How to Implement Blended Learning: Experiences of the Nigerian faculty
by Glory Oluwagbenga Ogunfowokan - Regional Faculty Lead, Morenike Ukpong - Senior Contributor, Regional Faculty CommitteeSeveral of Global Health Trials' Regional Faculties have implemented exceptional, cost-effective blended learning schemes, using a computer room and the Global Health Network's free eLearning courses to create a novel way of building their research teams' skills and knowledge. The Nigerian faculty explain their experiences here, and you can download their "how to" document on the right hand side of the screen, to use at your own site!
A Guide to Efficient Trial Management
by The Trial Manager's NetworkThis Guide to Efficient Trial Management, published by the Trial Manager's Network (UK) and available freely online, is a must for all trial managers or coordinators. This link is for the 6th Edition (2018)
The TDR Global Competency Framework for Clinical Research: a set of tools to help develop clinical researchers
by TDR, The Global Health NetworkThe TDR Global Competency Framework for Clinical Research is a flexible framework which lists all the competencies that should be demonstrated by a research team to carry out a successful clinical study. It can be used for any research study, regardless of the size of the team and of the study itself. It can help to plan the staffing requirements for a study, to help carry out appraisals of staff, to help individuals plan their career development, and to help to develop educational curricula for research staff.
Guide: Developmental Evaluation - A Practitioners' Guide
by Elizabeth Dozois, Marc Langlois, Natasha Blanchet-CohenA guide to developmental evaluation.
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation: Framework for Research Capacity Strengthening
by ESSENCE on Health Research ResearchThis framework describes key components of capacity development, indicators for their success and ways to verify capacity development.
Public Health Degrees.org is a comprehensive search engine designed for students who are interested in learning more about Public Health and Health Sciences programs around the United States.
Reporting missing participant data in randomised trials: systematic survey of the methodological literature and a proposed guide
by Akl et al 2016Authors conducted a systematic survey of the methodological literature to identify recommended approaches for how and what randomised clinical trial (RCT) authors should report on missing participant data and, on the basis of these approaches, to propose guidance for RCT authors. Most identified approaches invite trial authors to report the extent of MPD and the underlying reasons. Fewer approaches focus on reporting missingness patterns, methods for handling MPD and implications of MPD on results.
New articles from the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM).
New INTERGROWTH-21st International Postnatal Growth Standards for Preterm Infants - Charts available
by INTERGROWTH-21stNew INTERGROWTH-21st Postnatal Growth Standards charts for individual measurements of length, weight, head circumference, as well as a combined standards chart for length, weight and head circumference are now available for download here.
Postnatal growth standards for preterm infants: the Preterm Postnatal Follow-up Study of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project
by INTERGROWTH-21stThe first international stnadards for monitroing the growth of preterm babies have now been published in the Lancet Global Health (October 2015).
Training manuals from REACT study in Cameroon. REACT Cameroon designed six training modules to support the introduction of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). The manuals were used to train health workers at government and mission hospitals and health centres. The six modules are presented in two manuals
Cost-effectiveness of interventions to support the introduction of malaria rapid diagnostic tests in Cameroon
by ACTConsortiumScientific title: A cost-effectiveness analysis of provider interventions to improve health worker practice in providing treatment for uncomplicated malaria in Cameroon. Testing patients before prescribing medication is important, and should ensure patients receive the most appropriate treatment. This is important because unnecessary and inappropriate treatment has costs –incurred by patients, but also governments and donors working to control malaria.
A Guide to Grant Writing (available in English and Spanish)
by The Editorial Team, Elizabeth Allen - Regional Faculty Lead, Jackeline Alger; MD, PhDGrant applications differ substantially depending on the individual funding organisation, and each funding organisation has its own organisational aims, which are important to understand when you are considering which grant to apply to. In this article we provide practical tips and information for writing grant applications, which can be applied to grant applications of all sorts, from fellowships to large funding applications.
INTERGROWTH-21st Fetal Growth Standards
by INTERGROWTH-21stFetal Growth Standards for ultrasound measurements of head circumference (HC), bi-parietal diameter (BPD), occipito-frontal diameter (OFD), femur length (FL) and abdominal circumference (AC) are now available for download. For information about how to perform these measurements, or for other information on standards in ultrasound imaging, please see the ultrasound training toolkit.
Job interviews can be intimidating, but simply preparing well can make the difference between succeeding or failing, regardless of how nervous you are. In this article we pull together advice on how to prepare for job interviews and how to know what questions you’ll be asked.
SPIRIT guidelines for Protocol Writing
by SPIRIT-StatementLinks to the SPIRIT guidelines for protocol development and information about these guidelines - all free and open access.
WHO Laboratory guidelines
by WHODiscussing the study protocol part 2
by D. Shamley, N.Kramer, E.Allen, L.Workman, W.Smythe, C.Ovenstone, C.ReddyUnderstanding the principles of Good Clinical Laboratory Practices (GCLP) - Training presentations
by KEN AWUONDO, Karla LamBlood Pressure Measurement Protocol
by INTERGROWTH-21stThis protocol outlines the technique for taking a pregnant woman's blood pressure. http://www.medscinet.net/Intergrowth/patientinfodocs/BP%20protocol.pdf
Correct Measurement of Fetal Crown Rump Length and Standardization of Ultrasonographers
by INTERGROWTH-21stThe aim of this manual is to ensure all trained ultrasonographers are familiar with the standardized way crown-rump length measurements should be taken for the purposes of using the INTERGROWTH-21st fetal growth standards. http://www.medscinet.net/Intergrowth/patientinfodocs/CRLstandardisation_Website.pdf
Sleep-Wake Cycle Assessment Manual
by INTERGROWTH-21stThis manual details the technique for assessing sleep-wake cycles in children. http://www.medscinet.net/Intergrowth/patientinfodocs/Sleep-wake%20cycle%20assessment%20manual%20July%202014.pdf
A template for writing a research protocol
by Joby GeorgeDespite published guidance on writing the abstract in the PRISMA Statement guiding the reporting of systematic reviews in general and elsewhere, evaluations show that reporting of systematic reviews in journal and conference abstracts is poor. Teh authors developed consensus-based reporting guidelines as an extension to the PRISMA Statement on good reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in abstracts.
