Programmhe_XVI Cochrane_Freiburg_2008 by Luis Gabriel Cuervo

16 th Cochrane Colloquium Evidence in the era of globalisation Freiburg / Germany · 3 – 7 October 2008 www.cochrane.de / c olloquium

// programme at a glance

Welcome in Freiburg

Friday | 3.10.2008

Saturday | 4.10.2008

Sunday | 5.10.2008

Monday | 6.10.2008

Tuesday | 7.10.2008

The registration desk in the Konzerthaus will be open daily during 07:00 – 18:00

07:00

07:30 – 09:00

Registration (KH)

Meetings (KH/U)

09:15 – 10:45

Plenary (KH)

10:45 – 11:30

Coffee Break (KH)

Coffee Break & Attended Poster Sessions 1-8 (KH)

Coffee Break & Attended Poster Sessions 9-18 (KH)

11:30 – 13:00

Plenary (KH)

Oral Sessions 1-7 (U)

Oral Sessions 8-13 (U)

Oral Sessions 14-19 (U) Invited Parallel Sessions (U)

13:00 – 14:15

Lunch (KH)

Lunchbox (KH)

14:15 – 15:45

Newcomers’ Session/ Meet the Entities/ Workshops (KH)

Workshops (KH/U)

15:45 – 16:30

Coffee Break (KH)

Coffee Break & Poster Sessions 1-8 (KH)

16:30 – 18:00

Opening Session (KH)

Meetings (KH/U)

Annual General Meetings (KH)

Closing Session (KH)

Start: 19:00

Welcome Reception (Hist. Merchant Hall) Dinner & Dance (KH)

Farewell Party (Jazzhaus)

Start: 20:00

Lunch (KH)

Workshops (KH/U )

Free Afternoon/ Social Programme

Coffee Break & Poster Sessions 9-18 (KH)

Attention: 2 different venues: 10 minutes walk | KH = Konzerthaus (venue I) | U = University (venue II – KG 1, 2, 3, Sedan, Rempart)

// Welcome

Welcome to the 16th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 in Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany! Evidence in the era of globalisation The team of the German Cochrane Centre cordially welcomes you to Freiburg for the 16th international Colloquium of The Cochrane Collaboration. Whether you are an experienced member of The Cochrane Collaboration, a newcomer or someone curious about The Cochrane Collabor ation, this most interesting, informative and enjoyable event will offer something for you. The Cochrane Collaboration is, according to its mission, actively contributing to the accelerating globalisation process. Globalisation is the predominant buzzword of our time, and its effects, both positive and negative, are not fully understood. Health care is part of this globalisation process, with its global exchange of knowledge in research and practice. The development of evidence-based health care is a driving force towards a standardised, international appraisal system of healthcare interventions. Over the last 15 years, The Cochrane Collaboration has laid critical groundwork for this development by producing more than 3,500 systematic reviews and contributing to numerous methodological developments. The Cochrane Colloquium 2008 offers an outstanding opportunity to interact with central players active in evidence-based health care, global knowledge management and systematic reviews. Catch up on current international developments and perspectives and attend workshops to delve further into individual topics. Freiburg, located in the Rhine valley at the edge of the Black Forest, offers an excellent opportunity for recreational activities along with the Colloquium. Freiburg is a cosy city where almost everything can be reached by walking. It is situated in the middle of a wine growing area within half an hour driving distance to Switzerland and France and only few hours to the highest peaks of the Alps. Bring your family along and add some time for a holiday, enjoy food, wine, landscape and culture. The German Cochrane Centre welcomes you to an outstanding scientific event in an optimal atmosphere for communication, meeting friends and making contacts as well as enjoying life.

CONTENT

1 4 6

Programme at a glance left page WELCOME COLLOQUIUM COMMITTEES INVITED SPEAKERS AND CHAIRS Programme

Friday

Saturday 4 October

Sunday 5 October

Monday 6 October

Tuesday 7 October

More … PRE- AND POST COLLOQUIUM EVENTS SOCIAL PROGRAMME PRIZES AND AWARDS

65 66 67 71

3 October

75 77 113

Workshops & Posters WORKSHOP ABSTRACTS POSTER OVERVIEW

Venues & More CONFERENCE VENUES AND MAPS GENERAL INFORMATION FREIBURG FROM A TO Z

121 123 132 135

143 144 146

Exhibitors & Sponsors EXHIBITORS SPONSORS

Dr. Gerd Antes – Director and the team of the German Cochrane Centre 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg | 1

// Welcome Welcome Address of the Federal Ministry of Health (Germany)

Welcome Address of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany)

We live in a time of fast-paced progress in medical and technical fields. Innovative technologies, products, drugs and interventions frequently offer the chance to cure many diseases that were incurable just a short time ago. Yet, new drugs and methods – along with increased costs – do not necessarily guarantee an effective and verifiable improvement in public health care. Faced with limited financial resources in public health systems, we need to ensure that these resources are allocated to support true medical progress.

A critical aspect of successful research in the health sciences and its implementation for the welfare of all patients is the worldwide collaboration of scientists and researchers. Meetings such as the 16th Cochrane Colloquium offer a singular opportunity to exchange knowledge and clinical research findings, scientific methods of their evaluation and strategies for public health care in an international environment.

The basic principles of evidence-based medicine provide an important contribution toward this effort. The most recent health reforms have strengthened the role of evidence-based medicine in Germany, in particular, the establishment of The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) whose remit is the evaluation of the current medical standard of knowledge of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. For many years, The Cochrane Collaboration – represented in Germany by the German Cochrane Centre in Freiburg and supported by the Federal Ministry of Health – has been working with great commitment and expert knowledge to further the development and use of evidence-based medicine. In doing so, The Cochrane Collaboration supports our goal to improve the quality of medical care, maximise the use of available resources and thus make our public health system sustainable and viable for the future. I am happy that Germany is hosting for the first time the renowned international Cochrane Colloquium. My best wishes to all participants for interesting and successful days in Freiburg. Ulla Schmidt Federal Minister of Health

In addition, the Cochrane Collaboration is marking two important anniversaries in 2008: The Cochrane Collaboration‘s founding 15 years ago and the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the German Cochrane Centre in Freiburg in April. Over the last ten years, the German Cochrane Centre has contributed pioneering work in the introduction of systematic reviews and evidence-based medicine in Germany. Going forward, the extraordinary commitment of the German Cochrane Centre will remain essential in further strengthening the acceptance of systematic reviews as important research tools and in developing the expertise of clinical researchers. In order to further improve patient care, results of basic research must find their way into medical practice as quickly as possible by way of clinical research. For this reason, patient-oriented clinical research has been significantly developed in the past decade through the establishment of research projects and infrastructure as part of the health research programme of the German government. I wish all participants of the Cochrane Colloquium in Freiburg stimulating discussions and an in-depth exchange of ideas. I am sure that the conference will contribute to further improving the transfer of research results into health care. Dr. Annette Schavan, MdB Federal Minister of Education and Research

