Scientific Advisory Research Articles

Legal policy in the field of training scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel outside the higher education system

The modern legal policy in the field of preparation of dissertations for the degree of Сandidate of Sciences outside postgraduate education and the degree of Doctor of Sciences in doctoral studies is in the focus. The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that transition to the model of legislative regulation of doctoral studies and preparation of PhD dissertations outside postgraduate studies in the context of exclusively scientific activities has resulted in the lack of a proper legislative basis for functioning of the scientific sphere, while the state of higher education and science, provision of qualified personnel for all branches and spheres depends on the proper organization of doctoral and postdoctoral institutions. The aim is to identify the shortcomings of the legal policy and possible ways to improve it. The article investigates normative and legal regulation of training scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel outside higher education system; it critically assesses the present condition of higher education, prospects for improving the institutions of doctoral and postdoctoral studies. The general scientific (dialectical method, analysis, synthesis) and private scientific research methodology (formal-legal, system-structural, historical-legal methods) heavily contribute to the research. The outcome allows to substantiate the necessity to clearly establish the rights, duties and conditions of doctoral students and applicants at the legislative level. Detailed guarantees for such participants of scientific activity should promote the increasing demand for highly qualified specialists and realization of their creative potential. Financial incentives for doctoral students and their scientific consultants also need optimization being curently at a low level thus reducing the demand for doctoral and postdoctoral studies.

PP133 What Services And Products Should A Health Technology Assessment Agency Provide?

IntroductionHealth technology assessment (HTA) bodies support healthcare decision-making by producing different kind of products. The high speed of the healthcare innovations and the scenarios such as the COVID-19 pandemic challenge HTA organizations to adapt their services to better respond to these demands. The Spanish Network of HTA Agencies (RedETS) is redefining the services and the products in its portfolio. The first step has been conducting a review in order to identify the most relevant HTA products.MethodsA scoping review with two sections was conducted: (i) analysis of results from a bibliographic search performed in the main biomedical databases; and (ii) analysis of results from a manual review of the official websites of seven international HTA agencies: CADTH (Canada), INESSS (Canada), SBU (Sweden), NICE (United Kingdom), IQWIG (Germany), HAS (France), IECS (Argentina) and IETS (Colombia). The EUnetHTA website was also reviewed.ResultsThe search identified 1,311 references; 21 studies were considered relevant. The main topic found was about rapid responses services. The standard timeline for these should be less than six months, with even some produced in days. Transparency about methodology and involvement of decision-makers were considered key points to be included. Website analysis revealed similar HTA reports production but variation in the domains and elements considered. The timeframe for conducting a full HTA report can be up to 24 months, with a median of 12 months. Agencies also offer some kinds of rapid response services. Scientific consultation and horizon scanning systems for emerging technologies are other services performed by some agencies.ConclusionsThe review reveals that agencies have different products to address different needs throughout the life cycle of technologies: from scientific advice to full HTA. In addition, HTA agencies have incorporated rapid responses into their services. According to literature, these products could support short-term decision-making.

1643. Journey Mapping Penicillin Allergies in Children: Parental Experiences, Care Gaps, and Suggestions Offered by Parents to Address Unmet Needs

Abstract Background Penicillin allergies are commonly reported in children but rarely true and perpetuate the use of alternative antibiotics. Leading allergy societies recommend a proactive approach to penicillin allergy delabeling. We use patient journey mapping to identify opportunities to improve the delabeling of penicillin allergies in children before, during, and after a child’s initial reaction to penicillin. Methods Mapping was conducted via a secondary analysis of a qualitative study consisting of 18 interviews with parents recruited via social media reporting a penicillin allergy in their child. Two researchers coded interviews using a directed content analysis to capture parent’s experiences before, during, and after their child’s penicillin reaction. We describe the common experiences of parents ( >9 participants). Results Pre-reaction, parents reported a lack of awareness regarding potential reactions children may experience when taking penicillin. Intra-reaction, parents reported their child’s provider suspected their child’s reaction was due to a penicillin allergy, wrote the child’s reaction in the medical record, and suggested or advised that penicillin be avoided in the future without mention of the availability of penicillin allergy testing. Post-reaction, parents remained unaware of the availability of penicillin allergy testing and uninformed of the implications of penicillin allergies on their child’s care. To better engage parents in penicillin allergy testing, participants suggested that providers inform parents of: 1) potential reactions their child may experience at the time of penicillin prescription (pre-reaction); 2) the availability of penicillin allergy testing to confirm the presence of true allergy (intra-reaction); and 3) penicillin allergy testing procedures and the benefits of penicillin allergy testing for their child’s health (post-reaction), see Table 1. Conclusion Using patient journey mapping, we describe the common experiences of parents concerning their child’s penicillin allergy, gaps in care parents experienced, and suggestions offered by parents to address their unmet care needs. These findings may inform future efforts to improve the delabeling of penicillin allergies in children. Disclosures Sherry Pagoto, PhD, Astellas Pharmaceuticals: Scientific Advisor|Weight Watchers, International,: Scientific Advisor

