NOV/DEC 2007
Volume 13 - No. 4

SRNT Newsletter

November/December 2007, Volume 13, Number 4

A Brief Conference Report on the First European Seminar Methodology of Clinical Research in Smoking

by Ivan Berlin

Finding ways of preventing and treating tobacco dependence represents an important research priority. In Europe, as compared to North-America, clinical smoking research has a relatively low profile. To support research into smoking cessation interventions in Europe, the European Centre of Excellence in Clinical Tobacco Research (ECECTR) has been set up with the aim to expand research capacity in the field of treatment of tobacco dependence. The objectives of ECECTR include i) the identification of individuals who will be the next generation of leading clinical researchers in this field; ii) establishment of a network of young tobacco researchers in Europe; iii) assistance to new researchers to develop relevant methodological skills.

The First European Seminar on Methodology of Clinical Research in Smoking of the ECECTR was held in Prague, Czech Republic, June 28-29, 2007. It was supported by the European branch of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT-Europe), and an unrestricted educational grant was obtained from Pfizer.

Twenty-one young researchers attended the seminar from 11 European countries. The seminar was opened by Eva Kralikova (Czech Republic), President of SRNT-Europe. The courses included the following topics: “Assessment of cravings and withdrawal”, “Surveys and cohort studies” (Robert West, UK); “Measuring outcome in smoking cessation” (Peter Hajek, UK); “How to assess interventions for smoking cessation? Study designs and sources of bias” (Ivan Berlin, France); “Methodology of research in genetics and genetic epidemiology of smoking behaviour” (Jaakko Kaprio, Finland); “Research in clinical pharmacology of tobacco smoking” (Jacques Le Houezec, France); “Smoking cessation in populations with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), diabetes or CVD risk factors” (Serena Tonstad, Norway); “Biomarkers of tobacco smoking in clinical research” (Philip Tonnesen, Denmark); “Smoking cessation research in patients with psychiatric diseases” (Anil Batra, Germany); “EU clinical trials directive on clinical research and the ethics of clinical research in Europe” (G. Burns, S. Peachey, UK). Eleven of the attendees accepted to present and discuss their research project on an interactive way.

Feedback from the participants was highly positive. They expressed the need to repeat this type of European training every year and to allow more time to small group discussions and exercises with a senior researcher as to what is a research question; what is the best design to answer it; how to get funding, ethics approval; how to recruit research participants, write study reports, get published, and treat specific topics (e.g., genetics, randomized controlled trials, specific populations, etc).

Dr. Berlin and participants at the First European Seminar on Methodology of Clinical Research in Smoking

The Second European Seminar on Methodology of Clinical Research in Smoking will, hopefully, be held next year in June. The fact that the teacher to students ratio was high (1/3) and that the training took place with a relatively small number of participants (N=31) permitted frequent interactions between teachers and students and between students, respectively, and rendered this seminar successful.

About the Author: Ivan Berlin, MD, PhD is the Coordinator of ECECTR. Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière-Université Paris 6-INSERM U677; 47, bd de l’Hôpital; 75013 Paris, France