
Profiles
Professor Mona Nasser
Professor in Clinical Epidemiology and Oral Health Research
Peninsula Dental School (Faculty of Health)
- Dentistry
- Evidence-based practice
- Systematic reviews
- Health technology assessment
Email publicrelations@plymouth.ac.uk to enquire.
Biography
Biography
- Professor in Clinical Epidemiology and Oral Health Research (Dental School, University of Plymouth)
- QUEST Visiting Fellow (2023) QUEST Center - BIH at Charité (bihealth.org)
- NIHR Oral and Dental Specialty Lead South West Peninsula Clinical Research Network.
- Lead/contact point for Dental academic clinical fellows at University of Plymouth
- Co-Convenor, Cochrane Priority setting Methods Group (http://priority.cochrane.org)
Dr Mona Nasser DDS, MSc, PhD, FHEA
I am a clinical epidemiologist, and interdisciplinary methodologist. I have >100 peer-reviewed publications, mostly research articles in journals including well-known journals like Lancet and BMJ. These papers range from medical history, microbiology to health services research and clinical epidemiology. I am currently a visiting fellow for Berlin Institute of Health/QUEST centre fellow and NIHR Oral and Dental Specialty Lead South West Peninsula Clinical Research Network. I am the lead and contact person for the dental academic clinical fellows at university of Plymouth. I co-founded and lead the Cochrane Priority Setting Methods group and is also on the founding steering group of the Evidence based Research Network. I am also a previous fellow at the health modelling programme of PenCHORD and acted as a mentor in subsequent programmes.
Before, joining the dental school, I worked as a research associate and methodologist in the Department of Health Information at the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), the German equivalent of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK. My work focused on assessing evidence to inform reports that were commissioned by the Federal Joint Committee (GBA). During my time in IQWIG, I also co-authored a report commissioned by commonwealth fund comparing the evidence based health care process in France, Germany, England and Australia to inform the comparative effectiveness bill in USA.
I lead a research programme focusing on clinical epidemiology and oral health research as part of the wider Oral Health Services and Clinical Epidemiology Research group of the dental school. My research uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate complex challenges in dental care and similar environments along with designing, piloting, implementing and evaluating interventions to address the challenges. I focus on challenges that require an interdisciplinary approach to both understanding the issues and addressing them.
I qualified DDS (Doctorate in Dental Surgery) from the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 2005. My doctorate dissertation focused on the antimicrobial activities of endodontic materials working in the Pasteur Institute in Tehran. I have also done a MSc in Dental Public Health with King’s College of London/University of London and a PhD in Health Services Research/Clinical Epidemiology and a postgraduate certificate in Clinical Education with University of Plymouth. My PhD focused on drivers on setting priorities for systematic reviews. In 2020, I have done the Interactive Space Course 20 with International Space University with a scholarship from European Space Agency. I am currently a MSc student in Astrophysics at Liverpool John Moores University.
I am committed to conducting high quality research in collaboration with stakeholders that leads to impact. I was the REF coordinator for UoA3 for REF2021 and was included both in REF 2014 and REF 2021 (in both cases, I have submitted an impact case study). My impact case study for REF 2014 ( “Advancing methods for prioritising health research” ) was praised by the REF panel for its reach and significance - “Some of the case studies were considered to be of very considerable impact in terms of their reach and significance, especially in relation to genetic counselling competencies and prioritising health research”.
I have extensive leadership experience. I have lead and co-founded several international initiatives e.g. I The Cochrane priority setting methods group, the Evidence based Research Network. I was previously involved in founding/co-founding the Cochrane Developing Countries Network and was a Board Member (Trustee) of the Cochrane Collaboration 2011-2017.
My current research interests can be broadly categorised in three groups:
(a) Meta-Research on selected challenges in conducting systematic reviews – our current focus is - how to conduct systematic reviews of in-vitro research?
(b) How to ensure that the needs and priorities of all individuals across the PROGRESS-PLUS* are considered in setting priorities for priorities, understand problems and contexts and designing interventions?
(c) Digital dimensions of affective intelligence in clinical care and training with a focus on dental care
However, these groups are not mutually exclusive for example, we attempt to ensure that we consider equity in conducting systematic reviews or we run projects using digital technologies to address some of the needs and priorities of individuals with intellectual disability.
