Abstract
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are essential for distilling reliable insights from available scientific evidence to help guide clinical decision-making, in health economics and for policymaking. They can also be critical tools to provide more robust evidence for guideline development as well as to identify gaps in the current scientific literature that can inform a future research agenda. This talk will cover the process of conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses, including the formulation of research questions, literature search strategies, data extraction methods and established frameworks. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of ensuring transparency and interpreting results within the context of research quality. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the practicalities of performing these and the applications of these useful tools in evidence-based practice.
Dr. Meghna Jani is an NIHR Advanced Fellow/ Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research at The University of Manchester. Her research interests include addressing clinically important questions by utilising digital data via Electronic Health Records from both primary/ secondary care using pharmacoepidemiology and health data science. Her PhD, funded by the Medical Research Council, evaluated the effectiveness and safety of biologic drugs in rheumatic diseases using national observational datasets and registry data. She has won several national & international research awards including being the 2019 recipient of the British Society for Rheumatology Young Investigator Award, EULAR abstract awards and Versus Arthritis Research Highlight of the Year Award 2024. She has served on the NICE External assessment group for the evaluation of TNFi therapeutic drug monitoring Diagnostic Assessment Committee and more recently the BMJ Rapid Recommendations for Proactive therapeutic drug monitoring across specialties. She has previously been part of the European/ EULAR task forces for management of rheumatoid arthritis, therapeutic drug monitoring of biologics and Remote Monitoring of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Conditions.