CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen first Finnish urologist to join the European Association of Urology’s Scientific Congress Office

CLUE logo

CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen is the first Finnish researcher to be invited to join the European Association of Urology (EAU) Scientific Congress Office, which encompasses the Scientific Congress Committee and Video Congress Committee.

The Scientific Committee is responsible for the scientific programme of the EAU Annual Congresses, general outline of the congress programme, selection topics, and selection of abstracts to be accepted. The role of the Video Congress Committee is to collect, select and promote the diffusion of videos to be presented at the EAU Annual Congress.

Read more regarding the Scientific Congress Office here.

CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen, Rufus Cartwright and Marco Blanker feature in International Continence Society’s educational series on practical interpretation of research evidence

CLUE logo

CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen, Rufus Cartwright and Marco Blanker feature in the International Continence Society’s (ICS) educational series on practical interpretation of research evidence.

The five-video series is publicly available online:

  1. Kari Tikkinen: Absolute vs. relative risk, and statistical significance vs. patient importance.
  2. Marco Blanker: The interpretation of odds ratios for common conditions.
  3. Kari Tikkinen: What is quality of evidence? A brief overview of the GRADE methodology.
  4. Rufus Cartwright: Different types of reviews: narrative vs. systematic.
  5. Marco Blanker: What is a risk factor?

Access the videos via the ICS website here.

Kari Tikkinen, Rufus Cartwright, Philippe Violette and Marco Blanker will be part of the International Continence Society (ICS) annual workshop, titled “Practical Interpretation of Research Evidence.”

The ICS Annual Meeting will be held in Gothenburg between September 3 to 6, 2019.

JAMA IM published meta-analysis on prostate cancer screening decision aids, conducted by CLUE WG and first-authored by Jarno Riikonen

Major guidelines recommend shared decision making for prostate cancer screening. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials to estimate the impact of decision aids in decisional outcomes related to screening.

Our meta-analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine calls for decision aids specifically targeted to promote shared decision-making.

Decision Aids for Prostate Cancer Screening Choice: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

To access the ARTICLE, click here: jamanetwork.com

To access the accompanying EDITORIAL, click here: jamanetwork.com

To access the accompanying PODCAST, click here:

To access wide coverage by MEDIA, please click the following links:

FIND Psychiatry, published in the BMJ Open, well-covered by the lay media

The lines between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’, and ‘disease’ and ‘non-disease’, are unclear and evolving. Disease definitions in the context of psychiatry are therefore ever-changing and subject to debate. We conducted a survey across a large sample of psychiatrists, other doctors, nurses, parliament members and laypeople, and examined the extent to which 20 mental health-related states of being were considered diseases.

Public, health professional and legislator perspectives on the concept of psychiatric disease: a population-based survey

To access the ARTICLE, click here: bmjopen.bmj.com

The largest NEWSPAPER of Scandinavia, Helsinki Sanomat, covered the article – click here to access: www.hs.fi

To access the English-language PRESS RELEASE by the University of Helsinki, click here: www.helsinki.fi

To access the Finnish-language PRESS RELEASE, click here: www.helsinki.fi

To access OTHER MEDIA COVERAGE, click here: bmj.altmetric.com


CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen awarded ‘Mentor of the Year’ by the Finnish Medical Students’ Association

CLUE logo

CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen was selected as the Finnish Medical Students’ Association ‘Mentor of the Year’ for emphasizing high quality methodologically first-class research, engaging young colleagues as equals, and inspiring them through collective research endeavours.

Prof Mohit Bhandari delivered the 4th CLUE Working Group lecture on “Think Bigger: The New Culture of Surgical Trials”

CLUE logo

Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Canada Research Chair in Evidence-Based Orthopaedics Mohit Bhandari from McMaster University delivered the 4th CLUE Working Group lecture, entitled “Think Bigger: The New Culture of Surgical Trials” at the Think Corner (Tiedekulma) of the University of Helsinki (Yliopistonkatu 4) on April 9, 2019.