I have been teaching critical appraisal, evidence based health and research methodology from 2006. I have build several capacity building programmes for professionals and members of public. I have build online and interactive modules on decision making for a MBA in health care along with developing evidence based health care programmes for dentists and medical professionals. I developed several mentorship programmes to build capacity in communities with less expertise and knowledge.
I have been a consultant to national and international organisations e.g. the Institute of Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, World Workshop of Oral Medicine, and the Micronutrient Unit and European office of World Health Organisation.
I have relatively active twitter account @monalisa1n and host other accounts for specific projects e.g. @capsmg, have a blog (http://monanasser.wordpress.com) and sometimes curates other twitter accounts like @realscientists or @wepublichealth
Outside work, I am a visual artist (@evidencepilot) I am part of the coordination team of an artistic collaboration called SEADS and also founded another collaboration called meta-futurism – as part of these initiatives, I designed several immersive futurism workshops in Belgium, UK and also virtual events and hackathons. The latter led to innovative sci-fi storylines that incorporates key social challenges, cultural diversity, and scientific enquiries.
I am a certified Iyengar yoga teacher and have taught adults and children yoga.
I am also a PPL (private pilot license) pilot, skydiver, and paraglider. I have participated in a four-way skydiving competition Rookie team and flew navigational flights between UK and France.
Qualifications
PhD (Health Services Research/Clinical Epidemiology) 2018 Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Plymouth (Dissertation: Setting priorities for conducting and updating systematic reviews)
Postgraduate certificate (PgCert) Clinical Education 2013 University of Plymouth
MSc in Dental Public Health, 2009, University of London (King's College of London)
DDS (Doctorate in Dental Surgery), 2005, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) (Tehran, Iran) (Dissertation: Antimicrobial Activity of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA), Portland cement and Calcium Hydroxide against five oral microorganisms - in partnership with Pasteur Institute in Tehran).
Professional membership
- Fellow of Higher Education Academy
- The Cochrane Collaboration
- Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE)
- World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)
- Medical Council Foundation of I.R. Iran
Roles on external bodies
- Co-convenor, Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group
- Steering Group member, Evidence based Research Network
- Member of the coordinating team of Space Ecologies Art Design (SEADS) network
- NIHR Oral and Dental Specialty Lead South West Peninsula Clinical Research Network
- Member of the Scientific Committee of Cochrane
- QUEST Visiting Fellow (2023) QUEST Center - BIH at Charité (bihealth.org)
Key publications
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
Critical Appraisal Topics (CAT)
Dissertation Module for MSc programmes in Dentistry (restorative dentistry, periodontal surgery, minor oral surgery)
Academic Tutor
Teaching philosophy
I am dedicated to find better ways to teach research methods that is accessible to a wider range of individuals without loss of depth, subtlety or nuance. I have a variation of roles as module lead, tutor, facilitator, supervisor and mentor in my teaching career and I use a combination of lectures, plenaries, interactive workshops and hands-on exercise to deliver most of my teaching. I tap into the knowledge and expertise in performing arts to find better ways to engage students and use the space and knowledge from visual arts and interactive design to identify better visual tools and objects in teaching. I recently have worked with different groups of students on using speculative scenario along with real-life scenario to more efficiency teach them more complex topics e.g. methodological topics that need to consider values and preferences of a diversity of stakeholders. I ensure that my teaching is based on the best available evidence and research.
I have a lot of experience using a range of media and collaborating with artists and designers in teaching and research projects. So I engage with students and researchers beyond the teaching classroom in social media or other platform to enhance engagement, crowdsourcing educational support and life-long learning.
Staff serving as external examiners
Examiner for PhDs - University of Sydney (Australia), University of Western Australia and Bond University (Australia)
Research
Research
Research interests
My current research priorities:
My current research interests can be broadly categorised in three groups. However, these groups are not mutually exclusive for example, we attempt to ensure that we consider equity in conducting systematic reviews or we run projects using digital technologies to address some of the needs and priorities of individuals with intellectual disability.
- Meta-Research on selected challenges in conducting systematic reviews – our current focus is - how to conduct systematic reviews of in-vitro research?
