Monthly Archives: October 2016

The challenges of studying the effect of migration on health

dscn1113

In an increasingly globalized world, migration is becoming more and more prevalent. An often overlooked aspect of migration is the effect of a drastically new environment on a migrant’s health. In this blog, authors of an article published in BMC Medicine highlight their work on obesity and diabetes risk to African migrants compared to individuals still living in their native countries.

Q&A with Professor Olga Golubnitschaja: Predictive, preventive and personalised medicine

doctor-14618786564a0

Predictive, preventive and personalised medicine (PPPM) means a new culture and an advanced multi-professional approach focused on individual needs of healthy people and patients providing cost-effective solutions for healthcare system as the whole. EPMA (the European Association for Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine) have recently released guidelines and expert recommendations on the importance of shifting healthcare towards PPPM. In this Q&A, first author of the paper and Editor-in-Chief for EPMA Journal, Prof. Dr. Olga Golubnitschaja tells us more about the importance of this issue.

Systematic methods overviews: A rigorous approach for promoting methodological clarity

refraction_through_glasses_090306

Pushes to reduce waste in research has turned more attention on the methods we are using and questions on whether they are efficient and effective. In order to address this, new research published today in Systematic Reviews provides guidance on conducting methods overviews—also called reviews of methods – and here, lead author Stephen Gentles discusses their importance and what next steps we need to take to work towards methodological clarity across research designs.

Author, reviewer and editor – the talented Prof Stephen Lawn

At BioMed Central, we’re deeply saddened at the loss of Prof Stephen Lawn, who died on 23rd September after a battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was a passionate and talented researcher, and approached his roles on journals with equal energy. Here, two of our editors who dealt with him regularly on their journals, pay tribute to him.