The Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group, based at LSTM, has been playing host to two visiting fellows from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya. Both arrived in early February and are now heading to a three day ‘Evidence and Knowledge Translation’ workshop at the Cochrane Collaboration in Oxford, before returning to Kenya.
Jamlick Karumbi, arrived in Liverpool on 5th February after being awarded the Aubrey Sheiham Evidence –based Health Care in Africa Leadership award. The award is given annually to a Cochrane researcher from a low- and middle-income country to complete a Cochrane Review on a topic of relevance to their region, and to cascade relevant knowledge about Cochrane and evidence-based health care (EBHC) to their local networks.
The objective of his visit was to complete an update of a Cochrane review entitled ‘Directly observed therapy for treating tuberculosis’, which he did with the support of LSTM’s Professor Paul Garner, and carry out an overview of TB adherence promotion strategies.
The second visitor, Mercy Mulaku, arrived on 8th February and took part in LSTM short course ‘Systematic Reviews for Policy and Practice’ as well as identifying a topic for a potential systematic review and, working with Professor Garner, prepared criteria for potential PhD topic. Both Mercy and Jamlick enjoyed their time at LSTM and feel they gained a great deal of experience from the visit.
Professor Paul Garner, Co-ordinating Editor, Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group explained that visits of this nature are very important. “We try to host as many of these visiting fellowships as possible to ensure that the authors that we work with, wherever they are based, can further develop their skills in systematic reviews. The work that is co-ordinated here in Liverpool looks at the benefits and harms of healthcare interventions for infectious diseases, enabling those responsible for healthcare policy, particularly in low – and middle – income countries, to have a full picture of the efficacy of any potential intervention.”