Sir Iain Chalmers, coordinator of The James Lind Initiative, will use his plenary lecture at the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology meeting to highlight the need for the research community to be more effective in serving the information needs of patients and professionals. He will state there are currently large inefficiencies in the way health research is carried out, with the result that the needs of consumers of research results - patients and clinicians - are not being met effectively.
Over US$100 billion is put towards supporting biomedical research worldwide every year, resulting in an estimated 1 million research publications1. However, Sir Iain's presentation will argue that there are currently inefficiencies in the research system which could be reduced. Recommendations for improving productivity include:
Sir Iain Chalmers from The James Lind Initiative said: "The ultimate outcome of all health research should be to improve patient health and wellbeing. When carrying out new research, resources should be allocated as effectively as possible to projects that will reduce important uncertainties and offer the public good returns on its investments.
"Our work has shown that this is not the case currently and that there is still a large waste of resources in the way that health research is carried out and reported. There are a number of areas we have identified where this waste can be cut, including ensuring that patients and clinicians are consulted about their research priorities and that all findings of well conducted research are published, regardless of direction and strength of results. Although there are admirable exceptions, the research community as a whole needs to examine the way it functions and move towards making research more accessible and accountable to the end-users - patients, clinicians and the general public."