Meet the 2022 Scholarship Selection Panelists
We are delighted to announce the team of ten panelists that will work with Covidence in the scholarship selection panel 2022.
Anna Mae Scott
Anna Mae Scott has been an assistant professor at the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare, Bond University, since 2016. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Informatics, Macquarie University. Previously she conducted research on-site in clinics in Warsaw, Poland, and worked at the Systematic Reviews & Health Technology Assessment, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney. Her work focuses on methodological development for systematic reviews, particularly automation.
Brian Leas
Brian Leas is an experienced health policy research leader currently working as a senior research analyst at the Penn Medicine Center for Evidence-based Practice (CEP). He specializes in training colleagues and other trainers in evidence-based research, defining key questions, developing protocols, and designing search strategies for systematic reviews. He has honed his abilities in project leadership, team-building, grant writing, budget administration, publication, teaching, and extramural consulting. Previously he worked as a project manager at Thomas Jefferson University College of Population Health, Philadelphia, PA. Brain Leas has greatly contributed to research and knowledge in health sciences and the community in general.
Christopher Cooper
Christopher Cooper is a managing editor for the Cochrane effective practice and organization of care (EPOC) group at the University of Oxford. His primary responsibility is to contribute to the strategic oversight of EPOC through the day-to-day management of over 218 complex systematic reviews. Initially, he worked as a senior systematic reviewer and research fellow at the University College in London. He has vast experience in leading and managing systematic and non-systematic reviews and is an expert in all types of evidence synthesis. Christopher has over 100+ publications that have positively contributed to research and knowledge. He has vast experience in teaching, grants, and budgets and has received numerous awards over the course of his career.
Jamie John Kirkham
Prof. Jamie John Kirkham works as a professor at the Centre for Biostatistics, University of Manchester. He has over ten years of experience working as a medical biostatics lecturer in various institutions and has supervised many students. Part of his outstanding achievements includes being part of the team that developed the risk of bias tool for randomized and non-randomized studies mandatory for Cochrane reviews. Most of the original research methods studies he has been integrally involved in have worked to inform international guidelines leading to change in practice. He has also worked in core outcome set development where he has authored three guidelines for core outcome set developers. His other achievements include working as a statistical editor for the BMJ journal. He also actively contributes to the methods for evidence synthesis and supports many students relevant to this scheme.
Julia Bidonde
Julia Bidonde is a Senior Researcher and Consultant at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. The institution works with health services research, systematic reviews, health technology assessments (HTAs), disseminating and using knowledge, and global health. Julia has many years of experience in synthesis work in the academic field while working with the Cochrane collaboration, the national institute of care and excellence (NICE) clinical guideline team, and the EUnetHTA. Her research mainly focuses on synthesizing methodology, clinical guidelines, chronic diseases, and patient and public engagement. She has received many grants and awards, which signify the impact of her work on society. Julia will increase the efficiency of the Covidence scholarship selection panel 2022 through her expertise and vast experience.
Kerry Margaret Dwan
Kerry Margaret Dwan primarily focuses on improving the quality of systematic reviews and medical research, specifically in relation to reporting methods, selective reporting of outcomes and analyses, and the application of complex systematic review methods. For the past seven years, she has been a statistical editor for Cochrane’s Editorial and Methods Department and currently leads the Methods Support Unit. She provides statistical and methodological support and advice to editors and authors, screening reviews and providing peer review and support on high profile or methodologically complex reviews. She has been involved in developing templates and checklists for complex methods in systematic reviews and co-led the risk of bias for two pilots. Currently, she works on guidance for authors and editors on reporting reviews with network meta-analyses.
Margarate Nzala Munakampe
Margarate Nzala Munakampe focuses on adolescents, primarily on reproductive health in relation to fertility control and abortion decision-making as shaped by the social-cultural environment. She currently works as a Lecturer at the University of Zambia, School of Public Health, where she majors in research, supervising students and curriculum development. She also has experience working in multi-context projects focused on sexual and reproductive health, such as the Health Systems Advocacy Partnership and the UPTAKE Project run by the Ministry of Health in Zambia, funded by the WHO. Through her numerous scientific publications, Ms Nzala Munakampe has contributed greatly to research and knowledge.
Ram Bajpai
Ram Bajpai specializes in medical statistics, mainly focusing on evidence synthesis, prognostic modeling, longitudinal data analysis, statistical modeling, epidemiology, clinical trials, Inflammatory arthritis, digital health and eLearning interventions, among others. He currently works as a Lecturer and research fellow at the Applied Statistics and Epidemiology School of Medicine, Keele University, UK. His research work continues to add knowledge and impact society in many ways. With experience in conducting systematic reviews and great interest in science.
Russell Jude de Souza
Russell Jude de Souza is an associate professor at the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton. Initially, he has worked in various capacities, including being a statistical lead whose primary responsibility was to determine optimal statistical approaches to the statistical treatment of systematic reviews and clinical trials. He has also supervised many students and, more so, has extensive knowledge in conducting all phases of systematic reviews. Dr. de Souza has a particular interest in nutrition and health and his numerous publications, including systematic reviews, contribute positively to the scientific community and general population. His passion for research and health has been part of the factors that have led to him receiving various grants and awards.
Zohra Lassi
Zohra Lassi is a trained epidemiologist with over eight years of postdocs. She has received international recognition for identifying interventions for improving reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition interventions in disadvantaged settings by advancing knowledge in public health practice and translating it into global health policies and guidelines. She has published 180+ peer-reviewed papers, including book chapters and technical reports, which significantly add to scientific knowledge. She has made sustained contributions to Cochrane as an author, a referee, and trainer. Zohra Lassi has received numerous awards, including the prestigious international Kenneth Warren Prize from Cochrane for preparing a high-quality systematic review in 2011. She has a special interest in research synthesis, scaling up evidence-based interventions in community settings, and implementation research in health system research. In particular, her work with community health workers and outreach services has contributed significantly to global integrated maternal and newborn outreach policies and guidelines.
With such vast experience, the 2022 panel bring valuable input to the selection process. We are privileged to have them as part of the team, to identify the most qualified applicants for the Covidence 2022 scholarship and look forward to announcing the scholarship recipients on May 31st 2022.
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