We conduct systematic reviews of pre-clinical and clinical research especially in the fields of dentistry and space medicine research. We work in the context of larger systematic review organisations like Cochrane, CAMARADES and others to build on their expertise. We intend to answer the overall research question “how do we most efficiently and accurately identify the areas that either shows potential in pre-clinical research and needs to translated into clinical research or can be used directly to inform policy and practice. Our specific methodological focus is conducting meta-research on how to deal with in-vitro research in these systematic reviews.
Active Projects:
o Systematic review on impact of ionising radiation on human biology: The review is in partnership with members of the Space Medicine Team of European Astronaut Centre (a) Non-neoplastic effects of ionising radiation on central nervous system - a systematic review (b) Are there sex differences in susceptibility to ionising radiation. The project involves a bigger team of current and past ESA interns. T
o Part of the ESA topical team in Dentistry – to develop dental guidelines for future space missions. The project is supported by ESA.
o Quality assessment tool for in-vitro studies: As part of the project, we have developed a quality assessment tool for the space medicine reviews along with a checklist for in-vitro studies for the a dental material project. Marieke Dewulf will be working on that through quality assessment of a selective sample of in-vitro studies from the systematic reviews of impact of ionising radiation. Previuosly, Farima Mehrabi (MSc students in dentistry) developed a quality assessment tool for in-vitro studies included in the Systematic review to assess the effectiveness of mechanical preparation of abutment teeth on the survival of resin bonded bridges
o Statistical approaches to synthesis data from in-vitro studies: Piloting and evaluating different approaches to meta-analysis of of data from in-vitro studies in the systematic review of impact of ionising radiation. MSc student, Olufemi Ajipatutu, will be focusing his MSc dissertation on the topic.
o Crowdsourcing to facilitate the screening of systematic reviews of clinical, animal and in-vitro studies: Piloting and evaluating using crowdsourcing to engage with members of public in screening the data for a systematic review of clinical, animal and in-vitro studies. The project is led by Jeromine Vacquie.
o Machine learning for systematic reviews: The project invovles developing and pilotied an automated article screening for systematic review of clinical, animal and in-vitro stuides. The project is led by Marta Hansy and Alexandru Petru Vasile.
o Modelling exercises on using satellites remote sensing data to predict pandemics/epidemics involving stakeholders : this is a systematic review focusing on identifying, appraising and mapping modelling exercises on how remote sensing data are used to predict or monitor outbreaks or epidemics in modelling exercises. In different stages of the project, the team works together with stakeholders from NASA, WHO and other policy and public health organisational or satellite companies.
Projects currently supported by:
These projects is supported through the internship programme of the European Space Agency (ESA), ESA topical team programme, COST-EU action (short scientific mission) , University of Plymouth Strategic investment Fund and UoP NERC “Cross-disciplinary research [CDR] for Discovery Science” Fellowship Awards, Berlin Institute of Health/QUEST Centre fellow programme
Current research students, staff and collaborators on the project:
o Dr. Anna Fogtman (Crew Exploration Scientist, Space Medicine Team and SciSpacE, HRE-RS, European Astronaut Centre), Dr. Alexander Bannach-Brown (Researcher at the QUEST Centre, Berlin Institute of Health), Ria Mae Borromeo (Assistant Professor in Data Engineering, University of Philipiness Los Banos), Olivia Drayson (Graduate Student Research, University of California),
o Current and previous ESA Interns: Diana Donovan, Murray Mackay, Ioana Domocos, Jernej Šorli, Nimita Patel,Alexandru-Petru Vasile, Milad Dulloo, Jeromine Vacquie, Marta Hasny,
o MSc student registered in KU Leuven with Prof. Sarah Baatout (Marike Dewulf) – title: Quality assessment of in vitro studies of the effect of ionizing radiation"
o MSc student in Health Data Science (Olufemi Ajipatutu) at University of Plymouth. Title: “meta-analysis of in-vitro studies on the effects of ionising radiation”
o Undergraduate dental student: Nicole Elango
o Previous MSc student in dentistry and current collaborator: Farima Mehrabi
Multi-Media resources around the project:
Presentation of the machine learning for systeamtic review project for 3rd EBR conference: 3rd EBR Conference: Alexandru Vasile - automated article screening for systematic reviews - YouTube
· How to ensure that the needs and priorities of all individuals across the PROGRESS-PLUS* are considered in setting priorities for priorities, understand problems and contexts and designing interventions?
