13. National research conference - musculoskeletal health (MUSS)

Location : Comfort hotel Runway, Hans Gaarders vei 27, Gardermoen

Time : 31 October-1 November 2024

Abstract deadline: 10 September 2024

Join our interdisciplinary conference with two rich days of exciting lectures. The conference is relevant for researchers, healthcare personnel, users, clinicians and others who are interested in musculoskeletal health. Attending the conference gives you an opportunity to network and to be inspired by others who share your interest in the field.

Abstract for four lectures and/or poster presentations
You are welcome to submit abstracts for free lectures and/or poster presentations. Abstract sent to This email address is protected from programs that collect email addresses. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. within 10 September 2024. We want summaries from studies in all phases - from planned projects to published works. Prizes will be awarded for the best free lecture and the best poster presentation.

Collaboration forum
If you have a project or a project application in progress and need input from user contributors in Skjelettnett, you have the opportunity to register for the collaboration forum at the conference. The panel of user contributors represents various organizations and disease fields. Participation in this session requires advance registration. Join us by sending an email to This email address is protected from programs that collect email addresses. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Approved course credits
Participation in the conference gives approved course credits/hours for various professions. Information about this can be found on the conference's website and more information about this will be published as associations/federations approve hours for conference participation.

Registration
Register via the following link: https://www.trippus.net/muss2024/deltaker

Here you can sign up for one or two days, dinner at the conference hotel on 31 October and book accommodation. We have reserved some hotel rooms at Comfort Runway Hotell.

For more information about the conference, approved course credits, registration, submitting an abstract and collaboration forum, see : www.muss.no.

ACR 2024 will be held in 2024 November 14-19 in Washington, DC.

Abstract Submission is open and the deadline is 18 June, for more information see here; Annual Meeting Abstract Submission

Registration and housing details will be available in June.

For more information see here; Annual Meeting (rheumatology.org)

Place : Radium hospital, research building, Auditorium Date : 13 January 9am-3.10pm

Participation fee : NOK 600,-

Save the date, later you will find more information about the PROGRAM and REGISTRATION: Courses and activities - PROMiNET

It has been announced that  OMERACT  2025 is on the way!

OMERACT will be held 14-18. May 2025 at the Chateauform Campus La Mola in Terrassa, just 30 minutes outside of Barcelona, ​​Spain.

For more information see here; OMERACT 2025 – OMERACT

https://congress.eular.org/myUploadData/files/eular_2025_timeline_website.pdf 

The 40th Scandinavian Congress of Rheumatology (SCR) will be held in Malmö August 2025.

Stay tuned here for information; 40th Scandinavian Congress of Rheumatology - Swedish Rheumatological Association

The main target group for the training is nurses who want to contribute to treatment research integrated in a clinical department or at a research post. It is a basic course for student nurses who preferably have one and a half to one year's experience. The course covers a wide range of tasks associated with the student nurse role, and focuses primarily on practical practice of student nursing within the framework of the applicable regulatory requirements. 

The course consists of both a physical meeting/webinar (with group work) over two and a half days, and self-study (e-learning, video lectures, literature study, and homework). Total course scope is calculated to approx. 25 hours for those with experience in student nursing, while those with no experience must calculate more time.  See course programme

The physical meetings will be at: Akershus University Hospital and Oslo University Hospital. 

New! From autumn 2024, a participation fee will be introduced.  This was decided at the NorCRIN board meeting on 24 April 2024. Price NOK. 1,000 is paid on registration via credit card or VIPPS. Remember to mark the times in your calendar and agree with your employer that you will have the opportunity to participate on both course days, reimbursement of the participation fee and time to complete the homework (completed homework is a requirement to get the course approved).

Course days/webinar 2024:

• Friday 18 October at 11.30-14.45
• Wednesday 27 November at 13.00-15.30.

The material for self-study (e-learning course) will be available in the Learning Portal at the HFs, and self-study and homework must be completed by the last webinar, where answers to the tasks are reviewed in groups. It is approx. 100 places on the course which will be distributed between the companies.

If you have any questions, contact course coordinator Tanja Igland, by e-mail: tanja.igland@helse-bergen.

This course gives an overview of methodological issues and challenges in the design and statistical analysis of randomized controlled trials. We will discuss practicalities and common issues to keep in mind when planning an RCT. We will focus on the key elements of a well-planned RCT, considering different study designs and presenting the most common challenges in the statistical analysis of the results. The topics will be presented based on real examples and cases experienced by the instructors.

