Training

This workshop will be held over four mornings and provides authors, at the beginning of the systematic review process, with an in-depth understanding of how reviews are planned and conducted. It offers an insight to the development of a protocol, introducing participants to methodology, search methods, data extraction, risk of bias assessment and meta-analysis.

Date: 2nd, 3rd, 9th & 10th October 2023

Time: 10.00 am – 1.00 /1:30 pm

Places: 25 available for individuals who are resident on the island of Ireland

Fee: General €150; Student €80

Skill level: Introductory

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows who have identified a review topic and are ready to begin working on their protocol.

Prerequisites: A basic knowledge of health research. Interested in learning more on the methods of a systematic review.

Teaching strategies: The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations, led by members of the Cochrane Ireland & ESI teaching faculty covering each of the stages of developing a systematic review protocol, small group activities and plenary discussions, providing participants with the opportunity to develop and refine their protocol. This course will include blended learning with two months free access to Cochrane Interactive Learning self-directed modules, a number of which will be required study prior to the workshop.

Facilitators

Prof. Anne Matthews, Full Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy & Community Health, Dublin City University

Ciara Gleeson, Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist, Respiratory Assessment Unit, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@universityofgalway.ie

Date: 11, 12 & 13 October 2023

Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm (Irish time, UTC+1)

Location: Online

Fee: Free

Skill Level: Introductory

Target Audience: PhD and MSc students on the Island of Ireland. 

Places: 50

Background:

Evidence synthesis is a method of bringing together all the evidence on a particular topic in a systematic way and coming to a conclusion about what that evidence tells us. It is important for researchers, and those making health or healthcare decisions, whether clinicians, policymakers or patients, understand the evidence underpinning those decisions. A clinician, for example, might be deciding on the most effective type of medicine to prescribe or most accurate diagnostic test to order. In these situations, we need to know what, on balance, the totality of the evidence tells us.

Aim:

In this workshop we will introduce the basic steps for undertaking a systematic review. These steps include formatting a research question, searching for studies and deciding which of the studies we find are suitable for answering the research question. We will also outline methods of assessing how confident or certain we can be of our findings.

By the end of the workshop, participants should understand the steps of a systematic review and understand why systematic reviews matter. We hope that this will inform their future decision making in health and healthcare.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this course, participants will understand the principles of  

• Formulating a research question 
• Developing and registering a protocol  
• Developing and running a comprehensive search strategy 
• Screening citations  
• Data extraction 
• Data synthesis 
• Critical appraisal 
• Certainty of evidence  
• Qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) 
• Report writing 

Teaching Strategies:

The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations and discussion.

Facilitators: 

Dr Linda Biesty, Senior lecturer at the School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Galway 

Dr K.M. Saif-Ur-Rahman, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Cochrane Ireland, University of Galway 

Dr Paula Byrne, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Cochrane Ireland, University of Galway 

To register, click here

Evidence Synthesis Ireland, which includes Cochrane Ireland, 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. We do this through: 1) Training & Education; 2) Support & Network; and 3) Research & Innovation.

Join us in this webinar as we explore the training programs, webinars and Fellowships designed to equip our audience with the essential skills for evidence synthesis. Discover the enriching experience of our Fellowships, where participants gain hands-on exposure to cutting-edge methodologies and one-to-one mentorship. Whether you are a researcher, policymaker, or practitioner, we have courses that cater to all levels of expertise, enabling you to become proficient in navigating the world of evidence synthesis. We’ll also introduce our other initiatives, such as Communicating with the Public mentorship scheme or, the Study Within A Review (SWAR) Award that you can get involved in.

We want to hear from you – so we’ll have a live Q&A session to answer your questions or hear your suggestions.

Dr. Nikita Burke is the Programme Manager for Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Associate Director for Cochrane Ireland. She is passionate about building evidence synthesis knowledge, awareness and capacity, to support the impact of evidence synthesis on decision-making. With a profound understanding of the importance of reliable research, she drives the success and quality of a world class evidence synthesis centre at the University of Galway. Nikita’s journey in evidence synthesis began with a decade in preclinical research, earning her a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Galway. Her curiosity and commitment to knowledge translation inspired her to bridge the gap between lab-based inquiry and real-world applications of research. Beyond her managerial expertise, Nikita has experience in public involvement and engagement.

