18 Stephenson Way
London
NW1 2HD
UNITED KINGDOM
This two day course will be held at the RCOphth premises. Day 1 covers ‘Appraising and applying research’ and Day 2 covers ‘Getting started in clinical research’. The course combines short interactive lectures with opportunities for informal discussion with the teaching faculty and other attendees. Target audience: Ophthalmologists or other ophthalmic professionals at any career stage with little prior research experience who would like an introduction to doing, appraising, and applying research to improve clinical practice. The course would be particularly suitable for Ophthalmic Trainees to support their curriculum requirements in relation to research as well as to anyone wishing to become research active in keeping with the UK Government’s Clinical Research Vision. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A TWO DAY EVENT. Please click on Register to see the programme.
Day one Monday 13 October 2025
09.00 – 09.15 Registration and Coffee
09.15 – 09.20 Introduction
Jugnoo Rahi
0920 – 09.40 Framing the research question
Jugnoo Rahi
09.40 – 10.00 Chance, Bias and Confounding
Jugnoo Rahi
Study design
10.00 – 10.35 A. Case control studies – key aspects of design, statistical analysis and how to apply the findings
John Buchan
10.35 – 11.10 B. Cohort studies - key aspects of design, statistical analysis and how to apply the findings
Lola Solebo
11.10 – 11.35 Coffee break
11.35 – 12.10 Randomised Controlled Trials of Interventions – key aspects of design, statistical analysis and how to apply the findings
Will Dean
12.10 – 12.45 Ethics and research governance - top tips for navigating IRAS and data rules
Rachel Knowles
12.45 – 13.30 Lunch Key statistical issues
13.30 – 13.55 A. People versus eyes, units of analysis and hierarchical / clustered data
Mario Cortina Borja
13.55 – 14.20 B. Principles of interpreting P values and confidence intervals
Eirini Koutoumanou
14.20 – 14.45 C. Principles of sample size calculation: a simple scenario
Eirini Koutoumanou
14.45 – 15.15 Tea/Coffee break
15.15 – 16.15 Open session for participant's questions and discussion (attendees are very welcome to discuss research ideas)
Day 2 – Getting started in clinical research 14 October 2025
08.45 – 09.05 Coffee How to get started in research
09.05 – 09.35 A. Participating in research – how to find out about opportunities
Chris Hammond & Praveen Patel
9.35– 10.05 B. Undertaking your own research
1) How to engage with research – networks / groups, and identifying methods expertise
Chris Hammond and Praveen Patel
10.05 – 10.35 2) What to expect when you meet the statistician
Mario Cortina Borja
10.35 – 10.45 3) RCOphth website academic and research hub resources/support/advice
Chris Hammond
10.45 - 11.00 4) BOS
Barny Foot
11.00 – 11.30 Coffee
11.30 – 12.00 Top tips for successful grantsmanship
Chris Hammond
Practical issues to consider at the beginning
12.00 – 12.20 A. Finalising which data to collect, focus on range of potential outcome measures
Mario Cortina Borja & Lola Solebo
12.20 – 12.40 B. Data management (what an ideal research database looks like –
quality of data)
Mario Cortina Borja & Lola Solebo
12.40 – 13.00 C. Visualisation of data
Mario Cortina Borja & Lola Solebo
13.00 – 13.45 Lunch
13.45 – 14.10 Principles of Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement in Research
Lola Solebo
14.10 – 14.50 Evidence appraisal - How to read a paper and apply findings using examples of published papers. Group work
Lola Solebo
14.50 – 15.15 Tea/Coffee break
15.15 – 16.15 Wrap up Group Q&A (attendees are very welcome to discuss research