*PROGRESS PLUS – PROGRESS: Place of residence, Race/Ethnicity/culture/language, occupation, gender/sex, religion, education, socioeconomic status, social capital, PLUS (personal characteristics associated with discrimination e.g. age, disability, features of relationships e.g. smoking parents, excluded from school, time-dependent relationships (e.g. leaving the hospital) (from the Cochrane Equity Methods Group Website PROGRESS-Plus | Cochrane Equity)
Previous studies has shown that the need and priorities of disadvantaged groups or individuals with specific needs and values are not always reflect in the selection of research topics/questions along with the design of the study. In these projects, the focus is on studying and evaluating how we can engage with different populations and incorporate their perspectives in shaping research questions or designing interventions. Below is a list of active projects, however, we also focus on supporting patients with intellectual or physical disabilities in dental practice through robotics technology that is outlined under the topic -
Active projects
§ Methods and approaches to engage with individuals from different ethnicities and different language backgrounds in conducting research or setting priorities for research. This project sits as part of the larger international collaboration – Cochrane priority setting methods group – co-founded by mona Nasser and others. The project is part of the PhD projects of two current PhD students – Sumanth Kumbargere and Prashanti Eachempati.
§ Update on the research funder project – the project led by Jong-wook Ban updating and expanding the survey she did evaluating how research funders responded to the research waste call. As part of the project, it also looks how they manage inclusivity in making decisions on setting priorities for research
§ Part of the project on “NGO decision making during complex disasters: an ecological approach” led by Pamela Cajilig– the project intends to engage with local managers and field workers to understand how they responded to the complex situation of covid along with other disasters in Philippines.
§ Multi Ethno-Linguistic Toolkit (MELT): as part of the Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group, the team is developing guidance how to engage with multi-ethnical/ multi-language group in setting priorities for research or designing research.
Projects supported by: Internal Policy fund, Brown University Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies Research Seed, NIHR Academic Clinical fellowship programme, EU Cost Action.
Current research students, staff and collaborators on the project
· Collaborators from University of Plymouth - Dr. John Martin, Prof. Sally Hankds, Dr Cath Quinn, Prof Rupert Jones, Dr Lyn Callgham, Prof. Jos Latour, Prof. Chris Tredwin, Dr. Yinghui Wei
· Dr. Pamela Cajilig (Curiousity, University of Melrbourne/Brown Universtiy), Dr Seilim Uhm (University of Southampton), Dr. Tarang Sharma (WHO), Dr. Soumyadeep Bhaumik (Geroge Insttitue for Global Health), Ms Yvette Gonzalez (Sky Indicators project), Dr. Vivian Welch (University of Ottawa, Campbell Collaboration), Hans Lund, Karen Robinson and Jung-wook ban (University of Western Norway).
· Sumanth Kumbargere (Director of Studies/PhD) Equity oriented to set priorities for research
· Shiamaa Al Mashhadani (Director of Studies/PhD) Oral Health care of children with disability in United Arab Emirates
· Prashanti Eachempati (Director of studies/PhD) Understanding how people interpret and respond to uncertainties in oral health -related information: an study among selected multi-ethnic groups in Malaysia
· Mark Steven-Howe (Director of studies/PhD) Development of a probability based dental restorative risk index
· Nicole Thomas (Previous PhD student and current resaerch collaborator)
· Alexander Legge- Academic Clinical Fellow in Primary care/ MClinRes student - The impact of enhanced PPE on clinical performance and communication
· Digital dimensions of affective intelligence in clinical care and training with a focus on dental care
With the increase use of digital tools and technologies in the health care industry, it is important to ensure that human element of care is considered. These projects intend to better understand the emotional and empathetic aspect of clinical care and how to integrate them in the social technologies developed and training of clinicians. We will design and evaluate digital technologies that can be used to enhance and support the development of affective intelligence skills in the healthcare industry.
Currently, we focus on two aspect one is the role that social robots can play in supporting dental practice and the other is on developing technological and educational solutions to increase the acquisition of tactical sensitivity for dentists to support decision making and better support the patients and dentists in managing uncertainty in decision making. We focus on all patients and their unique challenges and would ensure that individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities are not excluded in the process. We intend to address the overall question “can we find better solutions (technological or non-technological solutions) to enhance clinical care (both to create a more supportive and caring environment but also improving overall patient care and experience) by improving clinicians understanding on the patients challenges, uncertainties, improving the clinicians tactical sensitivity and empathy and finally by adding tools or agents that can bridge the challenges in the clinical care environment e.g. social robots)
Active projects
· Anxious ‘tells’: Working with patients and dentists to reveal signs and triggers of stress and anxiety in the clinic (AngsT): The project is a collaborative project between the dental school and transtechnology research group along with sub-projects working together with the computer vision team.