The course is divided into the following three parts:

1. Introduction and main components of RCTs

• • Structure of RCTs
  • Basic study design
  • Possible biases and generalizability
  • Blinding
  • Randomization

2. Hypothesis testing and sample size

• • Different types of tests
  • Different types of outcomes
  • What to report
  • Sample size calculation and related issues
  • Interim analysis
  • Different study designs (crossover trials, cluster-randomized trials, etc.)

3. Further challenges in planning RCTs

• • Compliance issues
  • Missing data
  • Practical issues in analyzing and reporting results

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

You should attend our course if you are planning or are involved in RCTs or are interested in expanding your knowledge of trial design and analysis. The course is suitable for both clinical and non-clinical researchers.

Registration deadline: 11 October, at 16:00 (80 places in total)

Link to registration here

PROMiNET organizes advanced courses in the use of patient-reported endpoints in clinical studies. Increased use of PROM (Patient Reported Outcome Measures) in research and clinic is a desired development and in line with political guidelines. To ensure high quality in this type of research, it is important to learn the methodological aspects of using PROM.

• Date: 6 - 8 November 2024
• Location: Radiumhospitalet, Forskningsbygg K, Seminarroom 1-2/Auditoriet

The course is primarily intended for PhD students, clinical researchers and health personnel who are involved in research with PROM in Health South-East.

The course will be able to provide 2 credits in the PhD program at the University of Oslo.

The course is organized with physical attendance on 6 and 7 November and on Teams on 8 November.

Participation fee : NOK 1,000 (including lunch on 6 and 7 Nov.)

Registration deadline : 9 October 2024 (25 places in total)

Information on registration, program and project outline can be found here. 

It is a statutory requirement that everyone who has a responsibility according to GCP, and who is involved in testing medicinal products on humans, must have documented GCP training. Knowledge of GCP is useful for anyone involved in clinical trials. You can see the program here . This spring, Regional research support at OUS will conduct 2 courses, which will be both digital and physical (Rikshospitalet, Store auditorium).

Thursday 14 November

• Main examiner at 9:00-11:30 and sponsor at 12:00-16:00
• Location: digital or physical (Rikshospitalet, Store auditorium)
• Price: The course is free
• Registration: you can register here
• Registration deadline: 12 November

Principal examiners: The course covers responsibilities and roles for principal examiners and others who contribute to the inclusion and follow-up of study participants.

Sponsor: The course covers the sponsor's responsibilities and roles in drug studies, i.a. to write protocols and information letters for study participants, correspond with authorities (pharmaceuticals and ethics committees) and. The sponsor is the initiator and responsible for the entire study.

The Directorate for Medical Products ( DMP, formerly SLV ) and the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REK) will inform about the new regulation for drug trials, Regulation (EU) No. 536/2014, which was implemented on 31 January 2022 and requirements for transition from old to new regulations.

It will be possible to only attend DMP and REK's lecture, see programme

Welcome to guidance in user participation in the research project for PhD scholars associated with the REMEDY research center in autumn 2024!

There will be four annual group tutorials where the purpose is to increase the focus and competence on user participation in the individual's research project. The guidance will last 45 minutes and is based on one of the participants' pre-submitted problems in the project which deals with user participation. The topics can be anything from the start-up phase, the establishment of a project group, clarification of roles and expectations to a phase with analysis and, for example, co-authorship. The guide will be able to highlight user participation in their research projects and is an opportunity to present an issue that deals with the collaboration with the user contributors in the individual's projects.

An invitation will be sent out to the scholarship holders ahead of the guidance for enrolment. Feel free to note already now the autumn's opportunities for guidance:

Monday 18 November at 1400-1445.

Both tutorials will be in the DBL building meeting room 117 (Diakonhjemmet hospital)

Welcome to you all!

Remember to write that the registration for the guidance is sent to Marianne Skaar This email address is protected from programs that collect email addresses. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

The final program is not ready, will be released as soon as it is available, but it will include;

• Start-up of RECONNECT - What are we, where are we and where are we going?
• Panel discussion(s)
• "How to avoid the pilot graveyard" - How to take apps forward from research

Date: 25 November 2024

Place: Stortingsgata Course & Conference, Stortingsgata 20

Register : see here

Price: Free

The course provides a practical introduction to the planning, execution and conclusion of clinical studies with an academic sponsor, i.e. where hospitals or other non-commercial enterprises have the overall responsibility.

The course is particularly aimed at researchers who will be responsible for clinical studies, primarily drug trials, but can also be useful for others involved in clinical research.

 The aim of the course is to:

• Increase understanding of what resources and qualifications are required
• Increase understanding of roles and responsibilities in a clinical study
• Share knowledge about what you have to think about in the various phases of a clinical study

It is assumed that the participants have knowledge of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and associated terminology.