Building the foundations for scientific advice in the international context

Building the foundations for scientific advice in the international context

Global Conference on Science Advice to Governments: Final report available

Global Conference on Science Advice to Governments: Final report available

Assessing the conservation effectiveness of the World’s protected areas: A habitat quality and human activities perspective

The World’s Protected Areas (WDPA) have been established for more than 100 years and serve an essential role in global biodiversity conservation. Assessing the conservation effectiveness of the WDPA is important for understanding the current status of global biodiversity conservation and formulating corresponding improvement measures. However, previous studies still lack to assess the conservation effectiveness of the WDPA at a global scale with a human activities and habitat quality perspective. Here, we construct a framework for evaluating conservation effectiveness from the perspective of human activities and habitat quality, and attempt to assess the conservation effectiveness of the WDPA. The study results found that habitat quality in the WDPA has not degraded over the past two decades and that human-land relationship have been further harmonized. However, trends in the impact of human activities on habitat quality varied across analytical models. The findings of this study affirm the conservation effectiveness of the WDPA but also raise some vigilance, which can provide scientific advice for policymakers further to improve the differentiated protective measures of the WDPA.

Scientific advice to governments: Palgrave Communications

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The Prime Minister’s new chief science advisor

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Equilibrium, transient dynamics and sustainable reference points under age-specific natural mortality rates and varying levels of population productivity: The case of the Northern cod stock

Scientific advisory bodies provide scientific advice for sustainable fisheries management based on the precautionary approach and maximum sustainable yield (MSY) reference points, such as spawning stock biomass (SSB) value Blim, and fishing mortality giving MSY, FMSY. The lack of a stock-recruitment function (SRF) to identify a clear breakpoint Blim has recently emerged in important stock collapses. It also precludes the use of equilibrium-based methods to analyze the sustainability of FMSY. Considering a hockey stick (HS) SRF, we propose here an equilibrium-based method that characterizes the equilibriums, their stability properties, transient dynamics, and changes in productivity (including age-specific natural mortality rates). We show that these relevant factors, not taken into account in standard methods, should play a central role in fisheries management and conservation. Considering the Northern cod stock (NCS) (Gadus morhua) by way of illustration, we properly estimate the HS and its associated Blim. We find that the HS fitted by the Fisheries Library in R underestimates Blim. Additionally, we determine the levels of productivity (medium-low or medium-high), and their corresponding growth rates of the SSB, which are consistent with the observed population dynamics. We find that the NCS was managed during the 1980s under myopic (unsustainable) harvest control rules, neglecting high age-specific natural mortality rates. We also find that recovery of the NCS remains a distant prospect, despite the current stable, positive equilibrium (sustainable FMSY).

Expanding the scope and roles of social sciences and humanities to support integrated ecosystem assessments and ecosystem-based management

Abstract Understanding social-ecological systems (SESs) is an important part of ecosystem-based management (EBM). One of the main decision support frameworks to develop scientific advice for EBM is integrated ecosystem assessments (IEAs). Human dimensions in SESs are primarily captured through indicators derived from three social sciences: economics, anthropology, and sociology. The breadth of social sciences and humanities (SSH) research is much greater than those three fields, but they are generally underused in natural science-based decision support processes such as IEAs. Greater contributions of SSHs can enhance IEAs through various direct (e.g. to develop indicators) and indirect ways (e.g. to establish and maintain ethical practices). We examine a wider range of SSH disciplines and conclude that scientific advice processes that inform EBM can benefit from broader integration of SSH theories and methods through themes of contextualizing, facilitating, communicating, evaluating, and anticipating. We see this an opportunity to both widen the vocabulary used to describe social scientists and those who work in humanities in IEAs, and apply the underlying worldviews used to conduct SSH research to fundamentally enhance the IEA process and to further progress in EBM.

