Methodologies for Agenda setting and Research Prioritisation (MARS)

Project
Methodologies for Agenda setting and Research Prioritization (MARS) - presesntation on a screen
Research Priority Setting is any interpersonal activity that leads to selection of topics or research question to investigate or allocation of resources to certain research questions and projects. We conduct a methodological research on different approaches to prioritise research. We are part of an international collaboration around setting priorities for research called the Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group (Welcome | Cochrane Priority Setting) that brings together methodologies around the world.
 

Multi Ethno-Linguistic Toolkit (MELT)

Sumanth Kumbargere and Prashanti Eachempati, two of our PhD students, are leading the development a toolkit with a wider team (Mona Nasser, Seilin Uhm – University of Southampton and Soumyadeep Bhaumik – the George Institute for Global Health in India) are working on developing a toolkit for the development and implementation of a research projects and research priority setting exercises (RPS) involving a multi-ethnic and multi-language groups. It builds on their PhD work on engaging with multi-ethnic and multi-language group along with other stakeholder engagement projects done by the wider team. The project is done in partnership with Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group.
 

Developing guidelines for setting priorities for research

We developed guidelines on how to conduct research prioritisation exercise in health emergency and disaster risk management as part of a wider WHO Guidance. Although the guidance focuses on disaster risk management. The methodology is relevant and generalisable to a wider context. 
The guidance is available on WHO Centre for Health Development 
Resources focused on priority setting WHO Centre for Health Development
As part of a research collaboration led by Alison Tong from Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, we helped to develop reporting guidelines for health research called - Reporting guideline for priority setting of health research (REPRISE). The guidelines are published on BMC Medical Research Methodology and available online Reporting guideline for priority setting of health research (REPRISE) | BMC Medical Research Methodology | Full Text (biomedcentral.com).
We developed an adapted version of the AMSTAR 2 tool to appraise systematic reviews of research priority setting exercises. The tool was developed and piloted as part of a wider study developing a framework for setting priorities for research. The tool is available online What do we know about evidence-informed priority setting processes to set population-level health-research agendas: an overview of reviews - PMC (oclc.org).
Further resources are available on the Cochrane Methods website Resources | Cochrane Priority Setting.
 
We are part of the EBR network which is the continuation of COST ACTION CA17117 EVidence-Based RESearch (EVBRES). This means that our work advocating for an Evidence-Based Research (EBR) Approach will continue, extending globally and across all research areas (not just clinical research) - The Evidence-Based Research Network.
The network aims to promote that new research studies should not be conducted without prior systematic review of existing evidence. As part of it, the network developed a series of research publications to provide guidance in the field:

References
Lund H, Juhl CB, Nørgaard B, Draborg E, Henriksen M, Andreasen J, Christensen R, Nasser M, Ciliska D, Tugwell P, Clarke M, Blaine C, Martin J, Ban JW, Brunnhuber K, Robinson KA; Evidence-Based Research Network. Evidence-Based Research Series-Paper 3: Using an Evidence-Based Research approach to place your results into context after the study is performed to ensure usefulness of the conclusion. J Clin Epidemiol. 2021 Jan;129:167-171. doi:
Lund H, Juhl CB, Nørgaard B, Draborg E, Henriksen M, Andreasen J, Christensen R, Nasser M, Ciliska D, Clarke M, Tugwell P, Martin J, Blaine C, Brunnhuber K, Robinson KA; Evidence-Based Research Network. Evidence-Based Research Series-Paper 2 : Using an Evidence-Based Research approach before a new study is conducted to ensure value. J Clin Epidemiol. 2021 Jan;129:158-166. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2020.07.019. Epub 2020 Sep 26. PMID: 32987159.

Evaluating research funders contribution to research waste

We worked together with an international team to look at how research funders perform against the research waste framework.

References
Nasser M, Clarke M, Chalmers I, Brurberg KG, Nykvist H, Lund H, et al. What are funders doing to minimise waste in research? Lancet (London, England). 2017;389(10073):1006-7.
Moher D, Glasziou P, Chalmers I, Nasser M, Bossuyt PMM, Korevaar DA, Graham ID, Ravaud P, Boutron I. Increasing value and reducing waste in biomedical research: who's listening? Lancet. 2016 Apr 9;387(10027):1573-1586. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00307-4. Epub 2015 Sep 27. PMID: 26423180.

Publications

Selected publications

Barbeau VI, Madani L, Al Ameer A, Tanjong Ghogomu E, Beecher D, Conde M, Howe TE, Marcus S, Morley R, Nasser M, Smith M, Thompson Coon J, Welch VA. Research priority setting related to older adults: a scoping review to inform the Cochrane-Campbell Global Ageing Partnership work programme. BMJ Open. 2022 Sep 19;12(9):e063485. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063485. PMID: 36123060; PMCID: PMC9486333.
Tan A, Nagraj SK, Nasser M, Sharma T, Kuchenmüller T. What do we know about evidence-informed priority setting processes to set population-level health-research agendas: an overview of reviews. Bull Natl Res Cent. 2022;46(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s42269-021-00687-8. Epub 2022 Jan 6. PMID: 35013662; PMCID: PMC8733764.
Rosala-Hallas A, Bhangu A, Blazeby J, Bowman L, Clarke M, Lang T, et al. Global health trials methodological research agenda: results from a priority setting exercise. Trials. 2018;19(1):48.
Nasser M, Welch V, Tugwell P, Ueffing E, Doyle J, Waters E. Ensuring relevance for Cochrane reviews: evaluating processes and methods for prioritizing topics for Cochrane reviews. Journal of clinical epidemiology. 2013;66(5):474-82.
Nasser M, Welch V. Prioritization of systematic reviews leads prioritization of research gaps and needs. Journal of clinical epidemiology. 2013;66(5):522-3.
Nasser M, Ueffing E, Welch V, Tugwell P. An equity lens can ensure an equity-oriented approach to agenda setting and priority setting of Cochrane Reviews. Journal of clinical epidemiology. 2013;66(5):511-21.

Team

Team

Sumanth Kumbargere Nagraj 
Tarang Sharma
Seilin Uhm
Shiamaa Al-Mashhadani
Shiamaa Al-Mashhadani is working on a PhD project in which she is trying to address a prioritise issue in the health care system in UAE – providing oral health services for children with disability. Studies in the UAE showed that children with different disabilities exhibited a higher caries prevalence, poor oral hygiene and extensive unmet needs for dental treatment than children who have no disabilities. She is currently attempting to better the barriers that these children and their carers face.

Events