
Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health
LSTM is a global leader in evidence synthesis
Evidence synthesis is a relatively new science. The methods and their application have expanded rapidly over the last 25 years. This centre is recognised as a global leader in the field. We are important innovators, contributors to synthesis methods, and part of the development of evidence to policy in global health.

The award was made to the evidence synthesis team led by Paul Garner and Paula Waugh in the Department of Clinical Sciences, who also run the FCDO-funded Research, Evidence and Development Initiative (READ-It).
These Centres are important as they reflect the credibility of the team’s work with the WHO and, through a negotiated programme of work, help ensure the research done by the READ-It global team, and the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group in particular, are linked with current WHO priorities.In February 2020, LSTM was awarded a new World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre in Evidence Synthesis for Global Health.
The Centre is made up of two related components:
The Centre’s remit is to help LSTM retain and develop this reputation, and to ensure LSTM staff know how to access information in best practice to guide their own work, their students’ work, and their teaching.
The Centre helped to set up Cochrane, and remains a major contributor, mainly through the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group which is an international network of over 700 authors and 20 Editors, managed by Dr Deirdre Walshe with oversight from Professor Paul Garner.
The Centre has organized workshops and seminars in carrying out a systematic review, interpreting systematic reviews, and is now expanding as part of the LSTM Staff Development Programme on how to write a paper and issues around authorship.
Career opportunities with the Centre
Being part of this Centre can provide excellent career development opportunities in evidence synthesis and evidence policy. We seek bright innovative thinkers with an eye for detail, including doctors and public health professionals in training, to work with us as part of systematic review teams. This work can be integrated into their existing training packages; through short term appointments; or through secondment from other institutions.
Our trainees are highly sought after, and we know that the experience provides them with unique advantages when applying for jobs in medicine, in research and in education; and there are opportunities within LSTM in building careers in evidence synthesis as the science and the methods expand.
The team will be pleased to answer queries on the current opportunities with reviews and appointments. Please contact Philomena.Hinds@lstmed.ac.uk
Our team
Our news and events
- Dr Maya Goodfellow: The role of race in UK international development discourse
- Susanne Jaspars: From development to abandonment: the history and politics of food aid in Sudan
- Kathryn Maitland: First do no harm: why was fluid resuscitation harmful in African children?
- Deborah Cohen: Investigative journalism in global infectious diseases research
- Fiona Godlee: Why you shouldn't believe what you read in medical journals
- Jocelyn Clark: Medical journals and the medicalisation of Global Health
- Mariska Leeflang: Systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy in infectious diseases
- Lord Fowler: AIDS: don’t die of prejudice
- Tracey Brown: Evidence and expertise: we don’t live in a post-truth society and here’s why
Teaching
As part of the teaching programme at LSTM, The Centre teaches a short course on systematic reviews.
This course aims to:
- Identify, appraise and interpret systematic reviews relevant to public health
- Discuss critically influences on evidence-informed practice at global, national and local levels, and articulate a variety of strategies to improve decision-making
- Assess the quality of research evidence and apply evidence to policy and practice using appropriate tools
For further information on the course, including dates and fees, please follow the link on the right.
Staff development training programmes
The Centre supports employee development by providing courses, seminars and workshops that enable employees to improve performance in current jobs or prepare for career development.