Iain Chalmers
Encyclopedia
Sir Iain Chalmers is a British health services researcher, one of the founders of the Cochrane Collaboration
, and coordinator of the James Lind Initiative, which includes the James Lind Library and James Lind Alliance
.
Sir Iain qualified in medicine in the mid 1960s, and then practised as a clinician for seven years in the United Kingdom
and the Gaza Strip
. In the mid 1970s, he became a full time health services researcher with a particular interest in assessing the effects of health care. Between 1978 and 1992, he directed the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit in Oxford
.
These projects were well received, and the National Health Service Research and Development Programme then extended the approach to other areas of health care. In 1992, Chalmers was appointed director of the UK Cochrane Centre. Subsequently, he became founding editor of the James Lind Library, which documents the history and evolution of fair trials of treatments, and helped to establish the James Lind Alliance, a non-profit organization that "aims to identify the most important gaps in knowledge about the effects of treatments". The Library has established strategic agreements with international and non-profit organizations to disseminate its publications to a broad international and multilingual audience.. Sir Iain Chalmer's inspired champions all over the world leading to the development of the Cochrane Collaboration and by 2011 this collaboration had nearly 30,000 volunteers contributing towards summarising research evidence to improve health. His contributions have been instrumental in advancing international policies on research for health -such as PAHO's Policy on Research for Health
, and to promote a better understanding of the importance of building bridges between users and producers of research for health policy and health care delivery
.
Sir Iain co-chairs the Research Strategy Committee of the MS Society. The MS Society recognises the need for systematic reviews of existing pre-clinical research as well as clinical research, about which the charity SABRE Research UK
raises awareness.
Cochrane Collaboration
The Cochrane Collaboration is a group of over 28,000 volunteers in more than 100 countries who review the effects of health care interventions tested in biomedical randomized controlled trials. A few more recent reviews have also studied the results of non-randomized, observational studies...
, and coordinator of the James Lind Initiative, which includes the James Lind Library and James Lind Alliance
James Lind Alliance
The James Lind Alliance is a non-profit making initiative which was established in 2004. It has been established to bring patients and clinicians together to identify and prioritise the unanswered questions about treatments that they agree are most important. This information will help ensure that...
.
Sir Iain qualified in medicine in the mid 1960s, and then practised as a clinician for seven years in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. In the mid 1970s, he became a full time health services researcher with a particular interest in assessing the effects of health care. Between 1978 and 1992, he directed the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
These projects were well received, and the National Health Service Research and Development Programme then extended the approach to other areas of health care. In 1992, Chalmers was appointed director of the UK Cochrane Centre. Subsequently, he became founding editor of the James Lind Library, which documents the history and evolution of fair trials of treatments, and helped to establish the James Lind Alliance, a non-profit organization that "aims to identify the most important gaps in knowledge about the effects of treatments". The Library has established strategic agreements with international and non-profit organizations to disseminate its publications to a broad international and multilingual audience.. Sir Iain Chalmer's inspired champions all over the world leading to the development of the Cochrane Collaboration and by 2011 this collaboration had nearly 30,000 volunteers contributing towards summarising research evidence to improve health. His contributions have been instrumental in advancing international policies on research for health -such as PAHO's Policy on Research for Health
Pan American Health Organization
The Pan American Health Organization is an international public health agency with over 100 years of experience working to improve health and living standards of the people of the Americas...
, and to promote a better understanding of the importance of building bridges between users and producers of research for health policy and health care delivery
Evipnet
Evidence Informed Policy Network stands for Evidence Informed Policy Network. The network, sponsored by the World Health Organization , uses a systems approach to strengthen health systems by improving the links between policy and the results of scientific research for health, especially in...
.
Sir Iain co-chairs the Research Strategy Committee of the MS Society. The MS Society recognises the need for systematic reviews of existing pre-clinical research as well as clinical research, about which the charity SABRE Research UK
SABRE Research UK
SABRE Research UK is a British charity raising awareness of the need to remove bias from the conduct and scientific evaluation of animal research. It addresses this issue by calling for systematic reviews of existing animal studies...
raises awareness.
Publications
- Britain's gift: a "Medline" of synthesised evidence
- The evolution of The Cochrane Library, 1988-2003
- Restore true open access to bmj.com
- Systematic Reviews: Reporting, updating, and correcting systematic reviews of the effects of health care
- Select Committee on Health: Memorandum by Sir Iain Chalmers (PI 29)
- Open access books by the James Lind Library http://www.jameslindlibrary.org/testing-treatments.html#Testingtreatments