2 | 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg

// Welcome Welcome Address of the World Health Organization Globalization places extra demands and pressures on healthcare delivery and may exacerbate existing inequities in health globally. In times of competing priorities and scarce resources, and to avoid wastage and duplication, it is critical that every medical intervention and every health policy be informed by evidence of its effectiveness, i.e. an ‘evidence footprint’ should be attached to every intervention and policy. Equitable, open and free access to information is a prerequisite for evidence-based healthcare and, ultimately, for achieving equity in health. Development of ‘evidence footprint’ relies on an effective system of preparing, maintaining and updating systematic reviews. It also depends on development of effective networks for sharing evidence, information and knowledge globally. Countries in the developed world must also do more to contribute to these efforts, including the need to address the unique needs of developing countries for relevant and applicable evidence within their own contexts, needs and capacities. Open access to information includes access to the results of clinical trials worldwide. Such trials are increasingly moving to the developing world where they are cheaper to perform and face fewer regulations. In the interests of transparency, ethics and accountability, it is imperative that the same standards are established globally for the conduct and reporting of clinical trials.

The reality of globalization and its negative perception must be tempered by a more positive view that it also presents an unprecedented opportunity for nation states and organizations to work together to share information and evidence, make effective use of advances in information and communication technologies, and collectively contribute to global health security and health development. The Cochrane Collaboration has achieved and contributed a great deal by producing and updating systematic reviews but it needs to confront important challenges in the future – the need for more effective structures and governance, more relevance and priority to global public health needs, reaching beyond academia to the realms of policy and decision-making, and forging more effective partnerships. The WHO, together with the Cochrane Collaboration and other evidence generators, has a key role to play in facilitating the efficient global exchange of health care information, ultimately contributing to a global evidence footprint which will be the foundation for evidence-based healthcare as a means of promoting health for all peoples. Tikki Pang Research Policy & Cooperation, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg | 3

// Colloquium Committees Scientific Programme Committee Chair

Oral and Poster Abstract Committee Co-chairs

Gerd Antes, Germany

Nandi Sigfried, South Africa Antje Timmer, Germany

Members

Julia Bohlius, Switzerland/Germany John F. P. Bridges, USA Jako Burgers, Netherlands Mike Clarke, United Kingdom Jonathan Craig, Australia Luis Gabriel Cuervo-Amore, USA Paul Garner, United Kingdom Gerald Gartlehner, Austria Gerd Gigerenzer, Germany Sally Green, Australia Brian Haynes, Canada Julian Higgins, United Kingdom Richard Horton, United Kingdom Peter Jüni, Switzerland Monica Kjeldstroem, Denmark Alessandro Liberati, Italy Klaus Linde, Germany Pisake Lumbiganon, Thailand David Moher, Canada J.A. Muir Gray, United Kingdom Tikki Pang, Switzerland Bernd Richter, Germany Holger Schünemann, Canada/Italy Prathap Tharyan, India Janet Wale, Australia

4 | 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg

Members

Lisa Askie, Australia Dirk Bassler, Germany Massimo Brunetti, Itlay Bernard Burnand, Switzerland Augustin Ciapponi, Argentina Benjamin Djulbegovic, USA Steven Gichuhi, Kenya Russell Gruen, Australia Jill Hayden, Canada James Irlam, South Africa Lotty Hooft, Netherlands Floris van de Laar, Netherlands Mariska Leeflang, Netherlands Monika Lelgemann, Germany Steve McDonald, Australia Damien McElvenny, United Kingdom Jörg Meerpohl, Germany Philippa Middleton, Australia Lorenzo Moja, Italy Maryann Napoli, USA Mona Nasser, Iran Susan Norris, USA Zulma Ortiz, Argentina Tomas Pantoja, Chile Matthias Perleth, Germany Paul Pradeep, Singapore Silvia Pregno, Italy Craig Ramsay, United Kingdom Barney Reeves, United Kingdom Gerta Rücker, Germany Nancy Santesso, Italy Stefan Sauerland, Germany Guido Schwarzer, Germany Ian Shemilt, United Kingdom Sasha Shepperd, United Kingdom Karla Soares-Weiser, Israel Jos Verbek, Finland Elizabeth Waters, Australia

Workshop Committee Co-chairs Anette Blümle, Germany Sally Hopewell, United Kingdom

Members

Anne Eisinga, United Kingdom Claire Glenton, Norway Dave Booker, Germany Gail Higgins, Australia Georgia Salanti, Greece Harriette MacLehose, United Kingdom Jordi Pardo, Spain Julian Higgins, United Kingdom Markus Diener, Germany Rob Scholten, Netherlands Taryn Young, South Africa Veronica Pitt, Australia

Consumer Stipend Committee Co-chairs Britta Lang, Germany Janet Wale, Australia

Members

Maria Belizan, South Africa Judi Strid, New Zealand Liz Whamond, Canada Taryn Young, South Africa

Secretariat

Anette Blümle, Germany Juliane Ried, Germany

// Colloquium Committees Developing Country Stipend Committee Co-chairs Dave Booker, Germany Mario Tristan, Costa Rica

Members

Mona Nasser, Iran Sreekumaran Nair, India

Secretariat

Anette Blümle, Germany Juliane Ried, Germany

Local Organising Committee Gerd Antes Britta Lang Bärbel Schätzle

Scientific Secretariat German Cochrane Centre Dept. Med. Biometry and Statistics University Medical Center Freiburg Stefan-Meier-Straße 26 79104 Freiburg, Germany Tel.: +49-761-203-6715 Fax: +49-761-203-6712 For scientific programme issues: scientificprogramme@cochrane.de For organisational issues: colloquium@cochrane.de www.cochrane.de/colloquium

Colloquium Secretariat Intercongress GmbH Karlsruher Straße 3 79108 Freiburg, Germany Tel.: +49-761-696-99-0 Fax: +49-761-696-99-11 cochrane@intercongress.de www.intercongress.de

Colloquium Website Team

Photography

Christa Bast Dave Booker Martin Janczyk Caroline Mavergames Chris Mavergames Juliane Ried Bärbel Schätzle Evgenia Slavianova

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, A. Blümle, J. Evers, Freiburg Aktiv, Freiburg Futour, Freiburgerleben, FWTM, K.-H. Raach, B. Schätzle, F. Schätzle, Stiftungsweingut, Jazzhaus, Touristinfo Todtmoos

Technique Team Nikolaus Binder Christina Heidt Georg Koch M. Salman Munshey Frank Werner

Acknowledgements We thank the Aubrey Sheiham Scholar, the British Medical Journal, the Canadian Cochrane Centre and the UK Cochrane Centre for their generous contributions to the stipend funds. We thank the following Cochrane Entities for donating their sponsored entity registrations to the stipend funds: Behavioural Medicine Field, Bias Methods Group, Brazilian Cochrane Centre, Depression, Anxiety & Neurosis Group, Dutch Cochrane Centre, UK Cochrane Centre, Ear, Nose & Throat Group, Fertility Regulation Group, Health Care of Older People Field, HIV/ AIDS Group, Methodology Review Group, Prehospital and Emergency Health Field, Prognostic Methods Group, Qualitative Methods Group, Schizophrenia Group, Vaccines Field

Artworks and Design Wolfgang Wick, Büro MAGENTA, www.buero-magenta.de

Special thanks Stadt Freiburg, FWTM-Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe, Vermessungsamt Freiburg, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg We thank the team of the Archaeological Museum ‘Colombischlössle’ for the permission to use artwork images of their collection for the layout of the programme book. We also thank the former Colloquium organisers for their helpful reports and support.

