All roads led west on October 19th & 20th 2023 This blog post serves as a retrospective look at two influential events
Insight, opinion and analysis of the work we do, the work we fund, and important issues in health and social care research.
All roads led west on October 19th & 20th 2023 This blog post serves as a retrospective look at two influential events
Insight, opinion and analysis of the work we do, the work we fund, and important issues in health and social care research.
The HRB-TMRN is a proud Partner in the MRC-NIHR-Trials Methodology Research Partnership in the UK. This Partnership offers significant opportunity for trials
The HRB-TMRN has enrolled its 3rd round of PhD Scholars to date, all of which are addressing a primary trials methodology research question.
Celebrating New Funding: Developing collaborations between Ireland and the UK in Trials Methodology Research In the ever-evolving world of clinical trials and
Being involved with Trials Methodology – some reflections from Derek Stewart – PPI Contributor and HRB-TMRN Executive Management Committee member. Inviting patients
The HRB-Trials Methodology Research Network (HRB-TMRN) is a collaborative initiative between several Irish and international higher education institutes and methodology centres.
We want to strengthen the methodology and reporting of trials in health and social care in Ireland so that they become more relevant, accessible and influential for our community of patients and other service users, practitioners, policymakers and the public. This is achieved through a programme of work relating to the methodology of trials and focused on (i) support, (ii) training and education, (iii) research and innovation and (iv) Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement.
Powerful words from Noreen Doyle @DoyleNordoyle - sharing her experience of how including her son on a cancer trial delivered benefits in treatment and recovery for her daughter and so many other children confronted with the same condition just a few years later. #ResearchEthics
“Participation in international trials allows pregnant women in Ireland to access new medications and technologies earlier ” - just one of the benefits set out by @FidelmaDunne of confronting ethical dilemmas to include pregnant women in diabetes trials. #ResearchEthics
Our Network is connected to over 70 national and international trials and trials methodology organisations. We are a partner within the MRC-NIHR-Trials Methodology Research Partnership in the UK. Our collaborations give us access to world leaders in trials methodology research.
Our trials methodology research expertise includes:
A SWAT is an embedded methodology research study within a planned or ongoing trial. We have been involved in SWATS for over 10 years and were involved in the first registered SWAT and we provide annual competitive funding for SWATs. Our members are active in developing and implementing SWATs across a variety of clinical trials nationally and internationally.
A core outcome set is agreed, standardised set of outcomes that should be measured and reported in all trials for a specific clinical area. We have been involved in developing core outcome sets across a range of clinical areas. We are proud to collaborate with the COMET Initiative in many of these.
Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) enable clinicians, patients and carers to work together to identify and prioritise evidence uncertainties in particular areas of health and care that could be answered by research.We have led or contributed to research agenda setting across a range of trials methodology topics and also promoted the use of prioritisation setting across clinical trial areas nationally.
We have specialized expertise in qualitative research in our Qualitative Research in Trials Centre (@QUESTSCentre). Here a team of advisors with expertise in case study research, ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology and qualitative evidence synthesis are active in a wide range of trials methodology projects.
december 2023
Click here to register TMRP Methodology webinar – presented by Cydney Bruce on behalf of the UK Trial
TMRP Methodology webinar – presented by Cydney Bruce on behalf of the UK Trial Managers’ Network
Randomisation is considered the gold standard when allocating participants in randomised controlled trials. This is due to the methods ability to remove biases such as selection bias. Previous research we have conducted shows that there is a small selection of methods more commonly used in trials. We found a few characteristics appearing to be associated with choice of randomisation method, but that doesn’t explain all of the variation.
This webinar will detail focus groups conducted with researchers working in UK Clinical Trials Units. The aim was to better understand the decision-making process when selecting a randomisation method and explore causes for this variation in practice.
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(Tuesday) 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
january 2024
16jan11:00 am12:00 pmTMRP Webinar: Sandra Eldridge – The INCLUDED project
Click here to register TMRP Methodology webinar – presented by Sandra Eldridge on behalf of the UKCRC-registered CTU
TMRP Methodology webinar – presented by Sandra Eldridge on behalf of the UKCRC-registered CTU Network
The INCLUDED project aims to improve inclusivity in trials by providing recommendations about collecting and reporting ethnicity data based on: survey to registered CTUs; gathering views from clinical trial networks; focus groups and interviews with diverse ethnic communities; a consensus meeting. We have produced 13 recommendations that cover the pre-submission, set up, data collection, reporting and dissemination phases as well as some on training.
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(Tuesday) 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Click here to register Clinical trials aim to draw conclusions about the effects of treatments, but different trials can address quite different questions. For example, does the treatment
Clinical trials aim to draw conclusions about the effects of treatments, but different trials can address quite different questions. For example, does the treatment work when it is received as prescribed?, or does the treatment work even if not all treatment is received? Since different questions can lead to different conclusions on treatment benefit, it is important to have a clear understanding of precisely what treatment effect a trial aims to investigate – this is what we call the ‘estimand’. Using estimands helps to ensure trials are designed and analysed to answer the questions of interest to different stakeholders, including patients and public partners. Public partners are patients or members of the public who are part of the research team. In this webinar we explore public partner’s perspectives on the importance of discussing estimands when designing a trial and present a co-developed practical tool that helps explain what an estimand is and what impact it may have in trial results.
