In a paper published in the Lancet in 2009 (374:86-89), Chalmers and Glasziou estimated that 85 per cent of the substantial investment in medical research was being avoidably wasted. The paper prompted one large research funding agency to review how its commissioning and management of research could be made more efficient, and the Lancet to commission a series of papers on waste in pre-clinical, clinical and epidemiological research. I will present evidence relevant to reducing waste in deciding what research to do.
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Sir Iain Chalmers is a British health services researcher, one of the founders of the Cochrane Collaboration. His contributions have been instrumental in advancing international policies on research for health -such as PAHO's Policy on Research for Health, and to promote a better understanding of the importance of building bridges between users and producers of research for health policy and health care delivery. Chalmers previously co-chaired the Research Strategy Committee of the MS Society.
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