You can participate in the course locally or digitally

• Date: 26 November 2024, at 09:00 - 16:00
• Place: Rikshospitalet, Red auditorium
• Digital: Teams (Link to Teams will be sent out the day before the course)
• Registration deadline: 21 November 2024, at 16:00
• Information and registration see link here

The course  All About Clinical Trials will be held at Diakonhjemmet hospital, Oslo 12-13. December in 2024.

The course is a collaboration between the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Cardiovascular Pharmacology (CVP) working group, the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing & Allied Professions (ACNAP), the Norwegian Cardiological Society and REMEDY.  

The course is a generic course that deals with all aspects of clinical trials and will be relevant to anyone interested in clinical trials. The course is particularly suitable for PhD candidates .

The purpose of the AACT course is to provide an insight into all aspects of clinical studies: from design to implementation and evaluation of results. The course will also highlight recently proposed methods for clinical trials as well as discuss regulatory requirements. By participating in the course, you get a GCP diploma that has the EU standard, and which is a notch above the Norwegian GCP diploma. The course is not pre-approved as a PhD course, but this can be applied for afterwards and will probably be approved. For more information and program, see ESC 365 - All About Clinical Trials (AACT) (escardio.org)

The course has a high academic standard with both national and international lecturers and is suitable for anyone interested in clinical research; PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows and clinical researchers such as doctors, nurses and other healthcare personnel.

Registration fee:

• Members ESC CVP working group, PhD candidates (REMEDY YRP), postdocs (REMEDY YRP) and young ACNAP members: 50 Euro
• Nurses and allied professionals  (ACNAP) 250 Euro
• Standard registration fee : 300 Euro

Registration at:   https://esc365.escardio.org/event/1613

A three-day interactive course where researchers/students and user representatives together learn about:

➢ the background for introducing user participation in research
➢ the researcher's responsibility for user participation being integrated into the entire
process of a clinical research project
➢ how user participation is documented to influence research
➢ to assess the added value of user participation
➢ to initiate constructive user participation in own projects
➢ the role of user organizations and local user committees
➢ to convey own research to users in an easy-to-understand way
➢ methods to involve patient representatives

For PhD students/researchers:
The course gives 2 ECTS for PhD candidates and other students under course code CCBIONEUR910, registration comes in Studentweb (deadline usually 1 February). Physical attendance only. The language of instruction is mainly Norwegian.

For patients and relatives:
Are you a patient or relative, and interested in how you can influence
medical research? Then we would like to invite you to the course
"User participation in medical and health research". Here you will get to meet the new generation of doctors and researchers, hear about the researcher's responsibility for user participation in their research, how this can be done, and not least bring your own input. Patients and relatives know best what it is like to live with the disease, and have a unique perspective that researchers and healthcare personnel do not always have. Both experienced and inexperienced
user representatives (patients/relatives) are welcome. The registration form will be posted later, but save the date and show your interest by clicking on this event.

See more information:

(1) Keep the date: Course in user participation in medical and healthcare research | LinkedIn

WP 5 and WP7 invite to an autumn seminar where we share experiences with the development, evaluation and use of apps and other digital interventions. We will return with a more detailed program later, but save the date already.

Time: Tuesday 5 November at 14:30-17:30.

Do you want to get to know other researchers in the Diakonhjem family?

Working to arrange various courses, e.g. project management courses, management courses, team leadership courses, smart recruitment, presentation techniques, working environment and employment law and sustainability. For more information see: Courses and digital events at Virke

Follow up on courses from the OUS Regional Research Support here: Research support (forskerstotte.no)

For the fourth time, there will be a Green Congress for rheumatology. 

The event is free, and we have room for 150 good colleagues (first come, first served) at Deichman in Bjørvika. In addition, we broadcast digitally, so that everyone can experience the highlights from EULAR.

This year's engaging environmental lecture is given by Bob van Oort (cicero.oslo.no) , senior researcher at CICERO.

EULAR: 12 - 15 June 2024

NorCRIN partner, St. Olavs hospital, is organizing a course in the spring of 2024 in testing medical equipment, 11 June 2024 at 09:00-12:30 (digitally via Zoom). It is free and open to everyone, from all over the country. Program will be here during the spring: Course in clinical testing of medical equipment - www.norcrin.no

• Course content: What is needed to be able to carry out clinical trials of medical equipment within the current regulations.
• Target group: The course is aimed at researchers, project managers, research fellows, doctors, study nurses/coordinators and other health professional groups who want to increase their competence in planning and carrying out studies of medical equipment.