· Privacy-preserving Robotics in Dentistry project is an interdisciplinary initiative between dentistry, robotics and cyber security: It is currently focused on the usage of social robotics in dental care. The project is supported by a AI and Robotics in Dentistry lab. As part of it, we are currently running a survey on the privacy concerns of patient and dentist with regard to social robots.
Projects supported by: ESPRC impact acceleration fund, Turing Network Development project grant, internal strategic investment fund, PIHR institute fund, NIHR academic clinical fellowship programme, MPS foundation.
Current research students, staff and collaborators on the project
· University of Plymouth collaborators: Prof. Michael Punt, Dr. Hannah Drayson, Prof. Sally Hanks, Dr Hai-van Dang, Dr. Dena Bazazian,
· Dr. Hooman Samani (University of Hertfordshire), Prof. Angelo Cangelosci (University of Manchester), Dr. Mario Gianni (Liverpool University), Prof. Sue Denham
· Wendy Smith, Andrew Dean (Well connected)
· Alexander Pollard (NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow)
Research groups
Other research
Current research students and staff
Mark Steven Howe (Director of Studies/PhD) Probability risk index in restorative dentistry
Sumanth Kumbargere (Director of Studies/PhD) Equity oriented to set priorities for research
Shiamaa Al Mashhadani (Director of Studies/PhD) Oral Health care of children with disability in United Arab Emirates
Nick Perez (Co-supervisor/PhD) Cinematic interface for cognitive exploration in (medical) simulation
Alexander Legge- Academic Clinical Fellow in Primary care/ MClinRes student - The impact of enhanced PPE on clinical performance and communication
Alexander Pollard - Academic Clinical Fellows in Restorative Dentistry
Research degrees awarded to supervised students
Previous research students and staff:
Anastasios Plessas (Director of studies), ResM, Impact of stress on the practice of dentistry
Zoe Allen (co-supervisor), PhD, Exploring the referral interface between general dental practice and salaried dental services
Jaysan Charlesford and Martha Paisi: (Postdoctoral fellows in Oral Health Inequality - investigating the impact of a community and patient centred Dental School on the existence and gradient of oral health inequalities in Devon and Cornwall (ICOD project).
Klara Łucznik and Mihaela Taranu - (Postdoctoral fellows) ColLaboratoire 2020 project
Visiting Researchers:
Yvette Gonzalez, MPH, Senior Climate Researcher, Sky Indicators project
Gulcan Tecrili - Health Economist, Turkish Ministry of Health (Supported by Short Scientific Mission (STSM) COST EU Action EVBRES)
Sumanth Kumbargere - Faculty of Dentistry (Manipal University, Melaka campus)
Shiamaa Al Mashhadani - Dental Services Department, Dubai Health Authority
Alexandru-Petru Vasile - Intern, European Space Agency, Cologne, Germany (Supported by Short Scientific Mission (STSM) COST EU Action EVBRES)
Grants & contracts
Awards, contracts & grants:
Principal Investigator, Developing a transferability framework for two systematic reviews of impact of ionising radiation on human biology. UoP NERC “Cross-disciplinary research [CDR] for Discovery Science” Fellowship Awards. 2022 £ 9955
Principal Investigator, Anxious tells: Working with patients and dentists to reveal signs and triggers of stress and anxiety in the clinic (AngST), MPS foundation. £106,000
Co-investigator, NGO decision-making during complex disasters: an ecological approach. Brown University Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies Research Seed Grant 2022 Application. $3000
Principal investigator, STSM Grant, COST Action: CA17117, 2022, Reference: E-COST-GRANT-CA17117-33641c66, € 2184.00
Principal investigator, Privacy-preserving Robotics In DEntistry (PRiDE), ESPRC impact acceleration account, 2022 , £5000
Co-investigator, Privacy-preserving Robotics In DEntistry (PRiDE), Turing Network Development grant, 2022, £1000
Principal investigator, Using systematic review methodology to inform disaster research prediction, Internal policy engagement fund, 2022 £9890
Principal investigator, Developing new technological solutions for conducting systematic reviews to inform policy making: the ionizing radiation case study, Faculty Strategic Investment (SIF) fund, 2022, £9156