How can health technology assessment be improved to optimise access to medicines? Results from a Delphi study in Europe

IntroductionAccess to medicines is a shared goal across healthcare stakeholders. Since health technology assessment (HTA) informs funding decisions, it shapes access to medicines. Despite its wide implementation, significant access variations due to HTA are observed across Europe. This paper elicited the opinions of European stakeholders on how HTA can be improved to facilitate access.MethodsA scoping review identified HTA features that influence access to medicines within markets and areas for improvement, while three access dimensions were identified (availability, affordability, timeliness). Using the Delphi method, we elicited the opinions of European stakeholders to validate the literature findings.ResultsNineteen participants from 14 countries participated in the Delphi panel. Thirteen HTA features that could be improved to optimise access to medicines in Europe were identified. Of these, 11 recorded a positive impact on at least one of the three access dimensions. HTA features had mostly a positive impact on timeliness and a less clear impact on affordability. ‘Early scientific advice’ and ‘clarity in evidentiary requirements’ showed a positive impact on all access dimensions. 'Established ways to deal with uncertainty during HTA’ could improve medicines’ availability and timeliness, while more ‘reliance on real-world evidence’ could expedite time to market access.ConclusionsOur results reiterate that increased transparency during HTA and the decision-making processes is essential; the use of and reliance on new evidence generation such as real-world evidence can optimise the availability of medicines; and better collaborations between regulatory institutions within and between countries are paramount for better access to medicines.

How scientists become experts-or don't: Social organization of research and engagement in scientific advice in a toxicology laboratory.

Certain fields of research are deeply shaped by their proximity with policy-makers and administrations. The so-called 'regulatory sciences' and their corresponding expert communities emerge from this intermediary space between science and policy. Social studies of expertise and scientific experts show, however, that modes of engagement with policy-making vary greatly from one scientist to another. Two scientists that are part of the same research group or laboratory may engage the policy realm differently. How then does the social organization of research influence scientists' participation in scientific advice and the production of regulatory sciences? The paper looks at toxicology, a field in which knowledge production is centrally motivated by risk assessment, but one that has also seen the emergence of different knowledge-making motives, including advancement of fundamental knowledge and frontier research. A toxicology laboratory may thus harbor a diversity of moral economies of scientific advice. The paper argues that scientists' engagements with policy, through scientific advice and regulatory risk assessment, create organizational tensions and force changes to the standard, team-based social organization of research work.

Public perception of scientific advisory bodies: the case of France’s Covid-19 Scientific Council

Abstract During the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments have resorted to scientific advisory bodies to aid in public health decision-making. What then has been the public’s perception of those new structures of scientific advice? In this article, we draw on a survey conducted in November 2020 among a representative sample of the French adult population (n = 1,004) designed specifically to explore public perceptions of the dedicated Covid-19 Scientific Council created in March 2020 and of scientific advice in general. After only 8 months, three-quarters of French people said they had heard of it, but only a quarter had a positive opinion about its usefulness. Despite the diversity of perceptions of what scientific advice is and should be, it appeared that scientific advice bodies are perceived as useful mainly by a public already largely supportive of the delegation of the management of public life to the government and public institutions.

Value and roles of qualitative methods in natural experimental evaluations

Abstract Background For natural experimental evaluations that estimate effect sizes of population health interventions, qualitative evidence contributes multiple benefits. Incorporating qualitative methods strengthens natural experimental evaluations, particularly when studying interventions in complex systems, and contributes to minimising evaluation design weaknesses. Methods Guidance was developed from three international workshops and an online consultation with researchers, journal editors and end users of natural experimental evaluations. The project team comprised researchers with expertise in natural experimental evaluations. The project included an oversight group and an advisory group of independent experts, including researchers, a journal editor, and scientific and public health advisors on central and local government. Results The guidance recommends that most evaluations of natural experiments will require the inclusion of qualitative evidence. Qualitative methods are valuable when describing the natural experiment intervention, the system and context it exists within, and theories of change. Qualitative work can help appropriately define exposed and unexposed groups, investigate causal mechanisms, facilitate meaningful selection of outcomes, and understand stakeholder perspectives on the intervention and its effects. Conclusions Gaining an understanding of the value and application of qualitative evidence will help producers and users of natural experimental evaluations conduct and identify robust evaluations. To fully benefit the evaluation, qualitative methods should be integrated throughout.

Equity-Focused Health Technology Assessment at CADTH


 The introduction of equity-focused methodologies into health technology assessment (HTA) can facilitate a systemic and comprehensive focus on health equity and enable the delivery of more equitable health outcomes.
 CADTH has introduced several approaches and methodologies to centre equity considerations in its assessments of health technologies, including in topic identification and scoping, literature searches and information retrieval, health technology reviews, and the Early Scientific Advice program, supported by attention to equity in patient engagement, accessible publishing practices, and tracking outcomes.
 CADTH’s initiatives to incorporate health equity considerations continue to evolve, and CADTH is involved in the ongoing trialling and adaptation of tools, methodologies, processes, and sources to address health inequities through the processes of HTA.