16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg | 5

// Invited speakers and chairs Eric Abadie

Therapeutic Evaluation, AFSSAPS, Paris, France

Dr. E. Abadie is a physician. He has qualified in internal medicine, cardiology and endocrinology-diabetology in Paris university in 1981. After having been resident and consultant in several Parisian hospitals, he joined the pharmaceutical industry, being international project manager at Roussel Uclaf, Director of development at Wellcome, and Director of Medical Affairs at SNIP. In this latter position, he represented the pharmaceutical industry in the main official committees at the Ministry of Health such as the Marketing Authorization, Transparency, Pharmacovigilance Committees. In 1994, he joined the French Medicine Agency as Director of Therapeutic Evaluation Department. In 1995, he was appointed French member of the Efficacy Working Party, satellite of the CPMP. In this position he has been Rapporteur (and author) of several CPMP clinical guidelines in the field of diabetology, cardiology, osteoporosis, and central nervous system. In 1997, he became CPMP member. From 2001, he has been vice chairman of the CHMP, and since June 2007 CHMP chairman. He is also chairman of the Pharmacogenetics Working Party In the ICH process he has been the EU topic leader for the Common Technical Document, and ICH Steering Committee member until October 2007. He is the author of approximately 100 publications in clinical and medical science, member of the Editorial board of Cardiology (2005), and Associate Professor at the Tor Vergata University, Roma and in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Liege University. He holds also a Master of Business Administration at the Centre de Perfectionnement des Affaires in Paris (1992).

Hilda Bastian

Online. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Cochrane Adverse Effects Method Group, and the BMJ’s Ethics Committee. Ms Bastian had been a health consumer advocate in Australia and internationally for over 20 years, with a major interest in consumer involvement in health research and technology assessment. She was the founding Coordinator of the Cochrane Collaboration’s Network, and the founding Coordinating Editor of the Cochrane Review Group on Consumers and Communication.

Lorne Becker

Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group, Syracuse, NY, USA

Dr. Becker is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Medicine and of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. He received his MD from the University of Western Ontario, and spent his career practicing and teaching family medicine at a number of medical schools in Canada and the US. He served for 5 years as Chief of Family Medicine at the Toronto Hospital and, until his retirement in 2004, was Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse NY. A Cochrane author since 1997, he is one of the two Co-Chairs of the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group, and convenor of the Cochrane Publishing Policy Group and Umbrella Reviews Working Group. He is also a member of the Research Committee of the World Organization of National Academies of Family Medicine (WONCA), a member of the Advisory Board for the Guidelines International Network, and has served in the past as the Coordinator of the Cochrane Primary Health Care Field.

John F. P. Bridges

German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, Cologne, Germany

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA

Hilda Bastian is the Head of the Health Information Department at the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) in Cologne, and Editor-in-Chief of the Insitute’s bi-lingual evidence-based website for patients and consumers: Gesundheitsinformation.de / Informed Health 6 | 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg

John F. P. Bridges is Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He received his Ph.D. in Economics at the City University of New York in 2002 and has published applied research in a number of areas, including: the measu-

// Invited speakers and chairs rement of patient preferences; health technology assessment and economic evaluation. In recent years he has been a major advocate of patient-centered medicine, being a regular speaker and essayist on the importance of including a patient’s perspective in the evaluation of medicine. In 2006 he received the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research (ISPOR) Bernie O’Brien New Investigator Award and in 2001 was awarded the American Statistics Association’s Best Student Paper in Health Policy Statistics. Dr. Bridges is the founding of editor of The Patient – Patient centered Outcomes Research, and serves on the editorial boards of PharmacoEconomics, International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, Expert Review of PharmacoEconomics and Outcomes Research, ISPOR Connection and Applied Health Economics & Health Policy. He chairs the Patient Preferences Methods working group at the ISPOR and is a member of the steering committee for the Patient and Citizen Involvement group within Health Technology Assessment International.

Mike Clarke

Cochrane Centre, Oxford, UK/ Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Prof. Mike Clarke is an active researcher in both the methodology of randomised trials and systematic reviews and also in their conduct. After a degree in Chemistry at the University of Oxford, Mike did a PhD on the history of suicide and poisoning. He got involved in systematic reviews and randomised trials in 1989, when he joined the Clinical Trial Service Unit in Oxford, where he works on individual patient data based reviews of cancer treatments. The largest of these bring together evidence on more than 300,000 women with breast cancer and provides knowledge that influences the treatment around the world. Mike has been Director of the UK Cochrane Centre since 2002 and was Co-Chair of The Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group until 2004. He currently works in both Oxford and Dublin, having become a Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Trinity College Dublin in 2007.

Leonila F. Dans

University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines

Leonila F. Dans MD MS is professor at the University of the Philippines, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Clinical Epidemiology. She received her Master degree in 1991 at Mc Master University in Ontario, Canada. She is specialised within the field of Pediatrics, Pediatric Rheumatology and Clinical Epidemiology. She has done research work within the field of Pediatrics and Rheumatology. She has been a Cochrane Reviewer since 2000. She has been involved in introducing Evidence-based Medicine and Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines in the Philippines and in the AsiaPacific region. She is presently a member of the International Clinical Epidemiology Network and Advisory Editorial Board of Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. She has authored several journal articles and book chapters, with special interest on issues of applicability and equity. Her most recent publication is a user-friendly simplified book entitled ‘Painless Evidence-Based Medicine’ targeted for EBM practitioners.

Kay Dickersin

Center for Clinical Trials at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA

Kay received her MA in zoology (specializing in cell biology) from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975, and her PhD in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1989. She is Professor of Epidemiology and the Director of the Center for Clinical Trials at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Kay is the Director of the US Cochrane Center (USCC) and is Director of the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group US Satellite. The USCC supports Consumers United for Evidence-based Healthcare (CUE), a partnership with health and consumer advocacy organizations, started in 2003. With Musa Mayer, Kay co-developed the CUE-USCC online course ‘Understanding Evidence-based Healthcare: A Foundation for Action’ offered free of charge through the USCC. Kay also has directed or participated in the data coordinating center for a number of multicenter randomized clinical trials. Her major research contributions are methodological 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg | 7

// Invited speakers and chairs and related to clinical trials, systematic reviews, publication bias, trials registers, and evidence-based healthcare.

