Travel story: Zohra Lassi

Zohra Lassi from the Robinson Research Institute visited A/Prof Thomas Debray at Cochrane Netherlands and attended a course on “Individual Participant Data – Meta Analysis (IPD-MA)” with the team of statisticians and methodologists from the Utrecht University in the Netherlands in June and July, 2018.

This is what Zohra had to say about her experience in the Netherlands.

What was a highlight of the travel?

To learn IPD-MA for predictive modelling.

Did you attend any workshops, labs, research facilities or attend any meetings associated with your travel?

I visited the Julian Centre and Cochrane Netherlands Centre at the Utrecht University, the Netherlands. I have made sustained contributions to the Cochrane Collaboration, as an author, a referee and trainer. While systematic reviews and meta-analyses are an important cornerstone of contemporary evidence-based medicine, it largely summarises published aggregate data, but it is increasingly common that individual participant data (IPD) are obtained from primary studies. As a result, new opportunities arise and more advanced statistical methods are needed to properly analyse the available data. Meeting the experts and attending the course helped me learn how a meta-analysis involving IPD can be conducted to investigate the comparative efficacy between different interventions, to investigate the accuracy of diagnostic tests, to develop clinical prediction models and to externally validate such models. The course further emphasised on statistical methods for dealing with between-study heterogeneity, and discuss how to interpret corresponding results.

Meeting with experts and attending the course have advanced my expertise in the domain of evidence-based medicine and synthesis. I would plan to carry out IPD analysis in the field of preconception health, adolescent health and nutrition by collaborating with the experts from the University of Utrecht.

Did you meet any researchers or collaborators of significance? Why are they important to your work?

I met Dr. Thomas Debray and Prof. Carl Moons, who are experts in IPD-MA. They have expertise in the IPD-MA methodologies and have published extensively on IPD-MA.

How will the experience support you and your research going forward?

After hearing a range of world-class neurobiology research, it encouraged me to think of a ‘bigger picture’ of my research, leading to new ideas for experiments and motivation for my work. I made contacts who also use in utero electroporation technology and have planned to swap notes and tips, which will lead to further optimisation and improve the efficiency of my experiments. The opportunity I had to chair a session of the seminar and leading the discussion was a great experience and allowed me to build on my presentation and brainstorming skills.

What was the most exciting thing you learned/experienced whilst traveling?

Attendance at the course was extremely rewarding. I extend sincere thanks to RRI for providing me with the funds to attend the course and network with experts in IPD-MA.

What was the most interesting or unexpected moment of your travel?

There was a transport strike in the city and I was staying at 30 minutes’ drive away from the university. Renting a bike to commute was the interesting part during the travel.