Professor Archie Cochrane commented about the lack of co-ordination of evidence for treatments by the different medical specialities back in 1979. Sir Iain Chalmers was inspired in 1992 to set up what has become known as The Cochrane Collaboration. This is an international organisation that has become renowned for producing high quality reviews that systematically assess the evidence for healthcare interventions.
As part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of The Cochrane Collaboration, members of the Cochrane Skin Group (CSG) have written this paper to document the development of the systematic evaluation of dermatology treatments. The editorial base of the CSG which was registered as part of the larger Cochrane Collaboration in 1997 is led by Prof Hywel Williams, of Nottingham University and it continues to this day to be part of the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology.
The Cochrane Skin Group: a vanguard for developing and promoting evidence-based dermatology
The University of Nottingham Applied Health Research Building University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD
telephone: +44 (0) 115 84 68631 email: cebd@nottingham.ac.uk