Cindy Farquhar

University of Auckland, New Zealand

Professor Cindy Farquhar is the coordinating editor of the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group which was established in 1996. Her research interests include clinical trials within subfertility and menstrual disorders, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines. Prof Cindy Farquhar is one of New Zealand’s leading practitioners and academics in the area of infertility and women’s health. Cindy’s expertise is recognised internationally and she is regularly called upon to assist with the development of best practice guidelines. In New Zealand, she is Chairman of the NZ Guidelines Group and the Chairman of the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Cindy is the Postgraduate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Auckland.

Silvio Garattini

Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy

Professor Silvio Garattini was born in Bergamo (Italy) 1928. He earned a diploma in Chemistry, then a degree in Medicine and was appointed lecturer in Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. He held the post of Assistant then Deputy Professor at the Milan University Institute of Pharmacology, until 1962. A founder of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, when it opened in 1963 he was its director. Prof. Garattini is a member of the Gruppo 2003, a group of the most cited Italian scientists in international scientific literature and has hundreds of publications in Italian and English in international scientific journals, and texts on pharmacology. He was, among a lot of positions, founder of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), 8 | 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg

Consultant to the World Health Organisation, President of the European Society of Biochemical Pharmacology, member of the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP), of the EMEA, member of the Committee of Experts of Research Policy – CEPR – at the Ministry for University and Scientific and Technological Research. Silvio Garattini is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Pharmaceutical Medicine), London, Honorary Fellow of the Italian Society of Pharmacology and a member of numerous other Italian and international scientific societies.

Paul Garner

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK

Professor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and head of the International Health Group; Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group; member of the WHO Malaria Treatment Guidelines Group; Associate Editor, International Journal of Epidemiology. Director of the Effective Health Care Programme Consortium, funded by the Department for International Development (UK) to contribute to decision making informed by reliable evidence in middle and low income countries, with partners in South Africa, Nigeria, India, China, Philippines and Brazil. Focus on malaria, tuberculosis, tropical infections and health systems research. Keen on contemporary music, running, and parties.

Davina Ghersi

International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland

Davina Ghersi has been with the World Health Organization since October 2006 and is responsible for the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and the Guidelines Review Committee, both being activities of the Department of Research Policy and Cooperation. Prior to joining WHO she was Senior Research Fellow in the School of Public Health of the Univer-

// Invited speakers and chairs sity of Sydney, Director of the Systematic Review and Health Care Assessment Team at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, and was responsible for the Australian Clinical Trials Registry. She has over 20 years experience in the conduct of clinical trials and systematic reviews, mainly in the field of cancer. Davina spent 6 years as a member of the International Steering Group of the Cochrane Collaboration, and is joint coordinating editor of the Cochrane Breast Cancer Group, and co-convenor of the Cochrane Prospective Meta-Analysis Methods Group. Her research interests include publication bias and selective reporting, and methods of improving the quality and relevance of clinical research.

Claire Glenton

Norwegian Knowledge Centre for Health Services, Oslo, Norway

Claire Glenton is Director of the Norwegian branch of the Nordic Cochrane Centre and is a researcher at the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for Health Services. She is currently involved in research regarding the effect of using lay and community health worker programmes to improve child health. She also carried out research regarding the use of qualitative research in the context of RCTs; and is also involved in a number of initiatives that aim to increase the accessibility and relevance of scientific evidence among decision makers, including consumers, clinicians, and policy makers.

Tore Godal

The Office of the Prime Minister, Oslo, Norway

Tore Godal, MD, PhD is an international public health specialist and advisor in health, presentliy working as a special advisor to the Prime Minister of Norway. He was formerly a special advisor and consultant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Metrics Network and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). Dr. Godal came to GAVI with decades of experience in addressing the health needs of poor countries. Instrumental

in the initiation of the UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) in 1973-1974, Dr. Godal led the programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pilot project and flagship effort, Immunology of Leprosy. A medical doctor and trained immunologist, Dr. Godal has contributed a great deal to the understanding of mechanisms of immunity to mycobacteria, the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease, and the clinical and sub-clinical manifestations of leprosy. His research has led to the development of numerous diagnostic tools, including monoclonal antibodies for leukemia and lymph node cancer. Dr. Godal has contributed more than 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals relating to immunology, infectious diseases, cancer and international health. He has participated in numerous invited public lectures and keynote addresses at international conferences, symposia and workshops. His career has been an example in integrating biomedical sciences with social aspects of health. He was a pioneer in recognizing the critical need for an interdisciplinary approach to help solve health problems.

Sally Green

Australasian Cochrane Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Professor Green is Director of the Australasian Cochrane Centre and a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine from Monash University in addition to her clinical qualifications in Physiotherapy. Professor Green is an active Cochrane reviewer and is a member of the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group and Co-editor of the Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews of Intervention. She has several competitively funded research projects which aim to improve health outcomes by investigating the most effective and efficient pathway of knowledge from research result to sustained change in clinical practice and policy.

16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg | 9

// Invited speakers and chairs Thrish Groves

Martin Härter

British Medical Journal, London, UK

Trish Groves joined the BMJ as its first editorial registrar. She has edited most sections of the journal over the years and is now deputy editor and senior research editor. Trish is a member of the international groups developing the SPIRIT statement on trial protocols and updating the CONSORT statement on reporting randomised controlled trials, and is on the council of COPE (the Council on Publication Ethics). She was first author of the HarperCollins Consumer’s Guide to Mental Health (1996), and has written and presented programmes on research and health for BBC World Service Radio, and presented TVam’s DocSpot. Trish studied medicine at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, and then specialised in psychiatry, gaining MRCPsych. She was also an honorary research fellow at the School for Public Policy, University College London.

Russell Gruen

Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

University Medical Centre Freiburg, Germany

Prof. Dr. Dr. Martin Härter is head of the section for Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care research at the Institute for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Medical Centre, Freiburg. He is chair in clinical and developmental psychology. After a PhD in medicine and psychology and postdoctoral lecture qualification in psychology his main research aeras are clinical epidemiology in the area of depression, addiction and comorbidty, quality assessment in primary care, behavioural medicine, psychotherapy research and assessment procedures. He is active in the national guideline development and evaluation of new models of care, especially integrating the patient as partner in the medical decision making. He was co-ordinator of the programme ‘patient as partner’ funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and responsible for the International Conference on Shared Decision Making 2007.

Helle Plough Hansen

University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

Russell Gruen MBBS PhD FRACS is a surgeon at Royal Melbourne Hospital, an editor of the Cochrane EPOC Group, and director of the Global Evidence Mapping Initiative at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Russ has a PhD in health services research, was a Harkness Fellow in Health Policy at Harvard University, and a fellow in trauma and surgical critical care at Harborview Medical Centre in Seattle. His research interests include policy and service improvement for the care of the critically ill, translating evidence into professional practice, and the importance of contextual factors in applicability of research evidence. Russ and his wife, Theresa, have 2 sons – Spencer and Kody.