Principal investigator, The Digital Dimensions of Affective Intelligence in Clinical Care and Clinical Training, Faculty Strategic Investment (SIF) fund, 2022, £8200
Principal investigator, Design and prototyping a custom-made robots for supporting dental patients, Faculty Strategic Investment (SIF) fund, 2022, £9980
Principal investigator, Haptic dental simulation models – Enhancing the acquisition of soft skills, sensitivity and anticipation in training clinical dentists, Peninsula Institute for Health Research 2021, £3908.70
Scholarship by European Space Agency to attend the Interactive Space Programme 2020 at International Space University £6500
Principal investigator, ColLaboratoire Multiple disciplinary Research Leadership Summer School, Global Challenges Award of Plymouth University £56966
Principal investigator, Supporting Public Health Wales Strategic Focus: Setting the research agenda for Early Years in Wales, £9804
Co-Investigator, EU COST Action, CA17117 - Towards an International Network for Evidence-based Research in Clinical Health Research. 1st Grant Period €113,020.00 EUR, 2nd Grant Period € €178,300.00 , 3rd Grant Period € 151,505.00
Principal Investigator, Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE), Impact of a community and patient-centred dental school on the existence and gradient of oral health inequalities in Devon and Cornwall. £92,922
Co-investigator, Dental Education and Training limited, Developing sustainability in dental practice and education through an action research approach. £8000
Co-investigator, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), A systematic review of physical activity for alcohol and substance use disorders: evidence synthesis with stakeholderengagement to formulate practical recommendations. £149,946
Co-investigator, General Medical Council. Understanding differential attainment across medical training pathways (narrative synthesis). £34,837. 2015
2nd place, British Dental Editors Forum (BDEF) Young Dental Communicator Award 2014.
Co-investigator. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) contract. Production of an evidence review of approaches for conveying oral health promotion messages by dental teams £54,628. 2014-2015.
CO-investigator. ISSR Small Collaborative Award - How can dentistry be sustainable? An exploratory study. £9790 (Co-investigator). 2014-2015.
Co-investigator. EU FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN-IDP 604764; 2013-17 €4.1m) "CogNovo: Cognitive Innovation". Denham S (Coordinator, Plymouth University); Harris, Waddington, Hanoch, Dales, Nasser (Plymouth), Katsikopoulos, Beck (Berlin), Djulbegovic (Florida): Project 14. Irrationality and Decision Making.
Bill Silverman Prize 2012 for the research project (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. J Clin Epidemiol 2012 Apr 19).
Principal investigator, Developing a research programme for empirical studies on health research priority setting methodology awarded by International Research, Networking and Collaboration, Round 3 scheme through University of Plymouth (2011-2012)
Collaborator, A mixed-method study to investigate the referral behaviours and attitudes of NHS general dental practitioners in making referrals from primary dental care to specialist surgical services for the extraction of teeth in North Devon, NHS North Devon (2012)
Co-investigator, Prioritising Cochrane review topics to reduce the know-do gap in low- and middle-income countries, The Cochrane Collaboration prioritisation fund, (2007-2008)
Cochrane Developing Countries Stipend. The Cochrane Collaboration 2007
Silver Medal in National Student Biology Olympiad (Iran), 1999
Publications
Publications
Key publications
Key publications are highlighted
JournalsPersonal
Personal
Reports & invited lectures
Selected ones:
Nov 2022 ‘The application of systematic review methods and meta-research studies in in-vitro research.’ John Bull Building, University of Plymouth. 18th Nov 2-3pm.
Nov 2022 Smart Space Series - Access to space: Who, what, when and why? Event by Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (16 Nov 2022 6-7pm)
https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6987757130183229440/
Oct 2022 The PPI session with children engaging with the QT robot as part of the PRIDE-AI workshop – the application of artificial intelligence and robotics in dentistry workshop.
