Penn Dental Medicine’s Center for Integrative Global Oral Health (CIGOH) has partnered with Cochrane Oral Health to form the Cochrane Oral Health Collaborating Center at Penn Dental Medicine. The new Center marks a significant step in helping to expand evidence-based knowledge to inform practice and oral health policy worldwide.
Cochrane Oral Health, at The University of Manchester in the UK, is one of the groups within Cochrane, a global not-for-profit network that produces systematic reviews across all areas of medicine. Cochrane has more than 37,000 contributors from over 190 countries working together to produce up-to-date, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest to help inform decisions about healthcare. Since its inception, Cochrane has defined the methodological standards for conducting systematic reviews around the world.
The Cochrane Oral Health Collaborating Center at Penn Dental Medicine will build upon the work of Cochrane Oral Health, engaging researchers from around the globe in systematic reviews summarizing the best available evidence on oral health topics to help clinicians, policymakers, patients, and caregivers make well-informed decisions. Cochrane Oral Health publishes its reviews, updates, and protocols in the Cochrane Library and those produced through the Collaborating Center at Penn Dental Medicine will become part of the Cochrane Library as well.
“This partnership places Penn Dental Medicine at the center of the oral-health-evidence-synthesis field globally and aligns with the School’s mission to transform global oral health and well-being through exceptional clinical care, innovation, education, and research,” said Dr. Alonso Carrasco-Labra, director of the Cochrane Oral Health Collaborating Center at Penn Dental Medicine.
Systematic Review Course, June 5-9, 2023
The center will also focus on extensive capacity building and training a new generation of evidence-synthesis researchers and policymakers. The new center will present its first workshop June 5-9, 2023. The five-day course on how to conduct and publish systematic reviews and meta-analyses will be presented by CIGOH faculty and colleagues from Cochrane Oral Health in the UK.
In a related initiative, a new Master of Science in Oral and Population Health program at Penn Dental Medicine will welcome its first class in September 2023.
Learn more in this Q&A with Dr. Carrasco-Labra.
