About us

Our expertise

EVIE combines methodological expertise with clinical focus in women's health. Our work spans evidence generation, synthesis and implementation – the full pipeline from identifying uncertainty to changing practice.

Two rows of four symbols: a magnifying glass, a microscope, a medical cross, a route between two geographical points, a pile of pound notes, a lightbulb, a book, and a handshake

Systematic evidence synthesis is at the core of EVIE's identity. We produce reviews that are methodologically transparent, reproducible and directly useful to clinicians, guideline developers and policymakers.

Capabilities

  • Systematic reviews
  • Rapid reviews
  • Scoping reviews
  • Living reviews – continuously updated as new evidence emerges
  • Umbrella reviews – synthesising evidence across multiple systematic reviews
  • Evidence mapping
  • Guideline evidence reviews

Use cases

  • Identifying evidence gaps and research priorities
  • Informing clinical guideline development
  • Supporting funding applications with evidence of uncertainty
  • Assessing treatment effectiveness and safety
  • Comparing the strength of evidence across interventions

EVIE has nationally recognised expertise in advanced quantitative evidence synthesis, including methods that go well beyond standard pairwise meta-analysis to answer complex clinical questions.

Capabilities

  • Pairwise meta-analysis
  • Network meta-analysis – comparing multiple treatments simultaneously
  • Diagnostic test accuracy meta-analysis
  • Prognostic factor meta-analysis
  • Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis
  • Meta-regression and subgroup analysis
  • Certainty of evidence assessment (GRADE framework)

Use cases

  • Comparing multiple treatments where head-to-head trials are limited
  • Understanding variation in treatment effects across patient subgroups
  • Producing the most precise estimates of treatment benefit and harm
  • Supporting recommendations in complex clinical areas where evidence is indirect

EVIE designs and delivers randomised studies to answer questions that cannot be resolved by evidence synthesis alone. We bring together clinical expertise, trial design methodology and patient-centred outcome development.

Capabilities

  • Randomised controlled trials
  • Feasibility and pilot studies
  • Pragmatic trials – designed to answer real-world clinical questions
  • Adaptive trial designs – including Bayesian multi-stage, multi-arm approaches
  • Complex intervention evaluation
  • Trial design support and protocol development
  • Outcome selection and core outcome set development

Use cases

  • Evaluating new treatments and care pathways in women's health
  • Testing feasibility before committing to a definitive trial
  • Designing adaptive trials to efficiently evaluate multiple interventions
  • Developing patient-centred primary outcomes

Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of effective treatment. EVIE conducts studies that evaluate diagnostic tests, develop prediction models and support personalised clinical decision-making.

Capabilities

  • Diagnostic accuracy studies
  • Prediction model development
  • Risk stratification tools
  • Clinical decision tools
  • Validation studies – testing models in new populations

Use cases

  • Improving diagnostic accuracy for women's health conditions
  • Supporting personalised care and treatment selection
  • Reducing diagnostic delay – particularly relevant in endometriosis

Evidence of clinical effectiveness must be accompanied by evidence of value. EVIE integrates health economic analysis into its research to support the decisions of commissioners, guideline groups and policymakers.

Capabilities

  • Economic evaluation
  • Cost-effectiveness analysis
  • Resource-use analysis
  • Budget impact analysis
  • Economic modelling
  • Health utility measurement (EQ-5D and condition-specific tools)

Use cases

  • Supporting NICE appraisals and guideline development
  • Assessing the value for money of women's health interventions
  • Informing NHS commissioning and adoption decisions
  • Building economic evidence alongside clinical trial data

Numbers alone do not explain women's health. EVIE uses qualitative and mixed methods to understand lived experience, improve intervention design and ensure research reflects the realities of clinical practice and everyday life.

Capabilities

  • Interviews and focus groups
  • Patient and clinician experience studies
  • Acceptability and feasibility work
  • Qualitative evidence synthesis
  • Implementation barrier analysis

Evidence does not implement itself. EVIE supports the translation of research into clinical guidelines, decision aids and implementation tools – bridging the gap between what the evidence shows and what happens in clinical practice.

Capabilities

  • Evidence-to-decision (EtD) frameworks
  • Clinical practice guideline support
  • Consensus methods (Delphi, nominal group technique)
  • Decision aids for patients and clinicians
  • Implementation tools and plain-language summaries

PPIE is embedded across EVIE's work – not an optional addition. Public contributors shape our research questions, help design our studies, review our materials and contribute to how we communicate our findings.

Capabilities

  • Priority setting – working with women and the public to identify the most important research questions
  • Co-design of research questions, protocols and outcome measures
  • PPI in evidence synthesis – reviewing search strategies, outcomes and interpretations
  • PPI in trial design – helping design acceptable interventions and recruitment strategiesLay summaries and accessible dissemination
  • Community engagement and charity partnerships

Find out more about our PPIE work.