The Directorate for Medical Products (DMP) holds webinars on medical devices. An overview of planned webinars and recordings and presentations of those that have been completed can be found here, Webinars on medical equipment - Directorate for medical products (dmp.no) .

The deadline for registration is 05.06.24

Research support presents an introductory course in health economic evaluation. In order to understand what causes some treatments to be prioritized and others not, it is important to understand concepts such as treatment effect, quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and cost-effectiveness. The health economics team at research support, OUS, explains what health economics is, what is included in a health economic evaluation, how the data is analyzed and why health economic evaluation is important to include in a clinical study.

The course is primarily aimed at research fellows and researchers working with clinical studies. We encourage local participation. More information about the program is coming soon!

• Date : 7 June 2024, at 09:00 - 12:00
• Registration deadline : 3 June 2024, at 16:00
• Place : Rikshospitalet, Rødt auditorium or digital participation
• For questions: consult This email address is protected from programs that collect email addresses. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

REGISTRATION

Date: Wednesday 7 August 2024, at 14:00 - 15:30

Place: Digital via Teams

Topics for the course:

• Formulate goals
• Make a difference
• Respond to the assessment criteria
• Select application category

This course is the same as the course held physically on 24 June 2024

Link to Teams will be sent out by e-mail in advance of the course.

Registration deadline: 5 August, at 16:00

Contact for possible questions: This email address is protected from programs that collect email addresses. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Registration here

Welcome to the late summer seminar for WP 1 on 22 August with a subsequent dinner at SKUR 33.

The seminar is held in meeting room 1 at Diakonhjemmet hospital from 15:00 – 17:15 . We are looking forward to an exciting programme, see attachment in email.

Registration is done via the online form https://nettskjema.no/a/436733 by 15 August.

Program:

15:00 – 15:15 Fruit and coffee

15:15 – 15:30 Introduction v/Siri Lillegraven, Anna-Birgitte Aga and Silje W. Syversen

15:30 – 15:50 New results: the ReMonit study + project under clarification v/ Inger Jorid Berg, TBD

15:50 – 16:05 CTIS - How does it work in practice and what help can CTU offer? w/ Camilla Skancke Mørstad and Bitte Stenvik

16:05 – 16:20 Break

16:20 – 16:35 Clinical studies on duty - Experiences from the start of HIFSAT v/Maren Paus

16:35 – 17:00 The climate crisis - how can we contribute? Climate footprint as an outcome measure in clinical studies v/Lena Bugge Nordberg

17:00 – 17:15 Discussion and summary

18:00 Dinner, Skur 33, Akershusstranda 11, 0150 Oslo

The information meeting is split between Privacy and Research Support. The research support section will set up a discussion and questions based on a presented case. The meeting is relevant for anyone with an interest in or a role in health research projects.

• Date: Thursday 26 September, at 09:00 - 11:00
• Place: Sogn Arena, Klaus Torgårdsvei 3, meeting room Undredal

What responsibility does a project manager have in a health research project?

• How do you report the project to the Norwegian Privacy Commissioner?
• Which approvals must be in place before the project starts?

You will get an answer to this by attending the information meeting of the Team for research advice and privacy at OUS in September.

Time has been set aside for questions and discussion, and if you have any questions you would like us to address in the meeting, we will gladly accept them! Send to This email address is protected from programs that collect email addresses. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 

Save the date, registration information will come in August!

Welcome to guidance in user participation in the research project for PhD scholars associated with the REMEDY research center in autumn 2024!

There will be four annual group tutorials where the purpose is to increase the focus and competence on user participation in the individual's research project. The guidance will last 45 minutes and is based on one of the participants' pre-submitted problems in the project which deals with user participation. The topics can be anything from the start-up phase, the establishment of a project group, clarification of roles and expectations to a phase with analysis and, for example, co-authorship. The guide will be able to highlight user participation in their research projects and is an opportunity to present an issue that deals with the collaboration with the user contributors in the individual's projects.

An invitation will be sent out to the scholarship holders ahead of the guidance for enrolment. Feel free to note already now the autumn's opportunities for guidance:

Monday 16 September at 1400-1445.

Monday 18 November at 1400-1445.

Both tutorials will be in the DBL building meeting room 117 (Diakonhjemmet hospital)

Welcome to you all!

On 24 September there will be an open afternoon meeting at the Diakonhjemmet with Kevin Winthrop, who is coming to Norway to be an opponent for Ingrid Egeland Christensen. 

Tentative title: Vaccination of patients on b/tsDMARDs. What did we as rheumatologists learn from the pandemic?  

Meeting room 1

More information to come, but I hope you will enjoy the day