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European Partners

Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter for helsetjenesten, Oslo, Norway (www.kunnskapssenteret.no)

Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services

Coordinator

Qualifications and capacity for the Centre’s Role
The Centre is the Norwegian branch of the international Cochrane Collaboration. It has been involved with the EC projects PRACTIHC, ReBEQI, CPP, AFROIMPLEMENT and EUR-Assess.

Experience and knowledge of the Centre
The work of the Centre includes research into how evidence is used in healthcare policymaking, effects of healthcare interventions, with emphasis on randomized controlled trials; trial methodology; barriers to rational decisions about healthcare; software to make the design of randomized controlled trials easier.

Key personnel
Andy Oxman, Principal Scientist	Andy Oxman is responsible for overall project coordination, financial management, control on deliverables and communication with the EC. He is the key contributor to the development of evidence-based medicine. He has been the chair of the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group, editor of the Reviewers’ Handbook, a member of the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group’s editorial team, and convenor of the Empirical Methodological Studies Methods Group. He has been a partner in five EC projects, two as coordinator. He will contribute substantial methodological expertise to the project and will contribute to all WPs.
Shaun Treweek, Project Manager	Dr. Treweek will be responsible for coordination tasks delegated by the principal scientist, , to coordinate the interaction between work-packages, to ensure that project objectives are met and to prepare materials for all the international meetings. He has acted as Project Manager of two EC projects, ReBEQI and PRACTIHC.
Signe Flottorp
Atle Fretheim

 

Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland (www.abdn.ac.uk/hsru)

Qualifications and capacity
The Unit is a multidisciplinary research group for Scotland with a remit to identify effective forms of health care. It has an international reputation for work related to this proposal. It was coordinator of the EU Concerted Action AFROIMPLEMENT and has been a partner in four other EC projects including the INCO-funded PRACTIHC project)

Experience and knowledge in the Unit
The Unit has extensive expertise in the design and conduct of large pragmatic multicentre trials and formal systematic reviews of research evidence. It also houses a formal trials support service for the conduct of large multicentre trials. The unit also has a substantial methods programme, which includes research on methods to improve the conduct of trials and methods to promote professional behaviour change in line with research evidence.

Key personnel
Marion Campbell	Professor and Deputy Director has been responsible for the conduct of a number of large multi-centre trials and leads the unit’s methodological portfolio of research.
Craig Ramsay	Senior Statistician leads on the methodological aspects of all Unit projects.
Policy link
Michael Bews	Director of Standards and Guidance, National Health Service Quality Improvement Scotland.

Polski Instytut Evidence Based Medicine (PI EBM), Krakow, Poland (http://ebm.org.pl)

Evidence Based Medicine Polish Institute

Qualifications and capacity
The PI EBM is an independent not-forprofit, non-governmental foundation, established by a group of physicians and researchers, who since 1996 have been promoting evidence-based decision making in Poland.

Experience and knowledge at PI EBM
PI-EBM has established close co-operation with international organisations such as the Cochrane Collaboration, EBM Working Group and the GRADE Working Group. PI-EBM is a member of Guidelines International Network. PI-EBM has initiated and co-ordinates a university course on EBM held at the Faculty of Medicine of the Jagiellonian University Medical Collage and is responsible for organising workshops and courses in EBM skills for medical students, clinicians, and other health care professionals, managers and health care policy makers.

Key personnel
Jacek Mrukowicz	Executive Director of the Polish Institute for Evidence Based Medicine, is a pioneer in the promotion of the evidence based paediatrics and evidence based practice guidelines in paediatrics in Poland, editor-in-chief of the journal “Practical Medicine – Paediatrics”; lecturer on clinical research methodology and EBM; ad hoc WHO advisor on immunisation programme; GRADE Working Group member.
Other key members
Roman Jaeschke
Piotr Gajewski
Malgorzata Bala