May 2022 “what roles systematic reviews can play in policy decisions” as part of an event entitled Evidence based policy making in health during times of uncertainty event AT Sciences Po’s School of Public Affairs in Paris, France
Setting priorities in research, 5th Congress of the Iranian Association of Community Oral Health, Feb 15-18, 2022, Tehran/Iran
"Evidence-based policy-making in health" as part of the Sciences Po Paris School of Public Affairs Global Health policy stream, Nov 2021 |
Clinical Trials in Interplanetary Missions (CTIM): using thought experiments to design now and the future at the EDGE 2020 conference (10 March 2020), Southampton, UK
Off the lip 2020 (Las Bonas, Philippines) Using methods in evidence synthesis and evidence-based research in an interdisciplinary research program on sustainable development
Newcastle University – towards an evidence based approach to setting priorities for research 2019
Sydney University – Clinical Epidemiology, policy sciences & speculative medical research 2019
One HealthTech London, Invited Speaker -The importance of insignificance and negative results 2019
Setting priorities for research in context of funding agencies, First National Evidence based Dentistry Symposium, Kerman, Iran 2018
Our roles and responsibilities in reducing research waste - International Evidence-Based Health Care Society Congress, Kish, Iran 2017
Role of funders in reducing research waste in a special meeting during the conference celebrating 10 years of NIHR 2016
“Setting priorities in Clinical Research - Prospect of Evidence- Based Medicine and Cochrane in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2015
“Towards an evidence informed approach to set priorities for topics of systematic reviews.” Annual Cochrane Methods Symposium, Vienna, Austria 2015
“Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine: rules for assessing the effectiveness of drugs” Fifth and final event of Avicenna: a strategy for in silico clinical trials, Barcelona, Spain 2015
Survey of funders, 1st Evidence Based Research Network Symposium, 2014
Opening plenary on Research Priority Setting of the Campbell Colloquium. 2014
“Using Research Priority Setting Methods to identify uncertainties on sustainability issues: an example from the dental school” The Third Annual ISSR Sustainability Research Event 2014. Challenge Accepted! Creating Solutions for Horizon 2020 - 2014
External validity and generalizability of systematic reviews in primary health care: adapting the methodology to conduct the review. "Practice-based Evidence for Weight Management: Alliance between Primary Care and Public Health" sixth Heelsum workshop, Heelsum Collaboration, Heelsum, Netherlands 2010
Cochrane Primary Health Care Field: Introduction to systematic reviews and the Cochrane Primary Health Care Field, WONCA Europe, Istanbul, Turkey 2008
The Cochrane Developing Countries Network, Iberoamerican Cochrane Network conference, Costa Rica, June 2008
Conferences organised
International workshop on research priority setting methods on 1-2 June 2012 in Plymouth, UK
BSODR 2017
Research Residency on Cognitive Innovation for Sustainable Development 2020
Other academic activities
Official report
- ISP20 (how space technologies help the pandemics)
- Shamliyan TA, Kane RL, Ansari MT, Raman G, Berkman ND, Grant M, Janes G, Maglione M, Moher D, Nasser M, Robinson KA, Segal JB, Tsouros S. Development of Quality Criteria To Evaluate Nontherapeutic Studies of Incidence, Prevalence, or Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases: Pilot Study of New Checklists [Internet]. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2011 Jan. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=methresdisease
- Nasser M, Sawicki P. Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care: Germany. Issue Brief (Commonw Fund). 2009 Jul;57:1-12. The full report was published on the Commonwealth fund website on 28 July 2009 http://www.commonwealthfund.org/
Other publications
- Karimkhani C, Boyers LN, Nasser M, Dellavalle R. Mapping research prioritization by The CochraneCollaboration to Global Burden of Disease 2010 data. Cochrane Methods. IssueSeptember 2014. Available at: http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/SpringboardWebApp/userfiles/ccoch/file/Files/Coch_Methods2014.pdf
- Nasser M, Crowe S, Welch V, Ueffing E.Proposed Agenda setting and priority setting methods group. Cochrane Methods.Cochrane DB Syst Rev 2011 Suppl 1: 37-38. http://www.cochrane.org/sites/default/files/newsletters/coch_meth_2011.zip
- Nasser M. Priority setting in theCochrane Collaboration. Cochrane Methods. Cochrane DB Syst Rev 2010 Suppl 1: 6. http://www.cochrane.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Newsletters/Cochrane%20Methods%202010.pdf
- Fox DM, Nasser M.Informing the politics of prioritizing (and funding) systematic reviews:another potential step for the Agenda and Priority Setting Methods Group. Cochrane Methods Supplement 2013. ISSN: 2044-4702. http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/SpringboardWebApp/userfiles/ccoch/file/Files/Cochrane%20Methods%202013.pdf
- Pooler J, Nasser M. Challenges in conducting priority setting exercises for Cochrane entities. Cochrane Methods Supplement 2013. ISSN: 2044-4702. http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/SpringboardWebApp/userfiles/ccoch/file/Files/Cochrane%20Methods%202013.pdf
- Nasser M, Tibi A, Savage-Smith E. Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine: 11th century rules for assessing the effects of drugs. The James Lind Library.(www.jameslindlibrary.org). Accessed Sunday 6 July 2008.
