CHAIR’S REPORT - 2010

I’m delighted to highlight events that have occurred within the Cochrane Consumer Network over the last several months.

A Consumers’ Transitional Executive (CTE) for the Cochrane Consumer Network (CCNet) was established in May 2010, following the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group’s (CCSG’s) strategic planning session on consumer involvement in Auckland in March 2010. The CCSG recommended “an extended remit for CCNet, together with an agreed governance structure[i]” and appointed a planning group (Jonathan Craig, Liz Whamond, Lorne Becker, Mary Ellen Shaafsma, Mingming Zhang, Nick Royle and Sophie Hill) for this purpose.

The planning group decided that the new CTE should include the two current CCNet representatives on the Steering Group (Liz Whamond and Mingming Zhang) and four former Steering Group members (Godwin Aja, Gill Gyte, Silvana Simi and Janet Wale. Janet declined to be on the CTE but remains on the CCNet Geographical Advisory Group).  The first CTE teleconference was held in July 2010.The CTE has set up an email ‘decision-making process’ that is transparent to the Collaboration and the CCNet membership. 

At the Colloquium meeting, CTE will meet with CCNet members to determine the strategic direction of the Network.  The CTE will propose core functions for CCNet following a request from the Collaboration’s Monitoring and Registration Committee (MaRC). These functions will flow from the Steering Group’s decision in Auckland. The CTE agreed that for each CCNet core function/activity, a small working group be set up comprising a member of the CTE, the new Consumer Co-ordinator and a member of the Geographical Advisory Group (GAG), and members of CCNet. 

The work done in Pisa, Italy, in 2004 (by Gill Gyte, Silvana Simi and Janet Wale) to restructure the Cochrane Consumer Network (after it was withdrawn from being an Association in Australia), and the subsequent structure diagram, will be used as the basis for drafting a new document on ‘Roles and responsibilities’ and a new ‘Structure diagram’. It was agreed in Auckland that the primary core function of CCNet should be ‘empowerment and support for consumers’.

Catherine McIlwain has been appointed to the recently established position of Consumer Co-ordinator, following interviews in London, England, in early September 2010. The members of the interview panel were Lorne Becker, Gill Gyte, Nick Royle and Liz Whamond. Catherine is from Washington, DC (USA), and started work on 22nd September 2010. She has worked as a research field officer in Tanzania and with migrant non-English-speaking Hispanic women in North Carolina. She has a Masters Degree in Public Health from Tulane University, New Orleans and more recently has worked in website communication and as a Senior Advisor for The Campbell Collaboration. The CTE is very excited about working with Catherine.

My report would not be complete without giving thanks to those individuals work whose work we are building upon.  Janet Wale gave energetically over several years and we are extremely grateful for her continued dedication to CCNet and consumers.  The next steps would have been impossible without her role. Thanks too to Jane Nadel for her hard work as administrator.  I wish also to thank members of the Transitional Executive for readily agreeing to join the team.  It signifies their belief in the engagement of consumers in Cochrane. 

Finally, thank you to Nick Royle, Lorne Becker, Jonathan Craig and members of the Cochrane Steering Group for endorsing a dedicated position for the Network and their ongoing support of consumers.

Liz Whamond (Chair)

October 18, 2010