The Cochrane Review Group on HIV/AIDS is one of more than 50 Collaborative Review Groups (CRGs) of the Cochrane Collaboration. Established in 1992, the Cochrane Collaboration is an international network of health care professionals, researchers and consumers committed to developing and maintaining comprehensive, regularly updated systematic reviews of health care interventions in a given medical specialty. These are published online in The Cochrane Library.
The Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group, established in 1997, works with researchers from around the world in preparing and updating rigorous systematic reviews of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care interventions. In a field evolving as rapidly as HIV/AIDS, the best evidence for treatment and prevention decisions may not always be clear. This is especially true in resource-constrained settings. Cochrane systematic reviews on HIV/AIDS topics assist clinicians, public health practitioners, policy makers and consumers in making evidence-based decisions about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and provide direct translation of cutting-edge research into practice.
Picture 1, the team in San Francisco. Left to right: Angela Broad, Hana Azman, Tara Horvath, Gail Kennedy, George Rutherford.
Picture 2, the team in Cape Town. Left to right, back: Elizabeth Pienaar, George Rutherford (visiting from San Francisco), Joy Oliver. Front: Babalwa Zani, Nandi Siegfried
The primary responsibilities of the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group include:
- Identification and assembly of a specialized registry of all trials and controlled studies within the scope of the Group.
- Preparation and maintenance of Systematic Reviews.
- Preparation of monthly submissions for the Cochrane Library (planned and completed reviews)
- Dissemination of reviews produced by the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group and information about the Cochrane Collaboration and the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group.
Editorial Base (San Francisco):
- Coordinating Editor: Dr. George Rutherford
- Co-Managing Editor: Gail Kennedy
- Co-Managing Editor: Tara Horvath
- Assistant Managing Editor: Hana Azman
- Editorial Assistant: Angela Broad
Satellite Editorial Base (Cape Town):
- Deputy Coordinating Editor: Dr. Nandi Siegfried
- Assistant Managing Editor: Joy Oliver
- Trials Search Coordinator: Joy Oliver
- Assistant Trials Search Coordinator: Babalwa Zani
Editorial Board:
Treatment, Diagnostics and Prognostics
- Dr. Gary Maartens (University of Cape Town)
Behavioral, Social and Policy Prevention
- Dr. Don Operario (Brown University)
Biomedical Prevention
- Dr. John Kaldor (University of New South Wales)
Health Services and Care
- Dr. Rick Glazier (University of Toronto)
Opportunistic Infections
- Dr. Larry Chang (Johns Hopkins University)
Pediatrics (cross-cutting)
- Dr. Mary Lou Lindegren (Vanderbilt University)
Consumer Editor
- Kevin Osborne (International Planned Parenthood Federation, UK)
Methods & Statistics Editor
- Dr. Andrew Anglemyer (UCSF and Stanford University)
Search Methods Editor
- Elizabeth Pienaar (South African Cochrane Centre)
Consumer participation in the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group
Consumer advocacy groups such as the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) and the Global Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (GNP +) have been instrumental in the development and growth of the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group. These groups have helped to identify the HIV/AIDS Group's consumer editor whose responsibilities include representing consumers internationally and offering guidance to the identification of high priority reviews to be conducted. In addition, the consumer editor is charged with refereeing all abstracts of completed reviews and overseeing the creation of synopses of completed reviews which will be disseminated via our Web Site and will offer a brief overview of the review.
If you are interested to learn more about the role of consumers in the Cochrane Collaboration, please visit the Cochrane Consumers Network Web Site.