This workshop  will be held over four mornings and provides authors, actively involved in conducting a systematic review, with confidence to assess a wide range of data types. It offers an insight into more complex methods of meta-analysis. This workshop also includes an overview on how to produce a summary of findings table for use in your review.

Date: 20th, 21st, 27th, 28th November 2023 (UTC)

Time: 10.00 am – 1.00 pm

Places: 20 places available for individuals who are resident on the island of Ireland

Target audience

Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows who are actively involved in performing a systematic review.

Prerequisites

Participants should at least have completed their review protocol, developed and conducted their search strategy and begun data extraction and analysis.

Background

Health care policy and practice decisions should be based on a synthesis of the global body of evidence rather than relying on individual studies. Cochrane Ireland and Evidence Synthesis Ireland promote evidence based healthcare policy and practice by supporting high quality, relevant systematic reviews and other synthesised research evidence.

Aim

This workshop provides authors, actively involved in conducting a systematic review, with confidence to assess a wide range of data types. It offers an insight into more complex methods of meta-analysis.

Learning outcomes

In this course participants will be enabled to:

• Understand how to identify, extract and analyse dichotomous and continuous data
• Understand more complex meta-analysis methods including use of Generic Inverse Variance Meta-analysis
• Understand principles of analysis of multi-arm trials, cluster and cross-over trial designs

Teaching strategies

This course consists of online workshops with of a mixture of short presentations, small group activities and practical demonstrations using Cochrane software (RevMan 5.4.1). In addition, participants will have access to Cochrane Interactive Learning modules and will be required to complete a set of modules prior to workshops. Access to the Cochrane Interactive Learning modules will be made available for4 weeks before and 4 weeks after the workshop and will be free of charge thanks to the support of Cochrane Training.

Facilitators

Prof. Valerie Smith, Professor of Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin

Dr Nuala Livingstone, Senior Quality Assurance Editor, Cochrane Editorial & Methods Department

Course content

• Data Collection overview
• Dichotomous Data: Extraction and Analysis
• Continuous Data: Extraction and Analysis
• Standardised Mean Difference
• Introduction to Heterogeneity – heterogeneity statistics, fixed and random effects models, dealing with heterogeneity
• Sensitivity Analysis
• Generic Inverse Variance Meta-analysis: overview
• Multiplicity Issues: Multi-arm trials, Cluster and Cross-over designs
• Practical demonstration in RevMan

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@universityofgalway.ie

To register, click here

Following the launch of ChatGPT, interest in large language models (LLMs) has grown significantly. Large numbers of new tools, which take advantage of the human-like text generation capabilities of the new ‘generative’ generation of language models, have been released, and there is widespread expectation that ‘AI’ will soon start to undertake tasks that hitherto could only be undertaken by humans. Supporting healthcare decision-making through real-time evidence synthesis is one such task, and evidence synthesis tools which utilize LLMs have begun to be deployed. However, how do LLMs actually work? And are they reliable enough to be used for real-world decision-making?

This webinar will first outline how LLMs for healthcare actually generate the answers that they give. It will then move on to consider the use cases that have been advanced for their application, and consider how suited they are for these tasks.

Prof. James Thomas is based at the EPPI Centre and his research is centred on improving policy and decision-making through more creative use and appreciation of existing knowledge. It covers substantive disciplinary fields – such as health promotion, public health and education – and also the development of tools and methods that support this work conducted both within UCL and in the wider community. He has written extensively on research synthesis, including meta-analysis and methods for combining qualitative and quantitative research in ‘mixed method’ reviews; and also designed EPPI-Reviewer, software which manages data through all stages of a systematic review.

To register, click here

This 40-minute online training session, hosted by Evidence Synthesis Ireland and presented by Julie Glanville, will teach participants techniques for effectively searching PubMed. Julie will explain how to find and use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and will demonstrate restricting searches to specific fields, truncation for searching word variations, phrase searching for multi-word concepts, the new proximity searching feature, creating saved searches, and exporting results. The final 20 minutes will be a question and answer session where participants can ask about any other PubMed search techniques they are interested in learning. Overall, the webinar aims to equip attendees with core skills for searching the PubMed database effectively.