- Nasser M ,Tibi A (2006). Ibn Hindu and the science of medicine. The James Lind Library (http://www.jameslindlibrary.org).
Blog posts
I wrote blog posts for the following websites
British Medical Journal (BMJ) blogs - How can research publication be improved?
ISSR blog (currently ISSR is called Earth Sustainability Institute) - Uncertainties, knowledge gaps and research priorities
Other media
There is a short interview with me in the Anniversary video of the Cochrane Collaboration talking about the Priority Setting Methods Group at time 1:40.
I have also been asked by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which serves as the regional office for World Health Organisation (WHO) in the Americas, to host and run four webinars on my work on research priority setting. I ran the webinars but did not edit or prepare the videos.
1) Meet the Methods Group: An introduction to the Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group
2) An Equity Lens for Priority-Setting Approaches in Systematic Reviews
3) Priority Setting for Cochrane Review Groups: Tips, Tricks, and Case Studies
Video associated with press release - What are research funders doing to minimize waste in research?
Press release - Plymouth academic to support Bosnian-Herzegovinian scientists on setting priorities for medical research. The event was also reported in an editorial “Mahmic-Kaknjo M, Novo A, Krleza-Jeric K. FIRST BH COCHRANE SYMPOSIUM HELD. Mater Sociomed. 2016 Feb;28(1):74-6.”
Press Release - Review addresses value and waste in biomedical research. This was picked up by other news sources like Science DailyInvited speaker to give the opening plenary on research priority setting of the Campbell Colloquium.
Some reports from the fellows from ColLaboraoire (Reimagining Sustainability at ColLaboratoire, Conference & summer school log)
A video of our Clinical trials in interplanetary missions (CTIM) project
A video associated with press release - Medical guidelines for astronauts
Social media - I run a personal blog https://monanasser.wordpress.com and a twitter account @monalisa1n. I talk about my research along with my personal interests in aviation. This makes the public more engaged. With others, I also run research focus twitter accounts @capsmg (priority setting) @ebrnetwork (evidence based research network) and sometimes curate Twitter chats on issues faced by Cochrane authors (#cochraneauthor). As part of this project, I curated other research-focused Twitter accounts. These are the reports:
Introduction - Smiling wide and flying high – Mona Nasser joins Real Scientists
Final report - Crowdsourcing the best in science: thanks and farewell to Mona Nasser
Curating @wepublichealth 22-28 Sep 2014 http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/wepublichealth-an-experiment-in-citizen-journalism-meets-public-health/
Curating @wethehumanities 12-19 Jan 2015 https://wethehumanities.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/12th-19th-january-mona-nasser/
Additional information
https://isulibrary.isunet.edu/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=11027 I am a pilot and skydiver. One of the few occasions that I brought together my interests in science and skydiving was a project that I call #skydivemath.
During the British Parachute Association AGM (these days it is called British Skydiving), Anu Ohja from National Space Centre gave a talk on Going beyond Stratos and Stratex: Skydiving and human space exploration. As part of the talk, he talks about cosmonauts doing numerical problems in freefall as a training/text. So I did a jump with a friend in which we selected a math problem (it was a long division - I did not see it before the jump but in fairness it was an easy one) and I solved the problem in free fall. Here is the video of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjQQSFR1kz4.
Links
Blog: https://monanasser.wordpress.com/
Cochrane Priority setting Methods Group: https://methods.cochrane.org/prioritysetting/
ColLaboratoire https://collaboratoire20.cognovo.org/
Space Ecologies Art Design: https://www.seads.network/
Evidence based Research Network http://www.ebrnetwork.org
Cognovo https://www.cognovo.eu/