Research misconduct is a global problem as research is a global activity. Wherever there is human activity there is misconduct, but we lack reliable data on the extent and distribution of research misconduct. This PLoS paper seeks to illustrate some examples of researsch misconduct in LMICs.
In this article, the authors illustrate five basic statistical concepts that can significantly impact the interpretation of the medical literature and its application to the care of patients, drawing examples from the vaccine literature: (i) consider clinical and statistical significance separately, (ii) evaluate absolute risks rather than relative risks, (iii) examine confidence intervals rather than p values, (iv) use caution when considering isolated significant p values in the setting of multiple testing, and (v) keep in mind that statistically nonsignificant results may not exclude clinically important benefits or harms.
Transnational Working Group on Data management of the ECRIN, the European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network, present recommendations for quality and harmonisation for data management. In addition good data management practices in general are identified.
Clinical Data Management: Current status, challenges and future directions from industry perspectives.
by Harry van LoenThis guidance article aims to provide a fully comprehensive, pragmatic guide for researchers of all roles, but especially ethics reviewers, to explain the details of each type of ethics review. The article is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese, and has been kindly provided by www.ctmagnifier.org.
Novel coronavirus sampling plan
by Ken BaillieA sample plan for sample collection with regards to a potential novel coronavirus outbreak, developed by Kenneth Baillie and ISARIC's Working Group 3.
Essential Interventions, Commodities and Guidelines for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
by Jai K DasPoint of Care Testing for Infectious Diseases: Diversity, Complexity and Barriers in Low- and Middle Income Countries
by Nitika Pant Pai, MD MPH PhD, Caroline Vadnais, Claudia Denkinger, Nora Engel, Madhu PaiAssessing the quality of informed consent in a resource-limited setting: A cross-sectional study
by Ronald Kiguba, Paul Kutyabami, Stephen Kiwuwa, Elly Katabira, Nelson K SewankamboThe process of obtaining informed consent continues to be a contentious issue in clinical and public health research carried out in resource-limited settings. We sought to evaluate this process among human research participants in randomly selected active research studies approved by the School of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee at the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University.
A range of downloadable templates and tools for Clinical Research, including monitoring checklists, budget spreadsheets, informed consent forms, SOPs and so on.
Requirements for high impact diagnostics in the developing world
by Mickey Urdea, Laura A. Penny, Stuart S. Olmsted, Maria Y. Giovanni, Peter Kaspar, Andrew Shepherd, Penny Wilson, Carol A. Dahl, Steven Buchsbaum, Gerry Moeller, Deborah C. Hay BurgessThis article is an introduction to cluster randomised trials.
Towards a more pragmatic approach to trial regulation
by The Editors“Piggy-Backing” on Diagnostic Platforms Brings Hope to Neglected Diseases: The Case of Sleeping Sickness
by Joseph M Ndung'u, Sylvain Bieler, Giorgio RoscignoToward fast malaria detection by secondary speckle sensing microscopy
by Dan Cojoc, Sara Finaurini, Pavel Livshits, Eran Gur, Alon Shapira, Vicente Mico, Zeev ZalevskyFive seed documents are provided here for use in clinical research, which can be adapted and altered for each study. Here we provide a template concept protocol, a study protocol, a CRF, an informed consent form, and a generic SOP.
It is a recommendation of some IRB/ECs that back translation is included as a necessary step for the translation of some clinical trial documentation, including informed consent documents. This article explains the reasons for back translation, and takes you through how to effectively perform this step, including explaining how to find a suitable translator for the task.
Templates from an investigator-led trial in Cameroon: the CAMPS trial (also available in French)
by Lawrence MbuagbawDuring the setting up of our trial in Cameroon we met several operational issues that we needed to overcome. For some of these issues we developed some tools and we have made them available here so that other research groups can use them in their clinical trials.
This articles explores some of the ethical issues arising in the context of collaborative global health research networks involving partners in developing and developed countries.
Health research: the challenges related to ethical review and informed consent in developing countries
by Raffaella RavinettoAn article about a workshop that assessed ethical review and informed consent in vulnerable populations. This article aims to prompt a debate leading to better guiding principles on health research in constrained settings
The WHO invite comments on these new guidelines: Standards and Operational Guidance for Ethics Review of Health-Related Research with Human Participants
A set of 4 consent templates for clinical trials, interview studies, observation studies and sampling only studies.
An overview on trial registration. Here you can find out why trials need to be registered and what the difference is between all the registries - and how to register your study.
This article was written by a researcher from Sri Lanka and presents a very helpful overview on Biomedical Ethics. This article will be helpful to all levels of research staff and others who might want an accessible overview
Reciprocal or in-house monitoring schemes could be an alternative to expensive out-sourcing. Read on to find out more.
The site initiation process is important as it ensures that all the logistics are organised and the site is ready to begin recruiting subjects.
The informed consent process is fundamental to ensuring that clinical trials are conducted ethically. This article outlines some issues to consider.