title: StaR Child Health: developing evidence-based guidance for the design, conduct and reporting of paediatric trials.
abstract: There has been a huge upsurge in clinical research in children in the last decade, stimulated in England by dedicated research infrastructure and support through the National Institute for Health Research. This infrastructure offering research design, expert review, trial management, research nurse, data support and dedicated facilities enables paediatricians to conduct more and better research. The challenge is how to design and conduct trials that will make a real difference to children's health. Standards for Research (StaR) in Child Health was founded in 2009 to address the paucity and shortcomings of paediatric clinical trials. This global initiative involves methodologists, clinicians, patient advocacy groups and policy makers dedicated to developing practical, evidence-based standards for enhancing the reliability and relevance of paediatric clinical research. In this overview, we highlight the contribution of StaR to this agenda, describe the international context, and suggest how StaR's future plans could be integrated with new and existing support for research.
authors.affiliation: Somers Clinical Research Facility, Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Van't Hoff
authors.affiliation: Child Health Evaluative Sciences (CHES), Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Offringa
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004739:England; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design
keywords: Evidence Based Medicine; Outcomes research