Overhaul or overload for French science?

Far-reaching government reforms are being implemented to overhaul France's national research organizations in the life and health sciences, but researchers are anxious about what lies ahead. Karen Dente reports.

Ethics committee registration and re-registration with the regulatory authority in India.

Background: All ethics committees (ECs) that review and monitor clinical trials in India must be registered with the regulatory authority. We ascertained the status of registration and re-registration of ECs till December 2017. Methods: The ECs registered and re-registered with the Indian regulatory authority till December 2017 were extracted. The status of ECs was analysed according to the state, institute category and registration. Results: A total of 1260 ECs were registered, of which 14% were based in medical colleges, 2% in dental colleges, 61.2% in hospitals other than medical colleges and 8% as independent ECs. Of the recognized medical and dental colleges, only 37.3% and 10.9%, respectively, and 45.9% of ECs from teaching hospitals (other than medical and dental colleges) had registered with the regulatory authority. Of the 911 ECs eligible for re-registration, 516 (56.5%) had reregistered. Conclusion: A low proportion of registrations ofECs from eligible academic health institutions raises concern about adherence to regulatory guidelines and conduct of clinical trials in India. The lower re-registration of ECs helps in the identification of factors which should be addressed to facilitate clinical research in India.

Bibliometric profile of Tunisian medical publications written in English and indexed in Medline.

BACKGROUND: English is becoming nowadays the universal language of science. Rresearch published in English can be considered as a bibliometric indicator of the scientific productivity. AIM: We sought to describe the evolution of the Tunisian medical publications written in English over the period from 2004 to 2014. METHODS: Medline's database was consulted using a research query associating the names of the country and the main university cities both in French and in English. The articles with a Tunisian health affiliation were retained but the articles of dentistry, pharmacy and non-medical fields were not included. RESULTS: We counted 979 English language Tunisian medical articles published during the three tracer years of the study: 2004, 2009 and 2014. The increase rate was about 38% between 2004 and 2014. The contribution of medical fields in English language publications was important but showed a clear decrease over time. The retrieved articles did not have the same distribution according to the specialties and the institutions. The distribution according to the journals showed that these articles were mainly published by foreign journals with an increasing impact factors between 2004 and 2014. CONCLUSION: The English language Tunisian medical productivity had shown an important increase over time but many specialties and institutions still not enough implicated in this production.Therefore, increasing research funding, improving the physicians' research methodology and English writing capacities are likely needed to improve the Tunisian medical output.

Oral health needs assessment world-wide in relation to HIV. Themes: Oral health needs and inequalities, oral health promotion, co-ordinating research and enhancing dissemination in relation to HIV- a workshop report.

OBJECTIVES: Review the meaning of 'health need', consider oral health inequalities and oral health promotion among people with HIV and outline methods to enhance coordination, standardization and dissemination of research efforts. METHODS: This workshop involved a brief introduction of each topic by an invited speaker followed by participant discussion. Participants were dentists and dental students attending the 7th World Workshop on Oral Health & Disease in AIDS RESULTS: A health need was regarded as a population's ability to benefit from care. Oral health inequalities called for both downstream and upstream health promotion. A community health programme to reach people with HIV infection in the community was described. Despite deploying community health workers to reduce costs, the programme required additional resources for comprehensive implementation. The Indian National AIDS Control Program exemplified coordinated efforts. Knowledge transfer can be achieved via educational, linkage and exchange and organizational interventions. Stakeholder engagement in a combination of all three types of intervention is the most effective. CONCLUSIONS: The discussion centred on the difficulties of Indian dentists who felt they did not receive sufficient revenue to treat patients with HIV. An opposing view approach treated all patients using universal standards of infection control. Dental regulatory bodies, professional organizations and governments may need to demonstrate leadership and advocacy for the oral health of people with HIV infection.

