Current projects

Improving the credibility and utility of in vitro research

This project aims to identify key areas threatening experimental validity of in vitro research through systematic review of existing guidelines on conducting in vitro studies and consulting with experts in the field. This project will also work to develop an infrastructure for conducting in vitro systematic reviews, as there is currently no methodological framework for performing systematic reviews on in vitro research.

Key contact: Prof Emily Sena and Dr Nicole Hindley-Pollock

iRISE (improving Reproducibility In SciencE)  

This project, funded by the European Union*, is dedicated to increasing the quality, reliability, and reusability of scientific evidence by understanding and addressing the drivers of irreproducibility. We aim to provide a comprehensive, evidence-based roadmap for the development, evaluation, and implementation of interventions designed to enhance reproducibility. We are committed to mainstreaming equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations in all aspects of the iRISE project and encourage others to do the same. 

*Under grant agreement No 101094853. The project also receives funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI): Direct Funding for Collaborative Projects as part of the transitional measures.

Project overview on the iRISE website 

iRISE open knowledge base 

Key contact: Prof Emily Sena 

GALENOS (Global Alliance for Living Evidence on aNxiety, depressiOn and pSychosis)

GALENOS is a large global project launched in early 2023 funded by Wellcome. Over the next 3 years, GALENOS will develop an innovative living evidence resource for research into mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and psychosis. The living nature of GALENOS aims to keep track of a rapidly expanding body of literature and continually integrate it into our knowledge base, while input from academic experts and experts by lived experience will allow effective research prioritisation for future preclinical and clinical studies. The GALENOS has a strong focus on understanding mechanisms underlying mental health conditions to improve and accelerate the development of treatments for these conditions. The outputs of the project will be 24 living systematic reviews (published in full), and a freely available open access resource.

Project overview

Funder news article

Protocol for LSR3: TAAR1 agonists for psychosis

Protocol for LSR1: Pro-dopaminergic pharmacological interventions for anhedonia in depression

Protocol for LSR2: Mechanisms through which exercise reduces symptom severity and/or functional impairment in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Key contact: Dr Fiona Ramage

Living systematic reviews and living evidence summaries

CAMARADES are developing automated approaches to systematic review, using methods such as machine learning and text mining. Using these tools, we aim to provide online resources, automatically updated in real-time, that summarise all primary studies in specific research domains. These online resources will help inform the design and development of human clinical trials with a higher rate of success.

Read our SOLES paper

Find out more about SOLES web applications and code

AD-SOLES (Systematic Online Living Evidence Summary of Alzheimer's Disease Research) 

This project aims to provide a useful and continually updated summary of existing pre-clinical Alzheimer's research. The summary will assess the quality of studies, investigate sources of heterogeneity, and generate hypotheses for future Alzheimer's disease research, using systematic review and meta-analysis methodologies. This workflow enabled us to begin 3 systematic review sub-projects (as part of EQIPD) focussing on different outcomes: The open field test paradigm, sleep EEG, and synaptic plasticity (measured in hippocampal slices). 

Read the AD-SOLES paper

AD-SOLES web application

Living Review protocol

OFT review protocol

Synaptic plasticity review protocol

Key contact: Dr Kaitlyn Hair

Repurposing Living Systematic Review for Motor Neuron Disease (ReLiSyR-MND)

Living systematic reviews of clinical and preclinical literature of motor neuron disease (MND) and other neurodegenerative diseases to inform the selection of drugs for repurposing in MND clinical trials, in collaboration with MND-SMART (Motor Neurone Disease – Systematic Multi-Arm Randomised Trial).

MND-SMART clinical trial platform website

Key contact: Dr Charis Wong

Edinburgh Research Improvement Project (ERIP)

A project in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh's Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB) to improve the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of research at the University of Edinburgh. The main aim of the project is to develop and deliver educational materials for everyone involved with preclinical animal research at the University of Edinburgh, including researchers, technical staff, and students, and measure the impact of implementing these approaches on research performance and output.

Edinburgh Research Improvement Project overview on Edinburgh Research Explorer

Key contacts: Dr Gillian Currie