Japanese Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative: present status and future.

Japanese Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (J-ADNI) was launched in 2008, aiming at conducting a longitudinal workup of a standardized neuroimaging, biomarker and clinico-psychological surveys. The research protocol was designed to maximize compatibility with that of US-ADNI, including structural magnetic resonance imaging analysis for the evaluation of brain atrophy, fluorodeoxyglucose and amyloid positron emission tomography, cerebrospinal fluid sampling, APOE genotyping, together with a set of clinical and psychometric tests that were prepared to achieve the highest compatibility to those used in the United States. Japanese ADNI has recruited approximately 357 participants (142 amnestic mild cognitive impairment, approximately 134 normal aged and 72 mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), as of April 15, 2010). World-wide ADNI activities will establish the rigorous quantitative descriptions of the natural course of AD in its very early stages. The data, as well as the methodologies and infrastructures, will facilitate the clinical trials of disease-modifying therapies for AD using surrogate biomarkers.

How can research organizations more effectively transfer research knowledge to decision makers?

Five questions--What should be transferred to decision makers? To whom should it be transferred? By whom? How? With what effect?--provide an organizing framework for a knowledge transfer strategy. Opportunities for improving how research organizations transfer research knowledge can be found in the differences between the answers suggested by our understanding of the research literature and those provided by research-organization directors asked to describe what they do. In Canada, these opportunities include developing actionable messages for decision makers (only 30 percent of research organizations frequently or always do this), developing knowledge-uptake skills in target audiences and knowledge-transfer skills in research organizations (only 20 to 22 percent frequently or always do this), and evaluating the impact of knowledge-transfer activities (only 8 to 12 percent frequently or always conduct an evaluation). Research funders can help research organizations take advantage of these opportunities.

A profile of health research in Jamaica 1991-1995. Essential National Health Research Task Force.

A profile of health research in Jamaica between 1991 and 1995 was prepared in order to examine research capacity and needs as part of the process of promoting essential national health research. Of 43 organisations and research groups surveyed, 29 met the criterion of at least one peer reviewed publication between 1991 and 1995, and there were 201 health researchers. Most of the research groups had fewer than 20 professional staff with less than 10 engaged in health research. Institutional objectives and funding opportunities largely determined research priorities. 704 research papers were published over the period with 10 of the organisations responsible for 469 (66.6%). The number of research papers is overestimated because the same paper may be reported by more than one research group due to multiple authorship. On the whole, local research groups appear to be small, vulnerable, under-funded and deficient in basic equipment as well as trained and experienced researchers and support staff. These are compelling reasons for health researchers to come together to tackle common problems, promote collaboration and forge a joint strategy to strengthen health research capability in Jamaica.

A profile of health research in Jamaica 1991-1995. Essential National Health Research Task Force

A profile of health research in Jamaica between 1991 and 1995 was prepared in order to examine research capacity and needs as part of the process of promoting essential national health research. Of 43 organisations and research groups surveyed, 29 met the criterion of at least one peer reviewed publication between 1991 and 1995, and there were 201 health researchers. Most of the research groups had fewer than 20 professional staff with less than 10 engaged in health research. Institutional objectives and funding opportunities largely determined research priorities. 704 research papers were published over the period with 10 of the organisations responsible for 469 (66.6). The number of research papers is overestimated because the same paper may be reported by more than one research group due to multiple authorship. On the whole, local research groups appear to be small, vulnerable, under-funded and deficient in basic equipment as well as trained and experienced researchers and support staff. These are compelling reasons for health researchers to come together to tackle common problems, promote collaboration and forge a joint strategy to strengthen health research capability in Jamaica.

Toward national health system guidelines in Canada: reflections of a comprehensive audit.

A comprehensive assessment of the Health Program Guidelines (HPG) in Canada was undertaken between January and September 1992. This review examined the strategic effectiveness and operational efficiency of the guidelines under the auspices of the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Committee on Institutional and Medical Services. To assess the perceived needs for the guidelines, over 185 structured mail questionnaires were sent to a sample of health care agencies, institutions and organizations across Canada; the response rate was over 80.5%. A key informant approach was also used to assess the perceived effectiveness and efficiency of the guidelines. Based on the results of the questionnaires, over 45 interviews and an extensive content analysis of key documents, recommendations were made that may be relevant to the Canadian health system community.