Symposium for Australasian Review Authors 2008

Welcome
Each year the Australasian Cochrane Centre hosts a meeting for Australasian contributors to the Cochrane Collaboration. This year’s Symposium for Australasian Review Authors will take place in Hobart from 22-23 May.

This year sees the much anticipated rollout of RevMan 5 and the updated Cochrane Handbook. The Symposium program includes several presentations and workshops addressing some of these important changes and their implications for authors and entity staff. By way of ‘local’ flavour, the Symposium program features initiatives in the areas of evidence mapping and knowledge transfer and exchange which are having an impact on research and policy within our region.

We hope many of you will make the trip to Hobart and take this wonderful opportunity to gather with other contributors in an informal and relaxed environment.

Program highlights

We are very pleased to have Peter Jüni and Monica Kjeldstrøm as our international invited speakers. Peter is a clinical epidemiologist and clinician based in Switzerland well-known for his research investigating bias in the conduct and reporting of trials. Peter will present new work involving complex issues in meta-analysis and facilitate a workshop session with Joanne McKenzie on combining continuous data. As Director of the Cochrane Information Management System, Monica has been closely involved in the development and implementation of RevMan 5 and will provide insights into current and future plans for addressing the increasingly complex information management needs of the Collaboration.

Cochrane contributors in our region are involved in a broad range of clinical and research endeavours. In addition to their contribution as review authors, many are actively involved in projects that seek to inform and improve research, practice and policy in Australia. At this year’s Symposium we’ll be showcasing some of these exciting projects, including: using Cochrane reviews to inform research agendas; evidence mapping for neurotrauma and mental health; and knowledge transfer and exchange activities involving both local and federal government policy makers.

Summary of topics to be covered in the Symposium program include:

• New Cochrane Editorial Board
• Combining continuous data
• Summary of findings tables
• Evidence mapping
• Initiatives for updating reviews
• Information management needs of the Cochrane Collaboration
• Knowledge Transfer and Exchange in the policy arena
• Public Health Review Group


A full Symposium Program is available here.