The Cochrane UK & Ireland Trainees Advisory Group (CUKI TAG) was founded in 2015. Since then, all members have been selected through a competitive national recruitment process.
"Our aim is simple: to inspire the next generation of senior doctors to embrace and practice evidence-based health care. We believe this is surely the way towards better health care. To this end, we collaborate closely with Cochrane UK to develop and deliver engagement activities for trainees across the UK and Ireland".
Who's who?
James Garrard - Chair of the Cochrane UK Trainees Advisory Group, 2021-2022
James is a Cochrane UK Fellow and chair of the Cochrane UK and Ireland Trainee Advisory Group 2021-2022. He is a registrar in Geriatric and Stroke medicine based in Oxford. He is keen to engage with trainees from a range of specialities and regions to enhance engagement with evidence-based clinical practice.
He studied medicine from the University of Leicester in 2015 with honours, undertaking a research Intercalated BSc in 2012. He was awarded an Academic Foundation Programme at the University of Southampton, followed by an Academic Clinical Fellowship at the University of Oxford in Geriatric medicine, where he completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Research. He has always had an interest in research and evidence-based practice with a specialist interest in acute stroke imaging.
Rebecca Gould
Rebecca is a ST6 Speciality Registrar in Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) based in Oxford, and previously worked as a GP in Devon. She joined Cochrane UK as a Fellow in 2020 and chaired the Cochrane UK Trainee Advisory Group between 2020-2021. Rebecca has been involved in online journal clubs and webinars on evidence-based practice for trainees as well as blogging about Cochrane Reviews for Evidently Cochrane.
Rebecca graduated from the University of Oxford with distinction in 2011. She obtained MRCGP in 2016 and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Sport and Exercise Medicine at the University of Bath in 2018. She has a particular interest in the role of physical activity in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease and has presented at both regional and national conferences on this topic.
Saul Crandon
Saul is an Internal Medicine Trainee at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. He also holds Honorary Clinical Lecturer status at the University of Glasgow as part of his role within the Glasgow Academic Training Environment (GATE). He has previously worked as a doctor in both the UK and Australia. He graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2018 after being awarded an intercalated Masters of Research degree (Distinction) from the University of Leeds in 2017.
Saul is currently serving his fourth year on the committee for the Cochrane UK & Ireland Trainees Advisory Group. Before joining CUKI-TAG, he was a Students 4 Best Evidence Pioneer, producing a catalogue of articles and tutorials on research methodology. He has a strong interest in the education and promotion of evidence-based medicine.
Ven Gee Lim
Ven is currently a Clinical Lecturer at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and a post-doc research fellow at the University of Warwick. He completed his Cardiology training at the West Midlands Deanery with a subspecialty interest in Electrophysiology and Devices.
Ven graduated from the University of Edinburgh (Honours) in 2009, obtained his MRCP in 2012 and completed his Masters in Internal Medicine (Distinction) at his alma mater in 2014. He then pursued a PhD in Cardiovascular Science at University College London (out-of-programme research) where the focus of his research was on the role of SGLT2 inhibitors in cardioprotection and graduated in 2021.
Siobhan McCormack
Dr Siobhan McCormack is a Specialist Registrar in Paediatrics and Clinical Research Fellow as part of Children’s Health Ireland Complex Care Programme. She graduated from the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2014 with first class honours and was conferred as a member of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 2017. Siobhan was awarded a masters in Paediatrics and Child Health with distinction from the University of Brighton in 2022. She is in her second term as a member of the Cochrane UK & Ireland Trainees Advisory Group (CUKI TAG) and has written for Evidently Cochrane. Her research interests include developmental paediatrics and neurodisability and she is currently completing a research MD on children with Severe Neurological Impairment.
Christina Uwins
Christina is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Robotic Gynaecological Oncology currently working towards an MD. She has a 1st Class Honours in BSc Medical Sciences and two distinctions in her clinical years whilst at the University of Aberdeen medical school. She was awarded The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene National Undergraduate Project Prize in 2004 and Dr CC Smith Elective Prize (Endowed by Glaxo-Smith Kline) 2005 for her research.
During her postgraduate training Christina has gone on to gain her MRCS and MRCOG. Christina's research interest is in Robotic Surgery, specifically how it can be used to help women with Ovarian Cancer. She is currently working towards an MD with the University of Surrey at Royal Surrey County Hospital which is the UK’s first epicentre for training in robotic surgery, a recognised centre for minimal access surgical training and research in enhanced recovery. It also has by far the greatest experience in the UK in the use of robotics in gynaecological oncology, having performed over 1000 gynae-oncology robotic operations.
Christina is the principal author on the Cochrane intervention Review Minimally invasive surgery (robotic or laparoscopic) versus laparotomy for advanced ovarian cancer, and is greatly enjoying learning new skills supported by the Cochrane editorial team. Following her MD, Christina plans to undertake Gynaecological Oncology subspeciality training with a view to becoming a Consultant in Gynaecological Oncology.
Colm Mac Eochagáin
Colm is a Specialist Registrar in Medical Oncology based in Dublin. He graduated with honours from University College Dublin in 2014 and completed an MSc in Clinical & Translational Research in 2018 (1:1) He was awarded the Royal College of Physicians Dorothy Stopford Price medal in 2021 for a systematic review and meta-analysis of HPV vaccination among previously exposed women. His research interests are in GI, Gynaecological, and Genitourinary malignancy, particularly among older populations.
Lisa O'Byrne
Lisa is a specialist registrar in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck surgery currently working in St James Hospital, Dublin. After graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 2017 (1st class honours), she began her early post-graduate training in St James Hospital, Dublin and subsequently The Royal London hospital where Lisa developed a particular interest in Otolaryngology. She became a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland in 2020 and began Higher Specialist training in 2021. Lisa was awarded a Masters in Surgery (MCh) from NUI Galway in 2020 (1st class honours).
Lisa has won multiple awards for her research across the UK and Ireland and has published works in the areas of Gastrointestinal surgery and Otolaryngology. Her work has been presented both nationally and internationally. She was recently awarded the Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellowship to work with Cochrane ENT and is currently working on a review of the Interventions for the treatment of persistent post-viral olfactory dysfunction.
Ariel Yuhan Ong
Ariel is an Ophthalmology ST4 based in Oxford. She graduated with distinctions from the University of Aberdeen in 2016 and completed the academic foundation programme in Edinburgh. She was awarded the Healthwatch UK student prize in 2014 and was a previous BMJ Clegg Scholar. She has received several prizes for her research and is currently working on her second Cochrane review. Her research interests include retinal diseases, epidemiology, and simulation training.
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Charlotte Squires
Dr Charlotte Squires is a specialist trainee in Geriatric Medicine in South East Scotland with clinical interests in dementia and movement disorders. She is passionate about improving how treatment choice and risk is communicated to patients and their families and in generating inclusive evidence that supports shared decision making. Additional national roles include serving as the Digital Media Editor for the British Geriatric Society, and on the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) Trainee Committee. She is excited to join the CUKI-TAG team.
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Marianna Przybylska
Marianna is a foundation doctor in Edinburgh. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2021 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and a 1st class Bachelor of Medical Sciences Honours degree. Her interests include clinical research, infectious diseases and medical education. She has been involved in several systematic reviews studying the efficacy of antimalarials. Her previous work has also focused on optimizing the provision of information resources for paediatric patients to facilitate their engagement in health care.