National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit
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The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) is a multi-disciplinary research unit within the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford University. It is located in the Richard Doll Building on the
Old Road Campus The Old Road Campus is a University of Oxford site south of Old Road, in Headington, east Oxford, England. The Churchill Hospital, a teaching hospital managed by the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is to the south. Facilitie ...
, in Headington, east Oxford, England. The unit's work involves
randomized controlled trials A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical te ...
, national surveillance programs and surveys and other research on maternal and infant health and care in the
perinatal period Prenatal development () includes the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal deve ...
(before, during and after birth). The early work of the NPEU in developing a register of perinatal trials and methods for synthesizing their results lay the foundations for the Cochrane Collaboration.


Activities

The mission of the NPEU is "...to produce methodologically rigorous research evidence to improve the care provided to women and their families during pregnancy, childbirth, the newborn period and early childhood as well as promoting the effective use of resources by perinatal health services.” Since its inception, a key area of its activities has been undertaking and supporting
randomized controlled trials A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical te ...
of the effects of perinatal care, now through the NPEU Clinical Trials Unit. The NPEU runs the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS), which is a national system studying rare disorders of pregnancy. In 2011, the Policy Research Unit in Maternal Health and Care (PRUMC) was established at the NPEU.


History

The NPEU was established in 1978 by the Department of Health at Oxford University, following a joint request for a national research institute by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Paediatric Association. The Department gave the unit the task of providing "information which can promote effective use of resources in the perinatal health services." From the beginning, the first NPEU Director, Iain Chalmers, was guided by the principles for evaluating effectiveness of health care described by Archie Cochrane in his book, ''Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services''. From its early days, the NPEU was a leader in both
randomized controlled trials A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical te ...
to assess the effects of perinatal care, the retrieval of information, and the development and use of
systematic reviews A systematic review is a scholarly synthesis of the evidence on a clearly presented topic using critical methods to identify, define and assess research on the topic. A systematic review extracts and interprets data from published studies on t ...
and meta-analyses to synthesize research results. The unit developed extensive national and international collaborations which were to form both the basis of its work and lay the foundations for the development of the Cochrane Collaboration. Beginning with a card file of references to perinatal trials and both manual and electronic searching for further trials, the NPEU developed first a book, the ''Classified Bibliography of Controlled Trials in Perinatal Medicine 1940–1984'', and then the ''Oxford Database of Perinatal Trials'' (ODPT). This process of developing a register of trials led to others establishing a register of trials in fertility as well as the basis for the development of the ''Cochrane Controlled Trials Register'' (CCTR) when the NPEU's Director left to establish the UK Cochrane Centre in 1992, from where the Cochrane Collaboration evolved in 1993. By 1989, the synthesis of the results of perinatal research led to the publication of major books. By 1990, ODPT included electronic syntheses called overviews, which were the precursor for the Cochrane Collaboration's ''Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews''. In 2013, the NPEU was awarded a silver department Athena SWAN award for its commitment to advancing women's careers in science and medicine.


Directors

* Sir Iain Chalmers (1978 to 1992) * Judith Lumley (1994 to 1995) * Peter Brocklehurst (2002 to 2011) * Jenny Kurinczuk (2011 to present)


References


External links

* {{authority control Epidemiology organizations Health in Oxfordshire Maternity in the United Kingdom Medical research institutes in the United Kingdom Obstetrics and gynaecology organizations Organisations associated with the University of Oxford Organizations established in 1978 Research institutes in Oxford 1978 establishments in the United Kingdom