Julie Glanville is a qualified librarian who has worked in systematic reviews for 30 years and is currently an independent consultant focusing on information retrieval for systematic reviews.  Julie is a co-manager of SuRe Info and the ISSG Search Filter Resource. From 2008 to June 2020, Julie was Associate Director of York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) and coordinated its information and review services.  Previously, Julie was Associate Director and Information Service Manager at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), University of York, for fourteen years. Julie is a co-convenor of the Cochrane Information Retrieval Methods Group and a co-author of the Cochrane Handbook chapter on searching for evidence.

To register, click here

Realist synthesis occupies a misty research hinterland somewhere between systematic reviews and the much-maligned narrative review. Critics often focus on the “…and then the magic happens” approach that challenges the orthodoxy of systematic reviews. Can a realist synthesis be “systematic” without aspiring to be a systematic review? Where does realist review sit within a toolbox of review approaches that provide useful and useable answers to practitioners and policy makers? To what extent is it possible to use systematic approaches to theory generation and searching? How do you document the iterative process and “forays” into the literature that pursuit of explanations for what works for whom under what circumstances seems to require. Professor Andrew Booth, both a proponent and a critic of realist approaches will present a lively debate on what realist synthesis has to offer, what alternatives are available, and why, for certain researchers under certain circumstances they may actually be worth conducting!

Andrew Booth is Professor in Evidence Synthesis, Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR) – University of Sheffield and adjunct Professor – University of Limerick. He is co-convenor of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group, a GRADE-CERQual core team member and a research associate of Evidence Synthesis Ireland/Cochrane Ireland. Andrew obtained his PhD from the University of Sheffield and has an MSc and Diploma in Librarianship (Distinction) from University of Wales, following a BA (First Class Hons). Andrew is a prolific trainer in qualitative and rapid reviews. As co-director of three evidence synthesis centres for UK National Institute for Health and Care Research he has conducted numerous realist syntheses focusing on searching for theory and for underpinning evidence. He is currently authoring the Realist Synthesis chapter for the Cochrane-Campbell Handbook of Qualitative Evidence Synthesis. In 2020 he collaborated with Evidence Synthesis Ireland to support the first Cochrane Rapid Qualitative Evidence Synthesis. His co-authored text Systematic Approaches for a Successful Literature Review is in its 3rd edition.

This workshop will be held over four mornings and provides authors, at the beginning of the systematic review process, with an in-depth understanding of how reviews are planned and conducted. It offers an insight to the development of a protocol, introducing participants to methodology, search methods, data extraction, risk of bias assessment and meta-analysis.

Date: 1st, 2nd, 8th & 9th February 2024

Time: 10.00 am – 1.00/1:30 pm

Places: 30 available for individuals who are resident on the island of Ireland

Fee: General €150; Student €80

Skill level: Introductory

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows who have identified a review topic and are ready to begin working on their protocol.

Prerequisites: A basic knowledge of health research. Interested in learning more on the methods of a systematic review.

Teaching strategies: The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations, led by members of the Cochrane Ireland & ESI teaching faculty covering each of the stages of developing a systematic review protocol, small group activities and plenary discussions, providing participants with the opportunity to develop and refine their protocol. This course will include blended learning with two months free access to Cochrane Interactive Learning self-directed modules, a number of which will be required study prior to the workshop.

Facilitators

Prof. Declan Devane, Professor of Health Research Methodology, University of Galway

Director, Evidence Synthesis Ireland

Director, Cochrane Ireland

Dr Julie Broderick, Assistant Professor in Physiotherapy, Trinity College Dublin

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@universityofgalway.ie

To register, click here

In this webinar we will introduce the Cochrane Qualitative Methodological limitations Tool (CAMELOT). We will discuss how it was developed and go through a short example of how it can be applied.

Heather Menzies Munthe-Kaas, Dr.Philos, is a researcher at Centre for Epidemic Interventions Research at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. She is co-founder of the GRADE-CERQual approach and the TRANSFER approach. She has been conducting systematic reviews of effectiveness and qualitative evidence syntheses for more than ten years. Her research interests focus on using user-centred design approaches to develop methods and tools to improve the usefulness, relevance and usability of systematic review findings and improve public participation and stakeholder representation in evidence-informed decision-making processes.

