Upcoming Events

This short 3-day or 5-day on-line course will provide training in the design, conduct and analysis of cluster randomized trials (CRTs) and stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials (SW-CRTs). Delivered by faculty of the University of Birmingham including Karla Hemming, James Martin and Sam Watson. There will also be a guest speaker who will give an overview and insights to practical, logistical and ethical issues that are faced when running large scale cluster randomised trials.

Cluster trials are increasingly used to evaluate interventions that improve care delivery and study strategies for implementing efficacious interventions in routine clinical practice. They require specific methods of design and statistical analysis. This course will include the rationale for using these designs, specific design issues, the randomisation process, practical issues in managing these trials, and trial reporting and interpretation. Over an optional two days, students also have the opportunity to learn about sample size calculations and analytical methods. Principals will be illustrated using case studies of stepped-wedge and cluster randomized trials.

Level: Participants should have fundamental training in basic study designs, sources of bias in research designs, and design, conduct and interpretation of individual-level randomized interventional trials in behavioural science/healthcare delivery.

Date & time:

3 Day Course: Monday 28th April – Wednesday 30th April

5 Day Course: Monday 28th April – Friday 2nd May

Venue: Online

Cost: £300 for 3 day course; £450 for 5 day course

For more information or to apply, please click here

Rethinking Clinical Trials: Inclusivity in Practice

ECRIN are delighted to announce  International Clinical Trials Day (ICTD) 2025 | Rethinking Clinical Trials: Inclusivity in Practice, co-hosted by ECRIN and SCReN in Madrid. It will take place on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.  

Launched in 2005 by ECRIN, in line with its mission to support multinational clinical research in Europe, ICTD brings together patients, health policy actors, health authorities, clinical researchers, health professionals and citizens from Europe, and beyond to discuss issues related to multinational clinical studies. ICTD commemorates the start of the landmark clinical trial, led by James Lind on sailors with scurvy, 20 May 1747. Having laid the foundation for modern clinical research, ECRIN salutes this initiative by addressing a new topic in clinical research every year on or around this date.

The need for greater inclusivity in clinical trials is clear in Europe and there is an increasing obligation to progress from discussion to concrete implementation. By uniting different stakeholders from the community, ICTD will shed light not only on why diversity, equity and inclusion should be embraced in clinical research but will give concrete examples of what has been done so far and where there are still hurdles to overcome.

https://ecrin.org/ictd-2025

Click here to register

Randomised Clinical Trials and Meta-Analysis are seen as the apex of evidence generation to inform clinical practice. In some diseases, progress in improving outcomes has been very slow. I will discuss the need to take a more strategic approach to the design of randomised trials and how this can dramatically improve the pace of progress. I will also discuss why we need to, and how we can, improve the current approach to planning and performing meta-analyses. Examples of how these ideas have already been implemented will be used to illustrate how they might be applied going forwards.

Speaker:

Mahesh (Max) Parmar is Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology and Director of both the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL and the Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology at UCL. Since joining the MRC in 1987, Max has published over 450 peer-reviewed papers. His clinical work has influenced policy and improved patient outcomes, while his methodological contributions—such as multi-arm, multi-stage in platform trials, flexible parametric models, and meta-analyses—have shaped research practice. Under his leadership since 2010, the MRC Clinical Trials Unit has led globally significant studies, especially in cancer, infectious, and neurodegenerative diseases, combining innovative trial designs with methodological advances to accelerate patient impact. He was Associate Director of the National Cancer Research Network for over a decade, helping double patient participation in cancer trials across England. Max was awarded an OBE in 2019 and the Royal Statistical Society’s Bradford Hill Medal in 2024.