The lecture is freely available online here, via the CLUE Working Group YouTube channel.

For over two decades, Mohit Bhandari has challenged surgeons around the world to ‘think bigger’. Having failed many more times than he has succeeded, Dr. Bhandari embraces risk with every new study. The transition from a paradigm of small surgical trials to one, which promotes and supports larger, international studies has had numerous challenges. Developing a ‘big think’ approach is not simply about enrolling more patients; rather, it begins with a major shift in mindset about what questions matter and how we, as researchers and clinicians, find creative solutions to difficult problems. In this new era, trials must be lead with humility, collaboration, passion and creativity —accepting failures as learning, and not as defeats.

Dr. Bhandari currently serves as Professor and Academic Head of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at McMaster University. He also holds a Canada Research Chair in Evidence-Based Orthopaedic Surgery. He serves as Associate Chair, Research for the Department of Surgery and holds a unique distinction of ‘University Scholar’ at McMaster University. His research focuses upon improving the lives of individuals experiencing trauma. Dr. Bhandari’s commitment to evidence-based practice, high quality globally relevant research and translation of evidence to patient care has garnered him recent induction into the Province of Ontario’s highest civilian honor: the Order of Ontario and most recently the Canada’s highest honor – The Order of Canada.

CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen receives 165,000 euros over three years from Sigrid Jusélius Foundation

CLUE logo

CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen has been selected to receive 165,000 euros over the next three years from the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation.

For more information, click here to access the official grant application results.

CLUE member Robin Vernooij featured in Cochrane’s “30 under 30”

CLUE logo

CLUE member Robin Vernooij was interviewed by Cochrane as part of its “30 under 30” initiative.

Many of Cochrane’s contributors are young people working as researchers, citizen scientists, medical students, and volunteer language translators. Cochrane’s “30 under 30” campaign recognizes the work of this generation of contributors.

Click here to access Robin Vernooij’s featured interview.

CLUE member Riikka Tähtinen successfully defended her PhD thesis on urinary incontinence at the University of Helsinki

CLUE logo

CLUE Working Group member, urogynecologist Riikka Tähtinen successfully defended on Dec 5th her thesis “The Impact of Women’s Smoking, Obesity and Mode of Delivery on Urinary Incontinence” at the University of Helsinki.

Opponent was Prof. Ian Milsom from the University of Gothenburg and Custos of the public examination was Prof Ossi Rahkonen (Helsinki). Thesis was supervised by CLUE Working Group Steering  Committee members Kari Tikkinen (Helsinki) and Rufus Cartwright (Oxford).

The thesis is available in English here.

The newsstory by the University of Helsinki in Finnish here.

Thesis was also covered by the leading newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, in Finnish here.

Pictures

Prior to the public examination at the Women’s Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital. Right to left: Rufus Cartwright (Supervisor), Prof Ossi Rahkonen (Custos), Riikka Tähtinen (Doctoral Candidate), Prof Ian Milsom (Opponent), and Kari Tikkinen (Supervisor).
Audience standing in the beginning of the public examination in the Seth Wichman auditorium.

Opponent, Custos and Doctoral Candidate, prior to the the public examination.

Ian Milsom and Riikka Tähtinen at the dinner table.

Prof Ian Milsom delivering a speech at the academic dinner party.
PhD dissertation Supervisors and Doctoral Candidate. Right to left: Rufus Cartwright (Supervisor), Riikka Tähtinen (Doctoral Candidate), Kari Tikkinen (Supervisor).


Knowledge translation video for EAU Guideline on Thromboprophylaxis in Urological Surgery now freely available

ROTBUS logo

CLUE Working Group Principal Investigator Kari Tikkinen gave live UROwebinar lecture entitled “Thromboprophylaxis in patients undergoing urological surgery”. 

Video is freely available on YouTube here.

All media