For cohesive solutions, scientific advice must be accessible and widely drawn

For cohesive solutions, scientific advice must be accessible and widely drawn

Systematically omitting indoor air quality: sub-standard guidance for shelters, group homes and long-term care in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Public Health Ontario (PHO) is mandated by legislation to share scientific advice during infectious disease outbreaks and help reduce health inequities in Ontario, Canada. PHO was founded in part to address the failures of Ontario’s public health system during the 2003 outbreak of SARS-CoV-1, which included the failure to address airborne transmission. By January 2021, public health authorities had access to a body of literature suggesting SARS-CoV-2 was airborne, and had received urgent warnings from scientists. We set out to document how PHO responded to the likelihood – and, eventually, the certainty – of airborne transmission in the context of its guidance for congregate settings such as long-term care and shelters. In October 2021, we reviewed PHO’s public, written COVID-19 guidance for these settings, with a focus on indoor air quality (IAQ) measures that mitigate airborne transmission, such as ventilation. We identified 11 PHO documents for congregate settings. They contained no references to IAQ measures. We did, however, find references to IAQ measures in parallel documents for schools, summer camps, and clinical offices. Our findings demonstrate PHO omitted key infection prevention measures from its COVID-19 guidance for congregate settings, putting workers and residents at greater risk of exposure, illness and death, and exacerbating health inequities.

Exploring the limits of spatiotemporal and design-based index standardization under reduced survey coverage

Abstract Indices of abundance derived from fisheries-independent surveys play a crucial role in sustainable fisheries management. While design-based methods provide unbiased indices in theory, logistical constraints may introduce biases in practice. Spatiotemporal models offer potential for mitigating such bias, but their limitations remain poorly understood. In this study, we compare the performance of model-based and design-based indices using 200 simulated populations representing two virtual species. We simulate stratified-random surveys under various scenarios, including constant effort and coverage, reduced set density, and reduced spatial coverage (e.g. closed areas). We consider three closed-area scenarios: no population recovery, population recovery, and population recovery with spillover. With consistent survey coverage, correctly specified spatiotemporal models demonstrated comparable bias, accuracy, and confidence interval coverage to design-based methods. Spatiotemporal models incorporating appropriate covariates and observation families could mitigate the impact of reduced spatial coverage. However, poorly specified models were sometimes outperformed by design-based methods. Our results, therefore, highlight the potential for spatiotemporal models to mitigate the effects of survey effort reduction on population assessment and the provision of scientific advice. However, they also present a cautionary tale about the critical importance of model evaluation and comparison.

Assessing the Ecological Conversion Efficiency of Chub Mackerel, Somber japonicus, in Wild Conditions Based on an In Situ Enriched Simulation Method.

Understanding the ecological conversion efficiency of a fish species can be used to estimate the potential impact of the marine food web and accordingly provides scientific advice to ecosystem-based fishery management. However, only laboratory experiments may limit the accuracy of determining this index. In this study, food ingestion and ecological conversion efficiency of wild chub mackerel (Somber japonicus), a typical marine pelagic fish, were determined with gastric evacuation method in laboratory and in situ enriched simulation conditions. Additionally, the effect of temperature and body weight on ecological conversion efficiency was further estimated based on the 2D interpolation method. The results showed that, at 25.1 °C, the ecological conversion efficiency determined in-lab (35.31%) was significantly higher than in situ (23.85%). Moreover, the interpolation model estimated that with an increase in temperature (10-27 °C), the ecological conversion efficiency initially decreased, followed by an increase when the temperature reached 18 °C, but the ecological conversion efficiency generally decreased against the body weight at each temperature. The findings of this study enhanced the understanding of the energy budget of chub mackerel and also provided an efficient method for the determination of wild fishes that are difficult to sample in situ and domesticate in the laboratory.

Nondental Invasive Procedures and Risk of Infective Endocarditis: Time for a Revisit: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association.

There have been no published prospective randomized clinical trials that have: (1) established an association between invasive dental and nondental invasive procedures and risk of infective endocarditis; or (2) defined the efficacy and safety of antibiotic prophylaxis administered in the setting of invasive procedures in the prevention of infective endocarditis in high-risk patients. Moreover, previous observational studies that examined the association of nondental invasive procedures with the risk of infective endocarditis have been limited by inadequate sample size. They have typically focused on a few potential at-risk surgical and nonsurgical invasive procedures. However, recent investigations from Sweden and England that used nationwide databases and demonstrated an association between nondental invasive procedures, and the subsequent development of infective endocarditis (in particular, in high-risk patients with infective endocarditis) prompted the development of the current science advisory.