Suzie Cro is a Senior Lecturer in medical statistics and clinical trials, head of statistics and trial methodology at Imperial Clinical Trials Unit (ICTU), Imperial College London. She has over 13 years’ experience in the design and analysis of clinical trials and other interventional studies across clinical areas including ophthalmology, dermatology, musculoskeletal and opiate addiction. She holds a personal NIHR advanced research fellowship to translate the ICH-E9R1 addendum on estimands into best statistical practice and to develop accessible statistical methods to estimate treatment estimands in randomized controlled trials where clinical outcomes have been affected by intercurrent events. Her other statistical research interests include handling missing data and transparency in the statistical analysis of clinical trials. She obtained her PhD in medical statistical from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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(Thursday) 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
february 2024
Click here to register The PeRSEVERE project (PRincipleS for handling end-of-participation EVEnts in clinical trials REsearch) was set up in 2019 through the UKCRC Registered CTU Network. Its
The PeRSEVERE project (PRincipleS for handling end-of-participation EVEnts in clinical trials REsearch) was set up in 2019 through the UKCRC Registered CTU Network. Its aim was to establish agreed principles to guide how “participation changes” (including things like participants withdrawing consent to take part) should be managed in clinical trials, with a focus on the rights of participants and the quality of research that they take part in. Following an international consultation and input from hundreds of research professionals and patients, the final PeRSEVERE principles were released in 2022. In this webinar, the PeRSEVERE project lead will introduce the principles and the associated resources available at https://persevereprinciples.org. He will explore the practical implications for different groups involved in research. He will also consider the methodological work that could follow PeRSEVERE to address how best to meet the principles.
William Cragg is a Quality Assurance Manager and Methodology Lead for Trial Conduct at the CTRU in Leeds, UK. He has nearly 15 years’ experience in clinical trials, in both operational and research methodology roles. He has a strong interest in improving the quality and efficiency of research, as well as a commitment to making research participation and involvement as good as they can be for those who take part.
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(Thursday) 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Click here to register TMRP Methodology webinar – presented by The Global Health Network Mesh Community of Practice
TMRP Methodology webinar – presented by The Global Health Network Mesh Community of Practice on behalf of The Global Health Network
Created through a partnership between Wellcome and The Global Health Network, Mesh is a free, collaborative, open-access knowledge hub and networking project for people working in community engagement with global health research. It provides a neutral online space where community and public engagement practitioners, researchers, health workers and others can network, share resources and discuss good practice. We run workshops and events, curate theme areas on key topics in engagement, showcase innovative projects and share news from the field. The project is built on the premise that engaging communities with research is vital to improving human health, especially in regions most effected by health inequality and disease, and that high-quality engagement has the goal of generating mutual benefit between the public and researchers and ultimately enhancing the relevance and impact of health research.
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(Wednesday) 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
19febAll Day21Independent Data Monitoring Committee Course
Co-hosted with the UCL Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology and the Irish Critical Care Clinical Trials Network
Co-hosted with the UCL Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology and the Irish Critical Care Clinical Trials Network
Independent Data Monitoring Committees play a critical role for any clinical trial. They are usually the only body that sees accumulating, comparative data from the trial. There have been few opportunities for people, particularly clinicians, to gain experience or much hands-on knowledge before being asked to attend as a meeting. This course fills that gap and will answer the question: ‘What do people who serve on them, report to them or receive reports from them need to know?”
Running virtually, it will be a mix of 3 sessions comprised of discussion, exercises and Q&A, together with pre-recorded lectures to watch between sessions. There is an optional 4th session on the 20th March that will run for one hour for any delegates who wish to discuss remaining questions that have arisen in the time following the workshop.
Places on this course are being prioritised for those in academic / clinical settings who will need to join an IDMC as part of their trial governance commitments. To apply for a place on this course, please fill out this application form
Dates: 19th, 20th & 21st February 2024
Location: Online
Places: 30 (exclusive to residents on the island of Ireland)
Time: 10am – 1pm
Cost: Academic / Clinical – €250; Private Sector – €500
Speakers: Click here to view the speaker list
Schedule:
Contact us at hrb-tmrn@universityofgalway.ie to express interest in attending
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february 19 (Monday) – 21 (Wednesday)
We work collaboratively and innovatively. Our doors are always open to new ideas in Trials methodology.
Involvement of all key stakeholders including patients and the public is central to what we do. This helps us ensure our work will matter most and achieve impact.
Capacity-building is central to all our work. This is essential to provide opportunity, invigorate perspective and build our research future.
Our Network operates across five University Partners,
each leading the way in trials methodology research and training
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