06 Oct The Evidence, Policy and Influence Collaborative

Speakers: Professor Lisa Bero, Dr Barbara Mintzes, Dr Quinn Grundy, and Dr Nick Chartres

This seminar will present the work of the Evidence, Policy and Influence Collaborative (EPIC), a University of Sydney initiative focusing on evidence-based health policy. EPIC’s research program is centred around evidence synthesis and pharmaceutical policy, focusing on bias in the design conduct and reporting of research and, in particular, quantitative studies of bias in nutrition research. The presenters will also provide an overview of EPIC’s work on financial influences on research and decisions, before finishing the presentation on the topic of buying influence, with particular reference to pharmaceutical industry payments to health professionals and consumer groups.

Professor Lisa Bero is a pharmacologist and researcher in evidence-based health care who is internationally renowned for her studies on the integrity of clinical and basic research evidence that is used to influence health policy, and the manner in which evidence is communicated to key groups such as physicians, policy-makers, journalists and the community.

Dr Barbara Mintzes is a research scientist specialising in the study of pharmaceutical policy. Her research focuses on the effects of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs and other forms of pharmaceutical promotion on the prescribing and use of medicines. She also performs systematic reviews of clinical trial evidence regarding the health effects of medicines, including both benefit and harm, in terms of outcomes of importance to patients’ health.

Dr Quinn Grundy is a registered nurse and a researcher at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney. She studies industry partnerships in healthcare and academia, with a recent focus on mobile health.