Developing a strategic research framework for sport and exercise medicine.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Sport and exercise medicine (SEM) is a young, fast growing discipline. The need to broaden its evidence base has been established. The aim of the study was to compile a research-based strategic framework for the development of a sustainable research programme in SEM at a South African university. METHODS: A literature review, internal document analysis, semistructured interviews with role players within the university and a Delphi process utilising a panel of international and national experts in research and SEM, were applied. Results were analysed and categorised regarding foundational aspects and operational components to create a sustainable research programme in SEM. RESULTS: The foundational level of the framework consists of points of departure, premises and resources. Points of departure regarding SEM, the university, management, research and sustainability were identified. The premises for the research programme are relevance, currency, flexibility, implementability and a scientific base. Internal, institutional and external resources required by the programme were identified. The operational level was developed according to the W.K. Kellogg programme logic model. It consists of academic and management inputs; a central hub of activities which drives the programme; desired financial, human and academic outputs, and long-term qualitative and quantitative outcomes. The third level represents a sustainable research programme which is constantly monitored and reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: The strategic framework provides guidelines for the development and sustainable management of an SEM research programme. It will make a substantial contribution to the research, further development, and ultimately the status of SEM in South Africa.

The IOC Centres of Excellence bring prevention to sports medicine.

The protection of an athlete's health and preventing injuries and illnesses in sport are top priorities for the IOC and its Medical Commission. The IOC therefore partners with selected research centres around the world and supports research in the field of sports medicine. This has enabled the IOC to develop an international network of expert scientists and clinicians in sports injury and disease prevention research. The IOC wants to promote injury and disease prevention and the improvement of physical health of the athlete by: (1) establishing long-term research programmes on injury and disease prevention (including studies on basic epidemiology, risk factors, injury mechanisms and intervention), (2) fostering collaborative relationships with individuals, institutions and organisations to improve athletes' health, (3) implementing and collaborating with applied, ongoing and novel research and development within the framework and long-term strategy of the IOC and (4) setting up knowledge translation mechanisms to share scientific research results with the field throughout the Olympic Movement and sports community and converting these results into concrete actions to protect the health of the athletes. In 2009, the IOC also identified four research centres that had an established track record in research, educational and clinical activities to achieve these ambitions: (1) the Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention (ACRISP), Australia; (2) the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre (SIPRC), Canada; (3) the Clinical Sport and Exercise Medicine Research (CSEM), South Africa and (4) the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC), Norway. This paper highlights the work carried out by these four IOC Centres of Excellence over the past 6 years and their contribution to the world of sports medicine.

The Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI): Innovations and Lessons for Health Professions Training and Research in Africa.

MEPI was a $130 million competitively awarded grant by President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to 13 Medical Schools in 12 Sub-Saharan African countries and a Coordinating Centre (CC). Implementation was led by Principal investigators (PIs) from the grantee institutions supported by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), NIH and the CC from September, 2010 to August, 2015. The goals were to increase the capacity of the awardees to produce more and better doctors, strengthen locally relevant research, promote retention of the graduates within their countries and ensure sustainability. MEPI ignited excitement and stimulated a broad range of improvements in the grantee schools and countries. Through in-country consortium arrangements African PIs expanded the programme from the 13 grantees to over 60 medical schools in Africa, creating vibrant South-South and South-North partnerships in medical education, and research. Grantees revised curricular to competency based models, created medical education units to upgrade the quality of education and established research support centres to promote institutional and collaborative research. MEPI stimulated the establishment of ten new schools, doubling of the students' intake, in some schools, a three-fold increase in post graduate student numbers, and faculty expansion and retention.Sustainability of the MEPI innovations was assured by enlisting the support of universities and ministries of education and health in the countries thus enabling integration of the new programs into the regular national budgets. The vibrant MEPI annual symposia are now the largest medical education events in Africa attracting global participation. These symposia and innovations will be carried forward by the successor of MEPI, the African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth). AFREhealth promises to be more inclusive and transformative bringing together other health professionals including nurses, pharmacists, and dentists.

Forms of interdisciplinarity in four sport science research centres in Europe.