To register, click here

This webinar will present an overview of the living systematic review of the problems with systematic reviews (www.systematicreviewlution.com) including its aim, methods and findings. Recent observations about the current update to the review will also be discussed. The underlying reasons that are likely contributing to the problems identified will be discussed as well potential solutions and recommendations.

Reference : Uttley, L., Quintana, D. S., Montgomery, P., Carroll, C., Page, M. J., Falzon, L., … & Moher, D. (2023). The problems with systematic reviews: a living systematic review. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.

Dr Lesley Uttley is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, working in the field of meta-meta-meta research methodology. Following an educational background in Psychology and 10+ years working as a systematic reviewer, Lesley was awarded a fellowship to investigate the reliability and validity of published systematic reviews by the UK Medical Research Council in 2019. The research aims to scrutinise and uphold systematic reviews and also to consider how human influences and research culture impact seemingly objective research projects.

Background:

As for any healthcare intervention, medical tests require thorough evaluation. Identifying the accuracy of a test is a key step in the evaluation process. Understanding other ways in which tests affect the clinical management of patients is also important – a new test may be more acceptable to patients,  easier to administer, or provide a faster diagnosis or treatment.

The accuracy of a test is a measure of how well it differentiates those with a disease or condition from those who do not. Different, sometimes complex, study designs can be used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy. Measures of accuracy are also not fixed properties of a test and may not be transferable across different populations and settings. A systematic review aims to provide an overview of currently available evidence about a test’s diagnostic accuracy. A basic understanding of study designs, potential sources of bias, and factors that might affect the applicability of a study’s findings, are essential to ensure that the included studies answer a relevant review question.

Aim

To provide an introduction to systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy.

Objectives:

The objective of this workshop is to provide an understanding of study designs to evaluate the accuracy of a test and the essential components of a systematic review of diagnostic test accuracy.

Learning outcomes

In this course participants will be enabled to:

• describe the key differences between systematic reviews of interventions and systematic reviews of test accuracy,
• be aware of study designs used to estimate and compare the accuracy of tests,
• be aware of the sources of bias and variation that occur in test accuracy studies,
• be aware of the approaches used for meta-analysis of test accuracy and interpretation of meta-analytic estimates.

The workshop does not cover how to conduct a meta-analysis of test accuracy studies.

Date: 29th April 2024

Time: 10.00 am – 12.00 pm

Places: 30 places available for individuals who are resident on the island of Ireland

Fee: General €50; Student €25

Skill level: Introductory

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers, librarians, information specialists, and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows and teaching faculty who would like to learn more about DTA reviews

Facilitator

Jac Dinnes, PhD

Senior Research Fellow in Test Evaluation

Test and Prediction group, Institute of Applied Research,

University of Birmingham UK

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@universityofgalway.ie

Background

One of the key features of all evidence synthesis is to conduct a systematic search. Systematic literature searching requires that we plan and run searches in a way that ensures clarity, validity and reliability. Documenting the searching process is vital to ensure transparency and reproducibility.

Aim

This workshop provides attendees with the knowledge and skills to conduct a basic systematic search of the literature including designing and running searches on key databases and identifying and selecting search filters.

Learning outcomes

In this course, participants will be enabled to:

• Design a basic systematic search strategy
• Identify and use study-design search filters
• Report the search methods

Dates: 21st June 2024

Time: 09:00 – 16:00

Location: Durkan Theatre, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, St James’s Hospital, Dublin 8

Places: 30 available for individuals who are resident in Ireland & Northern Ireland

Skill Level: Introductory

Target Audience

Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers, librarians, information specialists, and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows and teaching faculty who would like to learn more about systematic searching.

Teaching Strategies

The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations and small group activities with practical exercises. Please bring along your laptop for the exercises. Questions and discussion are encouraged. A short reading list/activity list will be sent to enrolled attendees in advance of the session.

Facilitator

Julie Glanville, an independent consultant and trainer in information retrieval. Julie has worked in systematic reviews for more than 25 years as Associate Director of York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) (2008-2019) and Associate Director at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), University of York (1994 – 2008). Julie was a co-convenor of the Cochrane Information Retrieval Methods Group and is a co-author of the Cochrane Handbook chapter on searching for evidence and the 2020 PRISMA guidance.

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@nuigalway.ie