ITALIAN COCHRANE CENTRE STAFF Head Alessandro LIBERATI, M.D. 1
CURRICULA Alessandro Liberati obtained his MD Degree in 1978 at the University of Milano and his post doctoral degree in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine in 1981 at the same university. Teaching activities: Primary responsibility of several academic and non academic training courses on the methodology of clinical research and systematic reviews/metanalyses. He is Director of the advanced Master Evidence based medicine e metodologia della ricerca sanitaria, at the Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia. Areas of scientific expertise: methodology of clinical research with particular reference to controlled clinical trials, epidemiological methods for research synthesis (systematic reviews and metanalyses); methods of practice guidelines production and implementation, evaluation of ethical implications of clinical research. Past and current roles at the Mario Negri Institute: 1980-1986 Junior researcher at the Laboratory of Clinical pharmacology; 1987-1989 Head, Unit of Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research; 1990-1998 Head Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology; since 1994 he is Director of the Italian Cochrane Centre; since 1998 he is Associate Professor of Clinical Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; since 1997 he is President of the Associazione per la Ricerca sulla Efficacia dell Assistenza Sanitaria - Centro Cochrane Italiano (AREAS-CCI); he collaborates since 2004 with the Social and Health Regional Agency of Emilia Romagna; since 2004 he is Member of the Commissione Nazionale Ricerca Sanitaria; since 2005 he is Member of the Commissione Ricerca e Sviluppo dell Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (AIFA). Selected publications Liberati A, D'Amico R, Pifferi S, Torri V, Brazzi L, Parmelli E. Antibiotic prophylaxis to reduce respiratory tract infections and mortality in adults receiving intensive care. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009 Donati S., Cotichini R., Mosconi P., Satolli R., Colombo C., Liberati A., Mele A. Menopause: knowledge, attitude and practice among Italian women Maturitas 2009;63:246-252 Mosconi P., Donati S., Colombo C., Mele A., Liberati A., Satolli R., Consensus Conference Working Group. Informing women about hormone replacement therapy: the Consensus Conference statement. BMC Women s Health 2009;9:14 Mosconi P., Donati S., Colombo C., Mele A., Liberati A., Satolli R., Consensus Conference Working Group. Informing women about hormone replacement therapy. Cancer Journal 2009;15:344 Moher D., Liberati A., Tetzlaff J., Altman D.A. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and metanalysis: the PRISMA Statement. Ann Intern Med 2009;151:264-269 Banzi R., Moja L., Liberati A., Gensini G.F., Gusinu R., Conti A.A. Measuring the impact of evidence: the Cochrane systematic review of organized stroke care. Intern Emerg Med 2009;4:507-510 Liberati A., Altman D.A., Tetzlaff J., et al. The PRISMA Statement for reporting systematic reviews and metanalyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. Annals of Internal Medicine 2009;151:w1- w30 Moja L., Moschetti I., Nurbhai M., Compagnoni A., Liberati A. et al. Compliance of clinical trial registries with the World Health Organization minimum data set: a survey. Trials 2009;10:56 ACTIVITIES The Italian Cochrane Centre (ICC) (http://www.cochrane.it) was founded in 1994 and is affiliated to the Cochrane Collaboration (CC). The CC is an international non profit organization that prepares, maintains and promotes systematic reviews of the effects of health care interventions. The main product of the Cochrane Collaboration is the Cochrane Library, a quarterly publication containing Cochrane systematic reviews and other relevant databases of other siblings international organizations. The objectives of the ICC are centered around supporting various activities of the Cochrane Collaboration within Italy. In particular: a) to disseminate the knowledge of CC and CC activities throughout Italy; b) to provide methodological and practical support to all individuals and groups who are interested in collaborating with the CC; c) to contribute to the adoption and dissemination of Evidence-based Medicine in Italy. d) to collaborate with NHS to improve the quality of clinical and epidemiological research. 2
