About us
The OA Trial Bank initiates meta-analyses of effect of treatment on predefined subgroups of osteoarthritis (OA) patients from existing studies, using Individual Patient Data (IPD). Based on the small to moderate effectiveness of the wide range of symptomatic treatments in OA, and the heterogeneity of OA patients, treatment guidelines for OA have stressed the need for research on clinical predictors of response to different treatments.
Identifying treatment responsive subgroups is not simple and it is essential to use the correct methodology in order to avoid that some patients are erroneously deprived of certain treatments, or are erroneously assumed to have an (better) effect from such treatment.
A meta‐analysis for quantifying interaction effects using Individual Patient Data (IPD) is considered to be the gold standard for subgroup analysis with respect to effect of treatment. This method requires re‐analysis of individual patient data, made available by the authors of the separate trials. These IPD can additionally be used to identify mediators of the effects of treatments and to identify minimum clinically important differences of outcomes in osteoarthritis research. The initiative to collect IPD in osteoarthritis research is commenced by the OA Trial Bank.
The organisation
The OA Trial Bank was initiated in 2012 by Prof. Bierma-Zeinstra at Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam. A chairman, steering committee and an executive coordinator formalize the OA Trial Bank organisation.
Steering Committee
Prof. dr. SMA (Sita) Bierma-Zeinstra
Prof. dr. LS (Stefan) Lohmander
Prof. dr. M (Michael) Doherty
Prof. dr. KS (Krysia) Dziedzic
Prof. dr. W (Weiya) Zhang
Prof. dr. TE (Timothy) McAlindon
Prof. dr. M (Melanie) Holden
Executive Coordinator
Dr. M (Marienke) van Middelkoop
Data Deliverers
Corresponding authors of included studies
Executive Coordinator
Dr. M (Marienke) van Middelkoop
Coordinating Investigators
Principle Investigators of OA Tral Bank Projects
The steering committee guarantees continuity of the OA Trial Bank, supervises the executive coordinator and approves and agrees on all decisions made and methods applied, i.e. agree on organisational structure and tasks of all parties involved; agree on the design and methods of meta-analyses, definition of subgroups, statistical analyses, provides the content of the license agreement (data access, transfer and storage, predefined analyses, confidentiality and reliability statement, authorship) between data-deliverers and the OA Trial Bank and ensures handling of data and provides a safe data storage.
The steering committee currently consists of six internationally acknowledged clinical and epidemiological researchers in the OA field, including a delegate of the OsteoArthritis Research Society International (OARSI) and a delegate of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR). The advisory board is an informal board that gives expert advice to the steering committee on emerging issues within the OA Trial Bank. The executive coordinator is responsible for the daily management of the OA Trial Bank, and performs or supervises the data-analyses.