Dr Rui Wang receives 2019 Thomas C Chalmers Award for best poster presentation

Dr Rui Wang

Dr Rui Wang, a postdoctoral research fellow from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, has received the Thomas C Chalmers Award for the best poster presentation at the Virtual Cochrane Colloquium held from 2-6 December 2019.

Established in 1994, the Thomas C Chalmers Award is presented to the principal author of both the best oral and the best poster presentation addressing methodological issues related to systematic reviews given by an early career investigator. 

Dr Wang won for his poster "Reporting of Cochrane systematic review protocols with network meta-analyses – a scoping review."

Network meta-analysis is a relatively new statistical method in evidence-based medicine and the development of its methodology reflects methodological diversity. Protocols of network meta-analyses are the cornerstone to guarantee the quality of network meta-analyses and to ensure transparency and reproducibility, however, the reporting of fundamental assumptions and methods in protocols has been neglected.

Dr Wang and his colleagues summarised the characteristics of network meta-analyses protocols in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, identified the gaps in reporting and provided insights into ways to improve. The collaborative project involved methodologists from Monash University, The University of Sydney and The University of Amsterdam.

On receiving the award Dr Wang said, “I am honoured to receive this prestigious award on behalf of our research team, and I’m grateful for our ongoing collaboration to improve research quality in evidence-based medicine.”

The theme for this year’s Virtual Cochrane Colloquium was 'Embracing Diversity'.