How to Conduct Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses to Improve Environmental Health Policy and Decision-Making
Thank you to those that attended our Systematic Review workshops. We hope to offer this again in the future!
Beginner Workshop: Thursday, February 13, 2025; 10:30 am - 5 pm (course outline)
Advanced Workshop: Friday, February 14, 2025; 9 am - 4 pm (course outline)
Systematic reviews are increasingly becoming the gold standard for reviewing environmental health related science. Developed over 10 years ago first by the University of California, San Francisco’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment ‘Navigation Guide’, they have quickly evolved into use in multiple government agencies and recommended and used by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Best practices have been established and recommended by the NAS, though methods evolve over time as lessons learned from empirical evaluation are incorporated into updated approaches. In parallel, systematic review methods used in clinical medicine also continue to evolve and inform environmental health reviews. Currently there are shared and divergent approaches to systematic review in environmental health. Given the growth and use of systematic reviews, it is critical that the systematic review methods implemented in environmental health adhere to best practices, including methods such as meta-analyses that can help increase the statistical power and strengthen the findings from individual studies by producing quantitative estimates of risk.
This series of workshops will teach key steps to conducting best practice systematic review, including problem identification, protocol development, study search strategy, ‘risk of bias’ assessment and evidence synthesis. Additionally, participants will learn how to conduct ‘risk of bias’ assessments and understand the important biases to consider in environmental epidemiological studies and the limitations of various tools currently used to inappropriately remove studies from a body of evidence. Finally, they will learn how to conduct meta-analysis when appropriate, to inform a bottom-line and actionable summary of the evidence.
The advanced workshop is designed for scientists with experience in conducting systematic reviews who want to explore more complex methodological issues in depth.
Lead Instructor:
Nicholas Chartres, PhD is a senior research fellow at The University of Sydney where he leads a program of work in collaboration with the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment. He specialises in studying commercial determinants of health, focusing on chemicals, fossil fuels, nutrition and public health. Dr. Chartres has extensive experience in evidence synthesis, including systematic review methods, and collaborates with international organizations to develop empirically based guidelines and risk assessments. His work emphasizes improving consistency, enhancing transparency, and reducing bias in evaluating scientific evidence and shaping policy recommendations.
Other Instructors:
Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, Professor & Director, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) and the Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, San Francisco
Juleen Lam, PhD, MHS, MS Assistant Professor, Department of Health Sciences, California State University East Bay
Emily Lasher, MPH, Science Associate, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, San Francisco