New paper! 📣 People with cirrhosis are often monitored for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common primary liver cancer. But how accurate are the various tests (imaging, blood & genomic biomarkers) - particularly for detecting early-stage cancer? bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/13/1...

📢New funded PhD available!📢 Design and analysis to estimate diagnostic test accuracy without universal verification Applications close on Monday 16th March. More info➡️ tinyurl.com/8vhvse8p @bristoluni.bsky.social @profhayleyjones.bsky.social

📣 PhD studentship - Biostatistics 💻 University of Bristol, UK Help improve methods for something that affects us all - how accurate are tests for disease? Learn, apply & develop Bayesian models to estimate accuracy from varying study designs, synthesise evidence & optimise design of future studies

How do researchers estimate prevalence when public health data are incomplete? Looking forward to attending & presenting at this symposium in Denver USA in a few weeks. And you can join online! calendar.cuanschutz.edu/event/Public... 4th Feb 09:45-13:00 MST(=16:45-20:00 GMT) Register by 28th Jan

In Edinburgh for work. Some (Scottish) guy was in my way when I was walking back to my hotel. When he saw me waiting behind him he shouted “Sorry! Just tell me to get oot of your way next time - you’re in F-ing Scotland!” Love it 😂

Addiction is currently seeking to expand its pool of Statistics & Methodology Editors - please see here for more details, including how to apply www.addictionjournal.org/newsroom/dep...

Huh? 🤔

Super proud of my PhD student Yasin Okkaoglu who passed his viva with very minor corrections today 🥳. We’ve enjoyed guiding him through research on latent class models to estimate diagnostic test accuracy, and we’ve learned a lot too! Yasin is heading to Newcastle Uni next for a post doc position.

Planned to go to ISCB this year for the first time in ages, but it’s sold out before I got around to booking! 😭

How ‘correct’ should #evidencesynthesis be? How does this change if we add #AI? Help inform new tool dev and best practice guidance! forms.office.com/e/ZwdicYQpjv Open until 2 Jul, ~35 mins. Part of @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded DESTinY @campbellreviews.bsky.social @ellaflem.bsky.social

Finally official! We're excited to have just launched the new NIHR Bristol Evidence Synthesis for Screening (BESS) Group. Funded for 5 years to produce evidence reviews and models to support the important work of the UK National Screening Committee. nationalscreening.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/07/n...

We extended our work from last year to estimate prevalence of opioid dependence in Scotland up to 2022/23 and for 4 additional NHS Boards. For more info about this project and model, see hprubse.blogspot.com/2024/08/coun... Updated estimates now available via the PHS report below.

Looking forward to presenting (online) with colleagues tomorrow, on our use of rich linked data in Scotland to better understand prevalence of and risks of opioid dependence. Still time to sign up via link below

📣*Information Scientists*: please share in your networks! Part time (50%) 5 year position available at Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol UK Opportunity to contribute to evidence syntheses needed to support the work of the UK National Screening Committee www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

Where in this article do Drs say either of those things? 🤔

📣Still time to apply for this job - closing date 13th January. A 5 year post doc position for a statistician with expertise in evidence synthesis / meta-analysis. Opportunity to join the excellent Bristol Evidence synthesis Appraisal and Modelling Centre at the University of Bristol, UK!

JOBS: Multiple evidence synthesis posts available at the University of Bristol: *4x (Senior) Research Associate (SRA/RA) in Evidence Synthesis www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de... *SRA in Medical Statistics www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de... *SRA in Information Science www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

JOB! We're looking for a post doc (or equivalent) statistician with interest in meta-analysis and NMA to work across University of Bristol's 3 NIHR Evidence Synthesis Groups. www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de... Yes, I know this is a crazy time to advertise and I'll send reminders after Christmas!

