Symposia, Exhibitions, and Congresses
The April-May time frame is always a busy one at Strategic Solutions for symposia, exhibitions, and congresses, and this year was no exception.
At SAWC, which is one the largest wound care meetings, held this year in Dallas, we presented or co-presented two papers, one with Drs Tom Serena and Barbara Bates-Johnson on the principles of wound care research, and with Dr. Caroline Fife and her colleagues at Intellicure on the cost of outpatient wound care. In addition, I was interviewed by the editors of Ostomy Wound Management on writing and editing manuscripts for the journal. Click here to watch a 5-minute video.
Next came ARVO, the premier ophthalmology research
meeting, held as always at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, although in a few years
it will move to other cities as it is getting so big. I presented a paper
entitled: Do Gender Inequities Exist in Latin America in Regard to Cataract
Surgical Coverage? in which I had many ophthalmology co-authors. In addition,
Dr. Van Lansingh and I presented a poster on the cost of blindness in Latin
America, which was labeled a hot topic, as you can see in this horribly
blurred picture! We had a lot of visitors!
Finally, I made several presentations at the VISION
2020 Congress in Lima, Peru. I don't speak Spanish, so I had to make do
with English, although the majority of the presentations were in Spanish.
The sessions were long and timekeeping means a different thing in Latin
America compared to North America, but we more than made up for it with
the superb entertainment laid on by the local organizers. Thanks guys. In
the pictures you can see me lecturing (yes I tend to wander around; I hate
being tethered to a podium), and afterward with some of the people from
one of my sessions.
Strategic
Solutions Gets Featured in Nature Magazine
In the December 2 edition of Nature magazine (2010),
a careers article written by Karen Kaplan features excerpts of an interview
with Dr. Marissa Carter, President of Strategic Solutions, Inc (http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2010/101202/pdf/nj7324-721a.pdf).
“I was surprised that we were picked,” Dr. Carter said, “but
delighted. In the article, our track record of being able to help two out
of three authors get published in other journals following rejection in
another journal is highlighted, but our more extensive services are also
discussed. These include in-depth editing and formatting, rewriting, and
critiquing of studies, including reanalysis using statistical techniques,
and use of ancillary data. Most importantly, from our critique, we are able
to identify from the manuscript the flaws in the study that likely caused
the manuscript to get rejected by the peer review as well as indentifying
comments that are minor or unwarranted, or at the very least debatable.”
The article also discusses the desirability of having a paper thoroughly
edited/formatted by an external company prior to submission, as well as
more in-depth analysis that may forestall peer review criticism or rejection.
“While experienced authors and scientific investigators can make mistakes,”
Dr. Carter cautions, “it is usually less experienced investigators
who need help the most. However, when new studies are conducted or new concepts
tried, it is surprising to me sometimes the kinds of problems and issues
that have not been addressed.””
“We don’t have a time machine,” Dr. Carter jokes. “We
can’t fix fatal flaws in studies that have already been conducted.
But what we can do is help you put your best foot forward and perhaps teach
you how to design a better study.”
Image: (== Summary == {{Non-free use rationale |Article=Nature (journal) |Description=2010 cover of the journal ''Nature'' |Source=http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html (Nov. 24, 2010) |Portion=All |Low_resolution=Yes (11 kb) |Purpose=To illustrate the article on the journal |Replaceability=Impossible |other_information=Publisher: Nature Publishing Group }} == Licensing: == {{Non-free magazine cover}} Category:Academic journal covers)
Joint SSI Study Wins Award
The
Winners of the 2009 Roberta S. Abbruzzese Publishing award were Marissa
J. Carter, PhD, Caroline E. Fife, MD, David Walker, CHT, and Brett Thompson
BS for their study, published in the July 2009 issue of Advances in
Skin and Wound Care entitled Estimating the applicability of wound
care randomized controlled trial to general wound-care populations by estimating
the percentage of individuals excluded from typical wound care populations
in such trials.
Dr. Carter is President of Strategic Solutions, Inc., while Dr. Fife is
Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Texas
Health Science Center, in Houston, TX, and Mr. Walker and Mr. Thompson are
the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Software Engineer, respectively,
at Intellicure, The Woodlands, TX.
The Award was given at the 24th Annual Clinical Symposium on Advances in
Skin and Wound Care on October 23, 2009 in San Antonio, TX. The award is
supported by an educational grant from Gaymar Industries, Inc., Orchard
Park, New York.
"This study was a labor of love," said Dr. Carter, lead author
of the study, "and took over two years to complete." Its startling
results indicated that many randomized controlled trials, often considered
the "gold standard" in medical treatments in evidence-based medicine,
have far less applicability to patients in wound care than was formerly
believed. The study found that many wound care patients with significant
other existing medical conditions were often summarily excluded from clinical
trials, thus limiting the applicability of the trial results to more general
populations. "This should be a wake-up call in the field to do better,"
Dr. Carter added.
Photos courtesy of Marcia Nusgart of Nusgart Consulting, LLC.