10 | 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg

Helle Ploug Hansen, Ph.D., Mag. Scient. (MA), R.N. is professor at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Odense, Institute of Public Health, Research Unit: Health, Man & Society. She received her Ph.D.-degree in 1993 based on an ethnographic fieldwork about cancer nursing care. She is specialised within the field of Medical Anthropology, especially with a focus on embodiment and technologies of power and the self. She has done long-lasting fieldworks with participant-observation and ethnographic interviews within the field of psychosocial oncology and cancer rehabilitation. Since 2000 she has been involved in Health Technology Assessment (HTA). Hansen has written several chapters in the new Danish Handbook on HTA about patient perspectives, qualitative methods and synthesis of qualitative research. Throughout her carrier she has had a special attention to communication and qualitative research methodology. She has since 2001 been a member of DACEHTA’s scientific advisory board, the National Board of Health. She has been head of a Master

// Invited speakers and chairs degree in Health Sciences, SDU since 1999. She has published several books and peer-reviewed articles in Danish as well as in English.

Julian Higgins

University of Cambridge, UK

Roger Harbord

University of Bristol, UK

Roger Harbord has been a medical statistician in the Department of Social Medicine at the University of Bristol since 2002. He is currently one of three CoConvenors of the Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group. He was born in New Zealand, grew up in south-west England, studied physics and worked in market research before converting to statistics through an MSc in Biometry at the University of Reading.

Brian Haynes

Julian Higgins is a Senior Statistician at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, which he joined in January 2000 and where he leads a programme of methodological and empirical research on meta-analysis and evidence synthesis. Julian is Head of the UK Human Genome Epidemiology Coordinating Centre and was the first President of the Society for Research Synthesis Methodology in 2005-6. He is a Co-Convenor of the Cochrane Statistical Methods Group, an Editor of the Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Group and an Honorary Visiting Fellow of the UK Cochrane Centre in Oxford. Julian is coeditor of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (with Sally Green) and co-author of two upcoming textbooks on meta-analysis with Michael Borenstein, Larry Hedges and Hannah Rothstein. He starts a term as representative of methods group on the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group in October 2008.

Mc Master University, Hamilton Ontario, Canada

Brian Haynes is Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Medicine at McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, and Chief of the Health Information Research Unit there. He in on the active medical staff of Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton Ontario, where he works with patients who have diabetes. His medical degree is from the University of Alberta, his PhD from McMaster University, and he is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Royal Society of Canada, and the American College of Medical Informatics. Dr. Haynes’s main research interests are in improving health and health care through enhancing the validation, distillation, dissemination and application of health care knowledge. He is one of the originators of evidence-based medicine, the founding director of the Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre, founding editor of ACP Journal Club, Evidence-Based Medicine, and BMJUpdates+, and is a pastpresident of the Canadian Hypertension Society. He has over 265 publications in peer reviewed journals and has been an author or editor of 13 books.

Sophie Hill

Cochrane Consumer and Communication Review Group, Melbourne, Australia

Sophie Hill PhD is the Co-ordinating Editor for the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group based at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests are people’s experiences of health care, her qualifications are in history and sociology, and before university life, she worked for consumer organizations, government, and health services. As Co-ordinating Editor, she is part of a small team who co-ordinate the preparation and publication of Cochrane reviews of interventions for improving communication with and participation by health consumers. She is a member of the Co-ordinating Editors’ Board executive group.

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// Invited speakers and chairs Markus Horneber

Klinikum Nuremberg Nord, Nuremberg, Germany

Markus Horneber is Head of Study group ‘Unconventional and Complementary Methods in Oncology’ funded by German Cancer Aid and since 2003 Member of Steering Committee, EC-project ‘CAM Cancer‘. He received his Medical Doctor (Thesis) 1993 from University Erlangen-Nuremberg and worked then for Residency Internal Medicine/Oncology, Hematology, Medizinische Klinik 5, Institute of Oncology, Hematology, BMT, Klinikum Nuremberg Nord. Since 2003 he is head of Study group ‘Unconventional and Complementary Methods in Oncology’ funded by German Cancer Aid and Member of Steering Committee, EC-project ‘CAM Cancer‘.

for the WHO European Region. In 2004, The Lancet won the UK’s Medical Publication of the Year and, in 2007, he received the Edinburgh Medal for professional achievements judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding of human health and wellbeing. In 2008, he was appointed a Senior Associate of The Nuffield Trust, a think tank for research and policy studies in health services. He has a strong interest in issues of global health. He has been a medical columnist for The Observer and writes regularly for the Times Literary Supplement and New York Review of Books. A book about controversies in modern medicine, Second Opinion, was published in 2003.

Peter Jüni

University of Berne, Switzerland

Richard Horton

The Lancet, London, UK

Richard Horton (BSc MB FRCP FMedSci) was born in London and qualified in medicine from the University of Birmingham in 1986. He completed his general medical training in Birmingham before moving to the liver unit at the Royal Free Hospital. In 1990, he joined The Lancet as an assistant editor and moved to New York as North American editor in 1993. Two years later he returned to the UK to become Editor-in-Chief. He was the first President of the World Association of Medical Editors and is a Past-President of the US Council of Science Editors. He is an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London, and the University of Edinburgh. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a Founder Fellow of the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2005 he was a member of the working party and subsequently wrote the report for the Royal College of Physicians’ inquiry into the future of medical professionalism – Doctors in Society. He currently chairs the Royal College of Physicians’ Working Party on Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry; co-chairs a WHO Scientific Advisory Group on Clinical Trials Registration; is a Council Member of the Global Forum for Health Research; is a Board Member of the Health Metrics Network; sits on the External Reference Group for WHO’s Research Strategy; and is an External Advisory Board Member 12 | 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg

Peter Jüni is the Head of the Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Co-Director of CTU Bern, the University hospital’s clinical trials unit. He is primary investigator, methodologist in charge or member of the steering group of several clinical studies and collaborative analyses in the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular field and contributes to clinical studies, meta-analyses and methodological research in other fields. He is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Epidemiology (the journal of the International Epidemiological Association), and an Editor of the Cochrane Methodology Review Group and Musculoskeletal Review Groups.

Marcia Kelson

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), London, UK

Marcia has a PhD in psychology and research experience gained in the NHS and education. Taking time out to have a baby, Marcia gained hands on experience of patient involvement, representing the National Childbirth Trust on her local Community Health Council and Hospital Maternity Services Liaison Committee. Returning to paid work, Marcia worked with several Royal Colleges to develop opportunities for pa-

// Invited speakers and chairs tient involvement in clinical audit and clinical guideline development. She has also carried out a number of studies to find out what patients and carers think of services and treatments for a range of conditions. Awards include a travel fellowship from the Royal Society of Medicine, and a commendation from the British Medical Association book competition for a patient information booklet for stroke patients and their carers. In 1999, Marcia was appointed as a special advisor to NICE before setting up NICE’s Patient Involvement Unit (now know as the NICE Patient and Public Involvement Programme, PPIP). The programme works with all the NICE guidance producing centres and external collaborating centres to develop and support opportunities for patients, carers and the public to contribute to the development and uptake of NICE guidance.