Interdisciplinarity is often presented as a significant element of sport science. We present here the results of an investigation conducted in four European Sport Science Research Centres applying interdisciplinarity. Four main dimensions, that we have called "forms", have been investigated. The "scientific", "organisational", "academic" and "societal" forms cover a wide range of activities run by these Centres. We have compared their situations using indicators. Globally they present quite similar combinations of forms, with dominant roles in the construction of interdisciplinarity played by the organisational and societal forms. The scientific form is never quite supported by an epistemological setting and the academic form, mostly characterised by the position of the university, plays an influential role when it is hostile to that kind of research. Following Klein classification, all of them remain at a multidisciplinary stage, one of them exploring interdisciplinary tracks in some research projects. The development of a common culture and a curiosity regarding disciplines other than its own is a key factor for a sustainable situation, as is the capacity to secure long-term financial resources, often linked to a high academic recognition for the director(s).

Biomedical journals in Republic of Macedonia: the current state.

Several biomedical journals in the Republic of Macedonia have succeeded in maintaining regular publication over the years, but only a few have a long-standing tradition. In this paper we present the basic characteristics of 18 biomedical journals that have been published without a break in the Republic of Macedonia. Of these, more details are given for 14 journals, a particular emphasis being on the journal Prilozi/Contributions of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Section of Medical Sciences as one of the journals with a long-term publishing tradition and one of the journals included in the Medline/PubMed database. A brief or broad description is given for the following journals: Macedonian Medical Review, Acta Morphologica, Physioacta, MJMS-Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, International Medical Journal Medicus, Archives of Public Health, Epilepsy, Macedonian Orthopaedics and Traumatology Journal, BANTAO Journal, Macedonian Dental Review, Macedonian Pharmaceutical Bulletin, Macedonian Veterinary Review, Journal of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Balkan Journal of Medical Genetics, Contributions of the Macedonian Scientific Society of Bitola, Vox Medici, Social Medicine: Professional Journal for Public Health, and Prilozi/Contributions of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Journals from Macedonia should aim to be published regularly, should comply with the Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals, and with the recommendations of reliable organizations working in the field of publishing and research. These are the key prerequisites which Macedonian journals have to accomplish in order to be included in renowned international bibliographic databases. Thus the results of biomedical science from the Republic of Macedonia will be presented to the international scientific arena.

Want to do clinical research? Changes in the NHS mean there's never been a better time.

This article aims to explain the recent changes in the NHS research support system as it applies to dentistry; information that will be of value to all clinical academics and dentists considering taking part in research. The changes mean that investment goes where patient benefit research is happening. The system has put in place transparent mechanisms to reimburse NHS organisations including dental practices that take part in research and train clinicians in research skills. Through NHS investment in 'translational research', public funds are used directly to deliver improved and more cost effective patient care.

The challenges of defining oral cancer: analysis of an ontological approach.

An important inconsistency currently exists in the literature on oral cancer. Reviewing this literature, one finds that the term oral cancer is defined and described with great variation. In a search in PubMed, at least 17 different terms were found for titles of papers reporting data on oral cancer. The variability of the terms used for designating anatomic regions and type of malignant neoplasms for reporting oral cancer has hampered the ability of researchers to effectively retrieve information concerning oral cancer. Therefore, it is sometimes extremely difficult to provide meaningful comparisons among various studies of oral cancer. Recently, a new ontological strategy that is rooted in consensus-based controlled vocabularies has been proposed to improve the consistency of data in dental research (Smith et al. in J Am Dent Assoc 141:1173-1175, 2010). In this paper, we analyzed the terminology dilemma on oral cancer and explained the current situation. We proposed a possible solution to the dilemma using an ontology-based approach. The advantages for applying this strategy are also discussed.

Engaging Patients With Sickle Cell Disease and Their Families in Disease Education, Research, and Community Awareness.

This article describes the planning, implementation, and evaluation of Research and Education Day, an event designed to promote education and awareness of sickle cell disease (SCD), while also fostering and increasing participation by families in research studies. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation data (tracking of participant attendance and participation in research studies; program evaluation surveys) indicate that program goals were achieved. Results show that event attendance, research participation and retention, and community volunteerism has increased exponentially over the 8-year history of the event. Parents report that their top-rated reasons for attending are learning about research studies and participating in SCD-related educational activities. Data also show that families learn about the event in multiple ways (i.e., flyers, clinic staff, word of mouth, etc.). Research and Education Day is a model for educating participants with sickle cell and their families, engaging them in research studies, and enhancing community awareness and support.