CLUE Working Group’s Kari Tikkinen first Finnish urologist to join the European Association of Urology’s Scientific Congress Office
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 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:
- Kari Tikkinen: Absolute vs. relative risk, and statistical significance vs. patient importance.
- Marco Blanker: The interpretation of odds ratios for common conditions.
- Kari Tikkinen: What is quality of evidence? A brief overview of the GRADE methodology.
- Rufus Cartwright: Different types of reviews: narrative vs. systematic.
- 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:
- Pocketcasts: pca.st/0WZK
- Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com
- Spotify: open.spotify.com
- Libsyn: t.co/va6Lf3cWNp
To access wide coverage by MEDIA, please click the following links:
- MedPageToday: www.medpagetoday.com
- Medical Research: medicalresearch.com
- Medscape/Reuters Health: www.medscape.com
- Lown Institute: lowninstitute.org
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 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”
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 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.
2018 Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District grant of 100,000 euros received for CLUE Working Group projects
CLUE Working Group founder Kari Tikkinen received funding of 100,000 euros from the Competititive Research Funding of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, as Principal Investigator for CLUE project work.
For more information regarding funded principal investigators and projects, please click here.
CLUE Working Group founder Kari Tikkinen leads BMJ Rapid Recommendation on prostate cancer screening
CLUE Working Group founder Kari Tikkinen led a working group to produce Rapid Recommendation guidelines on prostate cancer screening. The guideline was published on September 5, 2018 in The British Medical Journal (The BMJ). The guideline working group also included other CLUE Working Group members and collaborators, including Thomas Agoritsas, Marco Blanker, Philipp Dahm and Gordon Guyatt.
The guideline suggested against systematic PSA-based screening for prostate cancer, and indicated shared decision making is needed for men considering screening.
Access the guideline here.
Please access media and journal coverage for the guideline below:
- The BMJ editorial: What should doctors say to men asking for a PSA test?
- Reuters: “More doctors say men should think twice about prostate cancer screening.”
- Finland’s National Public Broadcasting Company – YLE News, with Kari Tikkinen: “Experts decline routine prostate cancer screening.” (Finnish)
- YLE TV1 Morning TV (live TV show), with Kari Tikkinen: “Prostate cancer – to screen or not?” (Finnish)
JAMA Internal Medicine Editor-in-Chief Rita Redberg delivered 3rd CLUE Working Group lecture on “How less health care can (sometimes) be better for you”
JAMA Internal Medicine Editor-in-Chief and Professor of Cardiology Rita Redberg from UCSF gave the 3rd CLUE Working Group lecture, entitled “How less health care can (sometimes) be better for you”, at the Think Corner of the University of Helsinki.
The event was covered by academic and public media organizations, including:
- The National Broadcasting Company (YLE) ScienceOne (Tiedeykkönen) – 45-Minute Podcast featuring Rita Redberg and Kari Tikkinen. Freely available here.
- Hufvudstadsbladet – largest Swedish-speaking newspaper in Finland. Freely available here.
- Finnish Medical Journal. Freely available here.
The lecture is freely available online here, via the CLUE Working Group YouTube channel.