Jos Kleijnen

Kleijnen Systematic Reviews Ltd., York, UK

Jos Kleijnen is a physician (University of Limburg, Maastricht, Netherlands), specialised as a clinical epidemiologist. Currently, he is director of Kleijnen Systematic Reviews Ltd, an independent company based in York, UK. Previously, he was professor and director of the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York; and director of the Dutch Cochrane Centre. His interests include: methodology of patient related research, placebo effects in randomised trials, diagnostic and screening procedures, dissemination and implementation of research-based evidence, Evidence-based medicine, systematic reviews and the Cochrane Collaboration.

Marguerite A. Koster

Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, California, USA

Marguerite Koster has been involved in evidence-based clinical practice guideline development and technology assessment at Kaiser Permanente (KP) for more than 16 years. She is currently the Practice Leader for the Technology Assessment & Guidelines (TAG) Unit, Southern California Permanen-

te Medical Group, where she manages a staff of 10 research analysts in the development of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, medical technology assessments, and evidence reviews to support the organization’s health care and electronic health system implementation efforts. Ms. Koster also has a long history of collaboration with external healthcare, professional and accrediting organizations on evidencebased clinical guidelines, technology assessments and performance measurement. In the mid-1990s, she worked with David Eddy, MD (at the time a Senior Advisor for Health Policy and Management to Kaiser Permanente Southern California) and the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) on the development of the organization’s first evidence-based clinical guideline and cost-effectiveness analysis for osteoporosis prevention and treatment. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Ms. Koster was a research analyst at the University of Southern California’s Social Science Research Institute, where she conducted survey research and statistical analysis for grants funded by the National Institute of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. In addition, she taught sociology courses at Pitzer College (Claremont Colleges) and worked for many years as a psychotherapist specializing in residential drug treatment and recovery programs for court-referred and homeless adults with a history of substance addiction.

Regina Kunz

Institute for Clinical Epidemiology, University of Basle, Switzerland

Regina Kunz is a nephrologist trained in clinical epidemiology. She has a strong interest in methodological questions around systematic reviews and metaanalyses, and the methodology of guideline development. She is member of the GRADE Working Group, an international collaboration of methodologists and guideline developers for advancing guideline methodology focussing on bridging the gap between evidence and recommendations. She is board member of the Guidelines International Network, an international collaboration for sharing existing guidelines, experience in guideline development and implementation, to reduce redundancies in the work. As methodological consultant, she has been involved in the development of guidelines 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg | 13

// Invited speakers and chairs and health technology reports and the process of integrating evidence in the decision making process of the health care system. She serves as board member of the Guidelines International Network G-I-N, an international platform for exchange and discussion to advance the development of guidelines and their implementation in patient care.

Klaus M. Leisinger

Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, Basle, Switzerland

Prof. Dr. rer. pol., Dr. h.c. theol. Klaus M. Leisinger is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development. He studied economics and social sciences at the University of Basel, Switzerland, earned his doctorate in Economics, and did his post-doc in Sociology on ‘Health Policy for Least Developed Countries.’ He spent several years in East Africa as CEO of the former Ciba Pharmaceuticals regional office. After his return to Switzerland, he managed the company’s international relations. Klaus Leisinger led the company’s philanthropy and development assistance programms for more than 25 years. In addition to his position at Novartis, Klaus Leisinger is Professor of Sociology at the University of Basel and serves as invited lecturer or guest professor at several European and USAmerican universities, e.g. the University of Notre Dame, the MIT Sloan School of Management (Cambridge), and at Harvard University. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in Theology by the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in 2004. Klaus Leisinger has held numerous advisory positions in organizations such as the UN Global Compact, the UN Development Program, the World Bank (CGIAR), the Asian Development Bank as well as the Economic Commission for Latin America. He also serves as the president of the Board of Trustees of the German Network Business Ethics. Until December 2006, he also served as the Special Advisor of the UN Secretary General for the UN Global Compact.

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Klaus Linde

Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, Dept. Internal Medicine II, TU Munich, Germany

PD Dr. Klaus Linde was born in Munich (Germany) in 1960; 1981 to 1982 study of German literature at the University of Freiburg, 1983 to 1990 medical school in Bologna (Italy) und Munich. PhD in epidemiology at the Humboldt-University Berlin in 2002. From 1991 to 1997 researcher at the project for Integration of Natural Healing Procedures into Research and Teaching at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich; since 1998 deputy director of the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, Department of Internal Medicine II, Technical University Munich. Co-founder of the Cochrane Complementary and Alternative Medicine Field and author of several Cochrane reviews.

Jiangping Liu

Chang Jiang Scholar Professor, Ministry of Education, Bejing, China

Founding Director of Centre for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine since May 2005, and a Professor with National Research Centre in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NAFKAM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Tromso, Norway since October 2002. He is adjunct professor of RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia since 2008. He completed his PhD in infectious disease in 1992, and has background in clinical medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, epidemiology, clinical epidemiology, and Cochrane activities. His main research interests are in the areas of systematic review of interventions of traditional Chinese medicine. He is an advisor for traditional medicine of WHO-WPRO (West Pacific Region Office), member of the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field Advisory Board; editors of the Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group, ‘Chinese Medicine’ journal, ‘Chinese Journal of Epidemiology’, ‘Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine’, ‘Journal of Chinese Integrated Medicine’ and ‘Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine’. He is a peer reviewer for more than 10 international journals. He authored 3 books, co-authored 8 books, and published 218 papers in peer reviewed journals.

// Invited speakers and chairs Steve Mc Donald

David Moher

Australasian Cochrane Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Steve McDonald is Co-Director of the Australasian Cochrane Centre and a member of the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group. Steve is involved in developing and supporting Cochrane activity and networks in Australasia and Asia. He is the co-ordinator of the SEA-ORCHID Project that links Australia with four countries in South East Asia to promote evidence-based practice and research synthesis in the area of pregnancy and childbirth.

Eric Manheimer

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA

Eric Manheimer is a research associate who has worked for over a decade with The Cochrane Collaboration, in systematic reviews, trials registers, and evidencebased health care. From 1997, he served for five years as the Co-ordinator and methodologist of the US Cochrane Center where he managed a number of projects related to clinical trial identification and registration, including the development of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). In January 2003, he joined the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Center for Integrative Medicine to coordinate the work of the Cochrane Collaboration Complementary Medicine Field. Since joining the Complementary Medicine Field, he has prepared or contributed to a number of systematic reviews related to acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Ottawa Health Research Group, Ottawa, Canada

Dr. Moher is director of the University of Ottawa’s Evidence-based Practice Centre, one of 14 such centres funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Moher is interested in the methodology underpinning the conduct of systematic reviews. Dr. Moher is the lead convener of the Cochrane Collaboration’s Bias Methods Group. Dr. Moher has been involved in developing reporting guides since 1993 when he convening a meeting that lead to the CONSORT Statement for reporting randomized controlled trials. He also led the development of the QUOROM Statement for reporting meta-analyses of randomized trials.

