2026
SWAR: Evaluating AI-supported risk-of-bias assessment in systematic reviews
The use of artificial intelligence in evidence synthesis is developing rapidly, but there remains limited evidence about how accurately, consistently and transparently AI can perform complex research tasks.
This Study Within A Review (SWAR) examines the use of generative AI to support risk-of-bias assessment within a systematic review. It compares assessments produced by human reviewers with those produced by AI using a structured and sequentially parameterised version of the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool.
The project aims to identify where AI-supported assessment may improve efficiency, where discrepancies arise, and what safeguards are required to ensure that researcher judgement, transparency and methodological rigour are maintained.
Exploring the experiences of adults, their care partners and care home staff around moving into care home settings and identifying interventions which support the move: a mixed methods systematic review
The review aims to understand the experiences and needs of adults moving into care homes, as well as the roles of family members, care partners, and care home staff, recognising that transitions are often poorly supported. It will examine existing qualitative research and tested interventions to identify what helps or hinders successful transitions, who is represented in the evidence, and how effective different approaches are. Findings will be synthesised through qualitative and quantitative methods and used to identify evidence gaps and inform better support for people moving into care homes.
Modifiable Factors Associated with Good Mental Health Outcomes in Veterans
What modifiable individual, social, and service-related factors are associated with good mental health outcomes in veterans, including those exposed to trauma?
This question is directly aligned with James Lind Alliance Priority 10 for Veterans’ Health Research and underscores the need to move beyond evaluating the effectiveness of discrete interventions in isolation. Instead, it seeks to understand the modifiable mechanisms, contexts, and enabling conditions that support good mental health outcomes among veterans, including those who have experienced traumatic or stressful events during service. While the review title is presented in a format consistent with PICOS conventions, this review will be conducted as a convergent integrated mixed methods systematic review (MMSR), in line with Joanna Briggs Institute guidance, to support the synthesis of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods evidence addressing complex, multi-level determinants of mental health.
This review is commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, and the protocol is currently in development.
2025
Prognostic accuracy of multicomponent prognostic models for predicting last six months of life an overview of reviews
The review will assess how accurately multicomponent prognostic models can predict whether adults with cancer, organ failure, or neurodegenerative diseases are likely to die within six months. It will analyse existing systematic reviews of these models, assessing their accuracy, reliability, and risk of bias, with meta-analysis used where possible. The findings will help determine how confidently these models can be used to support care planning, access to support, and decisions related to end-of-life care.
What do the most effective, most cost-effective and best value Integrated disease management (IDM) Programmes for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) contain?
The review will investigate which individual components of Integrated Care Programmes (ICPs) are most effective for improving outcomes such as quality of life, reducing COPD exacerbations, hospitalisations, and unplanned healthcare use. It will analyse evidence from randomised controlled trials and use component network meta-analysis to identify the most effective and cost-effective combinations of care components. The findings aim to help improve COPD care by identifying which elements of integrated programmes provide the greatest health and economic benefits.
Exploring the experiences of adults, their care partners and care home staff around moving-in to care home settings and identifying interventions which support the move: a mixed methods systematic review
What are effective and safe pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for managing insomnia and sleep fragmentation in children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy?
This review will identify which components of Integrated Care Programmes (ICPs) are most effective for improving quality of life and reducing COPD exacerbations, hospitalisations, and unplanned healthcare use. It will analyse randomised controlled trials and use component network meta-analysis and economic evaluation to determine which combinations of care components are both most effective and cost-effective. The findings aim to identify the key elements of integrated COPD care that could deliver the greatest health and economic benefits.
- Commissoned by the James Lind Alliance. Commenced March 2025. Completed in December 2025.
2024
HPV Self-Sampling for Cervical Cancer Screening: A Rapid Review
- Commissioned by the National Screening Committee and completed in August 2025.
Regional anaesthesia for reducing the incidence and severity of chronic pain after surgery: A living systematic review and network meta-analysis.
This review will investigate whether using regional anaesthesia during surgery can reduce the risk and severity of chronic postsurgical pain and long-term opioid use. It will analyse randomised controlled trials comparing regional anaesthesia with no, placebo, or sham treatment, focusing on surgeries where there is a high risk of ongoing pain. The findings will be continuously updated and used to inform clinical practice and policy on the role of regional anaesthesia in preventing chronic pain after surgery.
- Commenced in May 2024 and completed in May 2025. This review also includes a study within a review (SWAR) on Use of AI for extraction of outcome data .
Approaches to health economic modelling of UK cancer screening programmes: a systematic review
This review will examine how health economic models are used to assess the cost-effectiveness of breast, bowel, cervical, and lung cancer screening programmes. It will compare different modelling approaches, assessing their strengths, weaknesses, relevance to the UK, and consideration of equity and screening-related costs and outcomes. The findings will help identify best practices for developing and evaluating economic models to inform future cancer screening policy and decisions.
- Commisioned by the National Screening Committee and commenced October 2024. Completed in September 2025.
UK NSC Position Statement: Incidental Findings in Economic Evaluation of Screening Programmes
This scoping review will investigate how incidental findings from screening programmes are defined and incorporated into economic evaluations, particularly given their potential contribution to overdiagnosis, overtreatment, costs, and harms. It will examine whether definitions and terminology vary across screening contexts, diseases, and diagnostic technologies such as imaging and genomic testing. The findings will help identify gaps and develop clearer guidance for incorporating incidental findings into economic evaluations of current and future population screening programmes.
- Commissioned by the National Screening Committee in September 2024 this is a follow on piece of work from the review completed in 2023. Expected to complete in late 2025.
2023
- Commissioned by NICE, this project completed in November 2024.
Prognostic Accuracy of Prediction Tools for Surgical Bleeding Risk
- Commissioned by NICE, the manuscript for this project is currently awaiting acceptance to a peer reviewed journal.
- Plain Language Summary - Blood loss prediction tools
Defining Incidental Findings in Economic Evaluations of Screening Programmes: a Scoping Review
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This project was commissioned by the National Screening Centre. The final report was delivered in November 2023.
- Plain Language Summary -Incidental findings