Roberto Garnham obtains his Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology with the highest qualification
2/04/2024
Dr. Roberto Garnham Parra, researcher at the School of Medicine, has obtained his Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the Universidad de la Frontera (UFRO). His thesis defence carried out on March 27th, was rated as outstanding by the evaluation committee, unanimously awarding him the highest academic distinction, 7.0,
Dr. Garnham’s work focused on the “Determination of the map of evidence gaps in research on interventions for acute myocardial infarction in Chile” and was directed by the director of the master’s programme, Dr. Sergio Muñoz and Dr. Eva Madrid.
This project is framed as part of the CIESAL project of the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) 1212037, entitled “Mapping Chilean clinical health research through a systematic approach to identify evidence gaps: a step towards evidence-informed decision making and strategic research agendas”, where other CIESAL researchers, such as Nicolás Meza, Javier Bracchiglione and Fanny Leyton, also participate.
This project is framed as part of the CIESAL project of the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) 1212037, entitled “Mapping Chilean Clinical Health Research through a Systematic Approach to identify evidence gaps: a step towards evidence-informed decision-making and Strategic Research agendas”, in which other CIESAL researchers, such as Nicolás Meza, Javier Bracchiglione and Fanny Leyton, also participate.
This study reviewed all Chilean clinical research between 2000 and 2022, analysing more than 77,000 scientific articles. A key finding is that 90% of Chilean clinical research focuses on conditions that are not considered a priority for the population, according to the criteria for GES conditions, and only 1.3% of these studies address acute myocardial infarction (AMI), considered one of the conditions with the highest burden of disease in Chile, according to the Global Burden of Disease. This analysis also highlights significant gaps in the generation of knowledge on AMI in Chile, highlighting the existing gaps in clinical research in our country.
Another important finding is that the current clinical research funding agenda in Chile appears to be misaligned with the issues and questions that impose the greatest burden of disease on the population, and efforts are more oriented towards studies on topics that are not as high a priority. This situation underlines the importance of close collaboration between decision-makers and researchers to develop a more coherent research agenda tailored to the real health needs of the population.
Dr. Garnham graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Valparaiso, Casa Central, and has had a distinguished career in medical research. Since his undergraduate years, he has been involved in academia as an assistant professor in the Chair of Evidence-Based Medicine, maintaining a close relationship with teaching throughout his career. Currently, he holds the position of Associate Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health at the School of Medicine, where he plays an important leadership role with our assistants. In addition, he coordinates the Evidence-Based Medicine lectureship for undergraduate students and the Research Methodology for Medical Specialties lectureship in postgraduate programmes. His commitment to improving medical practice is also reflected in his active participation in the Cochrane Collaboration and as Epidemiology Officer for the commune of Concón.
We congratulate Roberto, who has always been closely linked to our Centre and has participated in several projects and publications.