Going global: Lessons from WHO on Trust in Science during the Pandemic

Going global: Lessons from WHO on Trust in Science during the Pandemic, with special guest Professor Lisa Askie

Producing trusted but timely global guidance, that was useful and used by countries, was a major challenge for WHO during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now back in ‘peacetime’ the Organisation is taking stock of the lessons learned and making these new, more agile, ways of gathering and using scientific evidence a routine way of working. What role can Australia play in helping WHO achieve this goal? Honorary Prof Lisa Askie will share her insights on these issues having been on the frontline of WHO guideline development since moving to WHO in 2020.

Event Details:

• Date: Thursday, 5 December 2024
• Time: 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM
• Location: 
  • Onsite: Chris O’Brien Life House, Education Centre, Camperdown
  • Virtual

Guest Speaker:

Honorary Professor LISA ASKIE

PhD MPH BN FAHMS FHEA

Methods Scientist, Quality Assurance Norms & Standards Dept

World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Professor Lisa Askie joined WHO at its Geneva Headquarters in 2020 as Scientist and Methods Lead within the Quality Assurance Norms and Standards Dept, in the Science Division. Her role is to support WHO to innovate and adopt best practice methods and standards, thereby ensuring the evidence underpinning its global guidance is trusted and timely, so it has maximal impact in countries.

Lisa is the senior internal methodologist for the global WHO COVID-19 Therapeutics Living Guidelines and the technical lead for the revised terminology relating to transmission of pathogens through the air, working directly with the WHO Chief Scientist. She also provides methodology support to the new WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India and is leading WHO’s efforts to adopt a more ‘living’ approach to keeping its guidance always up-to-date. Recently, she was the invited guest Editor for a special theme issue of the WHO Bulletin assessing the future of WHO’s normative function.

Prior to her WHO appointment Prof Askie led a large team at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, which managed the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, undertook Health Technology Assessments for the Australian Government, hosted two Cochrane entities (Breast Cancer Review Group, Prospective Meta-analysis Methods Group) and oversaw an extensive medical test evaluation research program.

Lisa’s clinical background is in perinatology and she has worked as a neonatal nurse and midwife in healthcare systems in Asia, Australia, UK and USA. She undertook her postdoctoral fellowship at the UK Cochrane Centre in Oxford. Prof Askie has a long-standing interest in the methodology of clinical trials, systematic reviews and other forms of evidence synthesis, especially regarding increasing research transparency and reducing research waste. She has published over 150 scientific papers, has been a member of various academic advisory boards, and is an Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and Higher Education Academy Fellow.

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