NEW TSD 25 evidence synthesis one page summary. To view visit: bit.ly/3ZxIreu To view the series of TSDs in the area of evidence synthesis, visit: bit.ly/3ZsV8XX For all available TSD one page summaries, visit: bit.ly/3Sx5ljz

Super interesting 1950s screening programme, including this amazing sounding publicity campaign: “two specially commissioned songs… which were played at football matches, church services, and on the radio. Illuminated tram cars carried posters, an aeroplane flew over the city trailing a banner”

Excited to announce NICE Technical Support Document 25: Evidence synthesis of diagnostic test accuracy for decision making. Guidance on implementation of meta-analysis of test accuracy and use of results in decision models. Available from: www.sheffield.ac.uk/nice-dsu/tsd...

New paper! Latent class models can be used to estimate diagnostic test accuracy without a 'gold standard' to compare with, but test correlations within true disease state (conditional dependence) can be a big challenge. Estimates of accuracy can be biased... (1/5) doi.org/10.1186/s128...

A handy little app for showing how a diagnostic test result changes probability of disease - input sensitivity & specificity values, which could be from a single study or a #metaanalysis. For more on interpreting test accuracy results, see also Alex Sutton’s DTA primer: crsu.shinyapps.io/diagprimer/

We found a mouse in our house. The (indoor) cats are working hard on their surveillance duties 🙄 😹

Question for my #EvidenceSynthesis #MetaAnalysis #SystematicReview folks: I'm organizing the 2025 meeting of the Society for Research Synthesis Methods (www.srsm.org). Currently working on the call for submissions, which it has me dreaming about sessions I would love to see at the conference....

I am trying to find reviewers for a paper which explores the use of LLMs to assess risk of bias in the context of evidence synthesis. I have asked 19 people so far…If you have experience with LLMs and/or RoB assessments AND a desire to review a paper please get in touch.

MEMTAB 2025 pre-conference courses news! 2 options: - An Introduction to Clinical Prediction Models and Sample Size Calculations for Model Development & Evaluation - Systematic Reviews of Prognosis Studies Just £50 when registering for conference! Details 👇 uobevents.eventsair.com/memtab-2025/...

Hi new followers! For those interested in/working on evidence synthesis methods, have you heard of the Society for Research Synthesis Methodology (SRSM)? www.srsm.org We welcome applications from those meeting any 1 of our 5 criteria: www.srsm.org/how-to-apply...

My first post on this new platform will be sharing our recent research into Suicide among people with opioid dependence. In short, risk is much higher than the general population (8 times higher), but rates have fallen over time and treatment is protective. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Register here for our next webinar with Mikkel Vembye: www.srmasig.org/seminar/

Andreas Markoulidakis presenting our work at #LxAddictions24 today! Find out more via our paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11… Better yet - come and do a PhD with us and explore how we can extend the methods to estimate stimulant dependence…

Re-upping this now I have new followers interested in #Bayesian stats! This funded PhD is a great opportunity to train in Bayesian evidence synthesis - we'll estimate unknown quantities (number of people dependent on drug X) using multiple data sources & simultaneous regressions. That's fun, right?!

PhD STUDENTSHIP: Developing and testing novel methods to estimate the prevalence of methamphetamine and cocaine dependence gw4biomed.ac.uk/wp-content/u... University of Bristol, UK Apply through the GW4 BioMed2 MRC DTP funding scheme: gw4biomed.ac.uk/how-to-apply... Deadline 4th November

BLOG: We talk about the challenges of estimating how many people are dependent on opioids, why we even need these estimates, and our new “MPEP” approach to estimating. Includes application to Scotland tinyurl.com/3njbh79s Hopefully understandable even if totally not your field!

New paper! We estimated prevalence of opioid dependence in Scotland 2015-2020, using Bayesian modelling of linked treatment, drug-related deaths and overdose hospitalisations data. doi.org/10.1111/add.16… It’s well known there were substantial increases in opioid-related (1/5)

Funded PhD opportunity in epidemiology/med stats with @MarthaElwen, Penny Whiting and me: Optimal management & follow up of patients after coeliac disease diagnosis: evidence synthesis & routine data analysis. @BrisHealthSci @BristolUni UK. Applications close 1st Dec www.findaphd.com/phds/project...