Miranda Mugford

School of Medicine and Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

Miranda Mugford is Professor of Health Economics in the School of Medicine and Health Policy and Practice at the University of East Anglia, Norwich UK. Economist and health services researcher with special interest in methods used in economic evaluations, especially how methods for systematic review of literature can be incorporated into economic evaluation techniques and vice versa. She coordinates the health economics group at UEA, and is Chair of Convenors of the Campbell and Cochrane Economics Methods Group. She is currently involved in collaborative international, national and local research with many colleagues, on a range of health and social policy topics. Before 1997, she was economist at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford. Since moving to UEA she has continued her work on perinatal health services, including the 2 volume book ‘Birth Counts’ co-authored with Alison Macfarlane and others.

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// Invited speakers and chairs Pekka Mustonen

Duodecim, Helsinki, Finland

Pekka Mustonen MD, PhD, was born in 1961. He was graduated as a physician from the University of Helsinki in 1992 and made his doctoral thesis in the field of biochemistry 1993. He has served as a researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Helsinki. 1994-1996 he served as Sigrid Juselius Research Fellow at the Institut Jacques Monod in Paris, France. 1996-2000 he was a partner in biotechcompany Kibron Inc. specialized in pharmaceutical screening and instrumentation and at the same time worked as an Associate Editor of the Duodecim Medical Journal. He is author of 26 research papers in international journals and a large number of articles in domestic medical journals. From the beginning of 2000 he has been the Managing Director of Duodecim Medical Publications Ltd and is the Editor-in-Chief of the national health portal for health care professionals and the health portal for the general public.

Anders Olauson

Director of European Patient Forum and EURORDIS, Center ÅGRENSKA, Hovås, Sweden

Anders Olauson was involved in the founding of the Agrenska Centre in 1989. He served as director until 2004 and since then has been chairman and chief executive officer. He is responsible for establishing The Agrenska Virtual International Academy, a research centre for rare disorders. Anders is particularly concerned with the impact of rare conditions on children and their families. His work involves contact with both national and regional legislative bodies on the subject of rare disorders. He is also in contact with representatives of hospitals, education and labor unions as well as other key players in the field of rare diseases. Anders is member of the board of Eurordis, and was president from 1999 to 2001. He currently represents it as a member of the board of the European Patients’ Forum (EPF). He has been president of EPF since June 2005. Anders represents EPF in both steering committee and at The Pharmaceutical Forum, which was established by DG Sanco and DG Enterprise in 2005. 16 | 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg

Agrenska was in 2005 appointed member of ECOSOC within United Nations, with “special consultative status”. Since 2006 Anders is a member of the advisory group for Health Research within DG Research. In 2005 Anders was accepted as a researcher within the PhD program at Gothenburg University.

Günter Ollenschläger

German Agency for Quality in Medicine, Berlin, Germany

Professor Günter Ollenschläger, PharmD, MD, PhD, FRCP Edin, has been Director of the German Agency for Quality in Medicine ÄZQ, Berlin, and Editor-inChief of the German Journal for Evidence and Quality in Healthcare ZEFQ since 1995. He has been leading the development of several nationwide healthcare quality programmes in Germany: National Clearinghouses for Guidelines and Patient Information and National Programme for Disease Management Guidelines. He co-initiated the foundation of the German Network for Evidence-based Medicine in 1998 and of the Guidelines International Network G-I-N in 2002. A trained pharmacist and general internist, Dr. Ollenschläger worked as a research pharmacist in the 80s, and practised internal medicine until 1990. He did research work in the fields of bio-pharmacy and clinical nutrition. From 1990 until 1995 he headed the Department of Continuing Medical Education of the German Medical Association. Dr. Günter Ollenschlaeger has been serving as the first Chairman of G-I-N from 2002 to 2005.

// Invited speakers and chairs Tikki Pang (Pangestu)

interventions to improve drug use by consumers.

World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland

Prior to joining WHO, Dr. Pang was Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Postgraduate Studies & Research, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He holds a PhD in ImmunologyMicrobiology from the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (UK), Institute of Biology (UK), American Academy of Microbiology (USA), Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, and Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS); and a Member of the International Molecular Biology Network (IMBN). Also, he is currently Secretary, WHO Research Ethics Review Committee, and Secretary, WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research. Research interests are in epidemiology, pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases, and in health research policy, health research systems, best practices in research, development of research capabilities in developing countries, and linkages between research and policy.

Nancy Santesso

IFO, Centre for Global Health, Rome, Italy

Nancy Santesso, RD, MLIS is presently working in Rome, Italy with the Applicability and Recommendations Methods Group of the Cochrane Collaboration to create Summary of Findings tables for Cochrane systematic reviews. She is an editor of the Consumers and Communication Review Group and is also involved in the initiative to develop a format for and standardise Plain Language Summaries in Cochrane reviews. By background, she is Registered Dietitian and practiced clinically before completing a Masters of Library and Information Science. Her work with the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group in previous years, primarily focused on translating research from systematic reviews to consumers, in the form of summaries, decision aids and other tools; on including consumers in the systematic review process; and on educating consumers to participate in that process. Her work with the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group and the Consumers and Communication Review Group was a review of

Michael Schlander

Innoval, Wiesbaden/University of Heidelberg, Germany

Prof. Michael Schlander is founding chairman of the not-for-profit ‘Institute for Innovation & Valuation in Health Care’ (InnoValHC) in Wiesbaden, Germany. He is a health economist at the University of Heidelberg and a professor of health care and innovation management at the University of Applied Economic Sciences Ludwigshafen (since 2002). In 2006, his institute established a highly respected Health Economics Summer School taking place in Heidelberg. After six years in experimental brain research and clinical neurology, he joined the international pharmaceutical industry in 1987, where he spent 15 years in executive roles in clinical development (1987-1993), marketing (1993-1998), and general management (1998-2002). He studied medicine and psychology at the University of Frankfurt and has been licensed as a physician in Germany since 1985. He received his M.D. (grade summa cum laude) from the University of Frankfurt, an M.B.A. degree (as valedictorian) from City University of Seattle, Washington, a diploma in health economics from the Stockholm School of Economics, and the venia legendi (Ph.D. equivalent) for health economics from the University of Heidelberg. His publications include a recent monograph on ‘Health Technology Assessments by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)’ in England.

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// Invited speakers and chairs Holger Schünemann

Jean Slutsky

Italian National Cancer Institute, Rome Italy / McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Prof. Schünemann is a member of the CLARITY group at McMaster University where he conducts research about guideline development, systematic reviews and health related quality of life. His experience with guideline development relates to the work with the American College of Chest Physicians together with Drs. Gordon Guyatt, Drs. Jack Hirsh, and Greg Albers. He is a member of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group. This international working group developed a common grading system for evaluating the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations for guidelines. Recently, he became co-convenor of the Applicability and Recommendations Methods Group of the Cochrane Collaboration that aims at including concise summaries of findings in published Cochrane reviews. He also is documents editor for the American Thoracic Society and chair of the ATS documents development and implementation committee. Presently his also leader of the Clinical Research Development and INFORMAtion Translation (INFORMA) Unit at the Italian National Cancer Institute Regina Elena in Rome.