MAIN FINDINGS The ICC has created a national network with researchers and health care providers who are producing systematic reviews for the Cochrane Collaboration and are actively involved in other activities related to the dissemination of evidence based medicine. NATIONAL COLLABORATIONS Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta", Milano Agenzia Sanitaria Regionale, Regione Emilia Romagna, Bologna Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano Dipartimento di Epidemiologia della Regione Lazio, Roma Osservatorio epidemiologico della Direzione sanità e servizi sociali della Regione Umbria, Perugia Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milano Istituti Ortopedici Rizzoli, Bologna INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS The Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, York, UK British Medical Journal Publishing Group, London, UK Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Oxford, UK Thomas Chalmers Centre for Systematic Reviews, Ottawa, Canada The Campbell Collaboration, Philadelphia, USA Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Oxford, UK Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK Clinical Epidemiology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERSHIP Evidence Based Health Policy and Research, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Journal of Health Services Research, BMJ Evidence Centre (BMJ Publishing Group), European Journal of Clinical Investigation PEER REVIEW ACTIVITIES Annals of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal, JAMA, Evidence Based Health Policy and Research, Canadian Medical Association Journal, PLoS Medicine. International Journal of Epidemiology. 3
EVENT ORGANIZATION I Edition Master in Promozione e governo della ricerca nelle aziende sanitarie February - December 2009 - Modena Course EBM - I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Febbraio March 2009 - Milan Corso di perfezionamento avanzato in Revisioni sistematiche e meta-analisi metodologia Cochrane November 2009- March 2010 Workshop: November 20-21, 2009 - Perugia - Quando i comitati etici possono interferire nella valutazione del disegno e del significato di uno studio clinico - La medicina non convenzionale: il ruolo delle revisioni sistematiche XIV Annual Meeting of the Italian Cochrane Network Le priorità della ricerca nei sistemi sanitari November 20-2, 2009- Perugia CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP CONTRIBUTIONS II Edition Corso di epidemiologia clinica e metodologia della ricerca: il dolore nel paziente con cancro 20-21 February 2009, Napoli Meeting Evidence-based veterinary medicine March 14,2009 - Bologna Master in Ricerca Organizzativa nelle strutture sanitarie May 22-23 2009, Università degli Studi di Ferrara Master in Scienze Mediche di II livello Metodologia della Ricerca, February 2009, Università degli Studi di Parma Evidence-based clinical practice workshop: architecture of prognostic and diagnostic studies 2 October 2009, Gargnano 2009 Mid-Year Steering Group and Centre Directors Meeting April 20-25, 2009 - Copenhagen Annual Continental European Cochrane Entities Meeting (CECEM), June 10-12, 2009 - Maastricht First Annual Croatian Cochrane Symposium, June 26-27- Spalato XVI Cochrane Colloquium, October 11-14, 2009 - Singapore Worskhop del Centre for Evidence based Medicine di Oxford (CEBM) per la revisione della CEBM Level of Evidence classification ; Oxford (UK) December 17, 2009 4
Trenta Anni del Dipartimento di Epidemiologia della Regione Lazio, December 18,2009 - Rome GRANTS AND CONTRACTS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milano Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia Agenzia sanitaria e sociale regionale, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Bologna Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS (2009) All publications of the Italian Cochrane Center are available on web site www.cochrane.it. Virgili G, Conti AA, Moja L, Gensini GF, Gusinu R. Heterogeneity and meta-analyses: do study results truly differ? Internal and Emergency Medicine 2009;4:423-427 Sirtori V, Corbetta D, Moja L, Gatti R. Constraint-induced movement therapy for upper extremities in stroke patients. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD004433 Amato B, Moja L, Panico S, Persico G, Rispoli C, Rocco N, Moschetti I. Shouldice technique versus other open techniques for inguinal hernia repair. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD001543 Banzi R, Moja L, Liberati A, Gensini GF, Gusinu R, Conti AA. Measuring the impact of evidence: the Cochrane systematic review of organised stroke care. Internal and Emergency Medicine 2009;4:507-510 Liberati A, Altman DG, Tetzlaff J, Mulrow C, Gøtzsche P, et al. The Prisma Group. The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. PLoS Med 2009;6 Liberati A, D'Amico R, Pifferi S, Torri V, Brazzi L, Parmelli E. Antibiotic prophylaxis to reduce respiratory tract infections and mortality in adults receveing intensive care. Cochrane Database of Systematic Review, 2009 (4) Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, The Prisma Group. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Ann Intern Med 2009;18:151(4):264-9 Li LC, Moja L, Romero A, Sayre EC, Grimshaw JM. Nonrandomized quality improvement trials might overstate the strenght of causal inference of their findings. Journal of clinical epidemiology 2009;62(9):959-66 Banzi R, Moschetti I, Moja L. Internet-based education for health professionals. JAMA 2009;301(6):599-600 5
