In this blog, course director Professor Kamal Mahtani reflects on some exceptional tutors supporting the MSc EBHC (Systematic Reviews).
“Twas the night before Christmas, the frost biting your hands,
While our EBHC tutors prepared lesson plans….”
One of the key opportunities for students coming onto our MSc EBHC (Systematic Reviews) is to be taught by nationally and internationally recognised experts in the field who are also active systematic reviewers. In addition, students can access our supervisory faculty to complete a systematic review as part of their dissertation. Many of our students have gone on to publish their reviews too.
So, with admissions currently open, let's meet some of the tutors our students can meet on the programme.
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1. Dr David Nunan teaches across our programme, including being the module lead for the compulsory Practice of Evidence-Based Health Care module and as a tutor on our Complex Reviews module. David is interested in all forms of evidence synthesis and teaches overviews of systematic reviews and GRADE. David recently published a Cochrane systematic review on the role of physical activity in treating irritable bowel syndrome. |
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2. Dr Annette Plüddemann teaches across the programme, including in our Complex Reviews module. Annette has a specialist interest in the evidence for diagnostic tests and technologies likely to impact primary care significantly. An example of her research includes leading a diagnostic test accuracy review on point-of-care natriuretic peptide testing for chronic heart failure published in the BMJ. |
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3. Professor Richard Stevens is deputy director of the Statistics Group, teaches about prognostic reviews in our Complex Reviews module and co-leads the optional Essential Medical Statistics module. Richard’s research includes the monitoring, diagnosis and prognosis of chronic diseases. For example, Richard was involved in an extensive research programme on the optimal strategies for monitoring lipid levels in at-risk patients or with cardiovascular disease. |
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4. Dr Stephanie Tierney specialises in qualitative, mixed methods and realist synthesis. Stephanie teaches in our Complex Reviews module and leads the Qualitative and Mixed Methods Systematic Reviews module. Stephanie is a health services researcher interested in long-term conditions, delivery of services and patient's experiences of care. Have a read of her qualitative synthesis of the role of volunteering in supporting well-being. |
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5. Professor Carl Heneghan teaches across the programme, including in our Complex Reviews module, where he co-leads a session on individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis. Carl has a experience in a wide variety of systematic reviews and has a research focus on investigating the evidence for approval of drugs and devices, assessing health claims and researching common presenting conditions in the community. As an example of his work, read his systematic review on interventions designed to improve vaccination uptake. |
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6. Julie McLellan is a Senior Systematic Reviewer, teaches on our Complex Reviews module and is the joint module coordinator for the Meta-analysis module. Julie has research interests in a range of healthcare topics, including natriuretic peptides for monitoring chronic heart failure, remote monitoring of heart failure and smoking prevention in schools. For example, Julie was the lead author of a review on natriuretic peptide-guided treatment for heart failure. |
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7. Professor Mike Clarke has nearly 30 years of experience designing and conducting rigorous assessments of the effects of interventions through randomised trials and systematic reviews. Mike leads our Systematic Review module, a core element of the MSc. Mike was a previous director of the UK Cochrane Centre and is the Co-ordinating editor of the Cochrane Methodology Review Group. Amongst his many publications, Mike and Sir Iain Chalmers have reflected on the history of systematic reviews, which every student should read. |
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8. Dr Alyson Huntely is a senior health care scientist with expertise in various systematic reviews and evidence synthesis methods. She teaches students about mixed-methods systematic reviews in our Complex Reviews module but has experience in many approaches, including meta-analysis, thematic synthesis, rapid reviews and overviews (umbrella reviews). Alyson’s research frequently involves evaluating health services. For example, a recent mixed methods meta-review looked at care provision for older populations to help reduce unplanned secondary care admissions. |
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9. Dr Igho Onakpoya is a clinical academic who teaches in our Complex Reviews module. Igho has internationally recognised experience in how systematic reviews, including unpublished clinical study reports, can inform safety and regulatory decisions. He is a senior advisor to the World Health Organization Uppsala Monitoring Centre (WHO-UMC). As an example of his work, read his systematic review and meta-analysis of unpublished clinical study reports for naltrexone–bupropion (Mysimba) in managing obesity. |
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10. Professor Geoff Wong is a highly experienced and internationally recognised expert in realist synthesis and evaluation and works closely with researchers to conduct evidence synthesis of complex health and social interventions. Geoff leads our Realist Reviews and Realist Evaluation module, an optional module for students on the MSc. Here is a realist review on understanding what happens to attendees after an NHS health check that Geoff supervised one of our MSc students to conduct. |
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11. Nia Roberts is a senior outreach librarian at the University of Oxford Bodleian Health Care Libraries. Nia has over 15 year’s experience teaching searching skills and contributing to systematic reviews and evidence syntheses. Nia contributes across the programme, teaching and guiding students to consider various elements of their systematic review strategy. Nia is also keen to innovate review methodologies. For example, read about her work on search methods for realist reviews. |
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12. Professor Clare Bankhead co-leads our optional Introduction to Study Design and Research Methods module. Clare also teaches and supervises across the programme and has a research interest focusing on diagnosing and monitoring non-infectious diseases, including cancer. As an example of her activities, Clare supervised one of our programme students to systematically review the evidence for the two-week rule in head and neck cancer. |
The MSc EBHC (Systematic Reviews) programme is blessed with many other leading tutors, including Professor Tom Jefferson, Dr Jennifer Hirst, Dr Susannah Fleming, Dr Subhashisa Swain, Claire Duddy and Dr Lazaro Mwandigha. My sincere thanks to all the tutors who have supported our MSc students.
If you want to join the programme and work with this excellent faculty, review the admissions page and contact the course team. We look forward to meeting you in our next intake!