Stephen Senn

University of Glasgow, UK

Prof. Stephen Senn is originally from Switzerland. He studied at Exeter University and obtained his PhD part time from Dundee University. He has worked for the NHS in England, as a lecturer in Scotland and in drug development in Switzerland (with CIBA-Geigy) from 1987-1995. Between 1995 and 2003 he was Professor of Pharmaceutical and Health Statistics at University College London but since September 2003 he has been Professor of Statistics at Glasgow University. His books, Cross-over Trials in Clinical Research and Statistical Issues in Drug Development are published by Wiley and his book, Dicing with Death by Cambridge University Press. 18 | 16 th Cochrane Colloquium 2008 :: Freiburg

Center for Outcomes and Evidence Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland, USA

Ms. Slutsky has directed the Center for Outcomes and Evidence (COE), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since June 2003. Prior to Ms. Slutsky’s appointment as director of COE, she served as acting director of the Center for Practice and Technology Assessment at AHRQ. Most recently, Ms. Slutsky has implemented a comparative effectiveness research program that includes evidence synthesis, evidence generation, and evidence communication. The Effective Health Care Program is authorized under Section 1013 of the Medicare Modernization Act. Ms. Slutsky oversees the Evidence-based Practice Center program; Technology Assessment Program; extramural and intramural research portfolios concerning translating research into practice, outcomes and effectiveness research, including pharmaceutical outcomes, and cost-effectiveness analyses; and the National Guideline, Quality Measures, and QualityTools Clearinghouses. She is a vice chair of the Guidelines International Network and a member of the editorial board of Implementation Science. Prior to becoming acting director of the Center for Practice and Technology Assessment, Ms. Slutsky, served as project director of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an internationally recognized panel of experts who make evidence-based recommendations on clinical preventive services. Ms. Slutsky received her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Iowa, a Masters of Science in Public Health (Health Policy and Administration) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and trained as a Physician Assistant at the University of Southern California.

// Invited speakers and chairs Ken Stein

Prathap Tharyan

Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, UK

Ken Stein, Professor of Public Health (Director) qualified in medicine from Bristol University and trained as a general practitioner in Australia and Hampshire before specialising in public health in Southampton, latterly working as Deputy Director for the National Coordinating Centre for HTA. He moved to Exeter in 1999, initially as Consultant in Public Health Medicine at North and East Devon Health Authority, then Director of Public Health for Mid Devon Primary Care Trust. He combined this with a part-time role at the University of Exeter and in 2001 set up the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group. Ken has been a full time academic public health physician at the Peninsula Medical School since 2003. His research interests include the measurement and valuation of health in HTA, particularly using the internet; synthesis of qualitative research; use of mathematical modeling as part of planning and management in the NHS; and the case finding and management of hepatitis C.

Alex Sutton

Christian Medical College, Vellore Tamil Nadu, India

Prathap Tharyan, Professor of Psychiatry, trained for the MBBS degree and for the postgraduate Degree MD (Psychiatry) at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. He joined the faculty in 1987 and has worked there since except for three years (1992-1995), when he worked in Oxford, UK and obtained the MRCPsych (1994). He was head of Psychiatry Unit II from 1996- 2007 and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry from 2003-2007. He was additional Vice-Principal (Research) at CMC from 2006 June â&#x20AC;&#x201C;January 2008. He now serves as an Associate Director of CMC, Vellore from Feb 2008. Dr. Tharyan is the Director of the South Asian Cochrane Network & Centre. He is an Editor with the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group and a systematic review author with several other Cochrane review groups. He is an Associate Editor with the open access journal Trials. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Group of the WHO-International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and is a member of the steering group of the Clinical Trials Registry-India. His academic interests are in evidence-based health care, conducting pragmatic clinical trials and evidence-based ethics.

University of Leicester, UK

Alex Sutton is Reader in Medical Statistics at the University of Leicester. He has a long-standing interest in methods for meta-analysis, and for evidence synthesis more generally, and particularly when they are used to inform decision making. Alex has published numerous articles on methods for addressing publication bias, and the use of Bayesian methods for synthesis. He has contributed to many substantive meta-analyses in therapeutics, epidemiology, prognosis and diagnosis. Recently, he conducted a workshop for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), UK to inform their (updated) methods guide regarding the use of network meta-analysis methods.

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// Invited speakers and chairs Maria Grazia Valsecchi

University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

Prof. Maria Grazia Valsecchi is Professor in Medical Statistics at the Department of Clinical Medicine and Prevention, University of Milano-Bicocca. After a DSc in Mathematics, 1980, University of Milan and MSc in Biostatistics, 1989, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, she worked as part-time researcher and assistant professor at the Department of Biostatistics (Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria) of the University of Milan, the Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle and at the Department of Biostatistics (Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria) of the University of Milan. From 1998-2001 she was Professor in Biostatistics at the Department of Public Health, University of Verona. Prof. Valsecchi is involved in various research projects, mainly in oncology and hematology, and she is currently coordinating a statistical unit aimed at planning, conducting and analyzing clinical studies, with specific interest in the methodology for: controlled clinical trials, survival analysis and clinical epidemiology. She is responsible of the Center for Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology of the University of Milano-Bicocca, Medical School.

Jan P. Vandenbroucke

University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands

Prof. Jan P Vandenbroucke was trained as a specialist in internal medicine at the University of Leuven, Belgium. In 1979 he gained a Master of Science in Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, USA, and in 1981 he obtained his PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He has been professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Leiden University, the Netherlands, since 1986, and was mainly involved in the conduct of observational studies for the past 25 years.

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His main interest is the application of epidemiologic methods to problems of aetiology and pathogenesis that are researched in secondary or tertiary care facilities and academic medical centres. In 2002-2003 he held a sabbatical at Oxford. He was appointed as an Academy Professor by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006. He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Edinburgh. He servers on the international advisory board of The Lancet, is co-editor of the James Lind Library (editor: Sir Iain Chalmers), and was a co-author of the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines.

Janet Wale

Cochrane Consumer Network, Melbourne, Australia

Janet Wale is the Convenor of the Cochrane Consumer Network a strong Network of consumers, patients and carers within The Cochrane Collaboration. She has a background as a pharmacologist, until ill health put a stop to her continuing in that field. She has since become a dedicated health consumer representative and advocate and participates in a number of local and national committees and consultations in Australia. Through Cochrane she has also had the opportunity to be involved at an international level. Her own personal experiences and of those of people around her mean that Janet is a consumer referee for several Cochrane Review Groups. Her life experiences have been important in defining the Consumer Network, its Geographical Advisory Group and e-mail discussion list and in her role as a Consumer Network member on the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group.

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