Squizzato A, Moja L, Gensini GF, Gusinu R, Conti AA. Is thrombolysis for intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism beneficial? The case of Emeritus Professor Crow. Internal and Emergency Medicine 2009;4:339-41 Moja L, Moschetti I, Nuebhai M, Compagnoni A, Liberati A; Grimsha JM, Chan AW, Dickersin K, Krleza-Jeric K, Moher D, Sim I, Volmink J. Compliance of clinical trial registries with the World Health Organitation minimum data set: a survey. Trials 2009; 22 :10-56 Deandrea S, Corli O, Moschetti I, Apolone G Managing severe cancer pain: the role of transdermal buprenorphine: a systematic review. Therapeutics and clinical risk management 2009; 5: 707-18. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES Educational and dissemination activities The ICC is a partner of the Thomas C. Chalmers Interuniversity Center together with eight Italian schools of medicine. This network s main objective is to disseminate systematic reviews knowledge, production and use within the academia activities. In particular, many post-graduate courses were organized on EBM, clinical trial and systematic review methodology, and the GRADE approach to develop clinical guideline. In the context of the Thomas C. Chalmers activities, the ICC has organized a post-graduate advanced course on systematic reviews, Corso di Perfezionamento avanzato in revisioni sistematiche e meta-analisi per la produzione di linee guida metodologia Cochrane. The ICC offered individual training and support to reviewers involved in specific research projects aimed at producing Cochrane systematic reviews (see scientific publication section). The ICC researchers collaborate with the Social and Health Regional Agency of Emilia Romagna to produce clinical recommendations in oncology. In collaboration with PartecipaSalute project, the ICC translates the Cochrane Library press releases and disseminates them to scientific journalists, doctors and consumers (through the PartecipaSalute website). In 2009 54 press releases were cited by relevant Italian newspapers and radio programs. Research activities ICC researchers are involved in methodological projects focused on the study of the quality of Systematic Reviews. The ICC is involved in many multidisciplinary projects: - Point-of-Care information tools: to describe and evaluate information tools used by clinicians during their practice. Specifically the project focuses on editorial quality, evidence-based methodology and updating of Point-of-Care products. - Users guide on discordant systematic reviews: to investigate the scientific validity and reliability of systematic review s results. The project final output will be a critical tool deal with discordant systematic reviews in order to inform clinical and policy decision making. - ICEKUBE: randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the distant learning project ECCE, based on the Clinical Evidence contents, to improve clinician 6
knowledge. In 2009 the trial was concluded and the preliminary results are now available. - GRADE: international collaboration with the GRADE working Group to develop and transparent methodology on evidence quality and strength of recommendation assessment, used in the production of the clinical guideline. - PRISMA: publication of a reporting guideline to evaluate the completeness of systematic review reporting. - AFO (progetto Appropriatezza Farmaci Oncologici): methodological support to the Social and Health Regional Agency of Emilia Romagna to produce clinical recommendations in oncology. In 2009 the ICC continued its collaboration with the PartecipaSalute ("Participate in Health Care") project to foster a strategic alliance between patients groups and professional societies with the common goal of promoting better health and shared decision-making. The project s main aims are: - to increase patients associations involvement in healthcare assistance and in decision making processes; - to promote a partnership between patients associations and medical societies soliciting medical societies attention to patients need and perspectives to develop a partnership between citizens, patients and healthcare system. 7