective.


12:30pm      
Lunch


1:30pm
Cochrane Updates and Outputs
Chair: Steve McDonald, Assistant Director Australasian Cochrane Centre

Challenges in Updating Reviews
Cindy Farquhar, Director New Zealand Branch Australasian Cochrane Centre
Strategic Plans for Collaboration Outputs
Sally Green & Steve McDonald, Australasian Cochrane Centre


2:20pm
RevMan 5
Liz Dooley, IMS Support
A practical guide for authors writing new reviews in RevMan 5 or converting from RevMan 4.


3:00pm
Close