Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Sue is a Senior Research Fellow at Cochrane Australia, in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine where she leads the Melbourne GRADE centre and contributes to Cochrane’s program of work on the translation of research into policy. Her role includes producing and facilitating the use of systematic reviews for health policy decision-making. She has been lead investigator on six reviews commissioned to inform NHMRC national guidelines, and the methodological lead on reviews of public health and healthcare improvement interventions. She conducts research that aims to (i) advance methods for research synthesis and the uptake of these methods, and to (ii) develop practical, evidence-based approaches for enabling decision-makers to use research. Her collaborative research on methods for evidence synthesis has informed workshops and guidance for systematic review authors, including co-authoring four chapters in the 2019 edition of the Cochrane handbook. She is a lead investigator on a project to develop GRADE methods for overviews of systematic reviews, and a member of the NHMRC Health Evidence panel. Through her roles in Cochrane and the GRADE working group, she works with policy-makers and guideline developers to implement GRADE methods for assessing research and making evidence-based recommendations.
As a postdoctoral fellow on the NHMRC funded Centre for Research Excellence in Informing Policy in Health with Evidence from Research (CIPHER), Sue contributed to the development of measures of research use in policy and the evaluation of a program to build capacity for using research in policy agencies.
Sue holds a Doctor of Philosophy in public health from Monash University (awarded 2013) for research on methods for evaluating quality improvement (QI) strategies, a Graduate Diploma of Education from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from Monash University. Her doctoral research resulted in two highly accessed systematic reviews (>33K) reporting a framework and measures for evaluating QI in primary care.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Novel methods to improve reporting and peer review of systematic reviews of health evidence
Page, M. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Moher, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Brennan, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & McKenzie, J. (Associate Investigator (AI))
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (Australia)
1/01/23 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
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CLLiP: Children with Lower Limb Pain (CLLiP): Working with families, community and health care providers to improve outcomes
Williams, C. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Pacey, V. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Munro, J. E. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Munns, C. F. J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Sturgiss, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), williams, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Tofts, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Locke, V. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Haines, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Brennan, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Maloney, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Sarkies, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ilhan, E. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Farlie, M. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Department of Health and Aged Care (Australia)
1/04/22 → 31/03/26
Project: Research
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WHO Systematic reviews on exposure to radiofrequency fields and cognitive impairment (human observational studies) The
Benke, G. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Abramson, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Brennan, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McDonald, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Karipidis, K. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Zeleke, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Kelsall, H. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Kaufmann, J. (Chief Investigator (CI))
5/09/22 → 30/11/22
Project: Research
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Reflexology Evidence Evaluation 2021-20RFQ011
Brennan, S., McDonald, S., Murano, M. & McKenzie, J.
15/02/22 → 30/09/24
Project: Research
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Closing the evidence-practice gap in dementia: two new national guidelines
Bell, J. S., Brennan, S., Patterson, A. & Srikanth, V., Jan 2025, In: Age and Ageing. 54, 1, 3 p., afaf005.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Other › peer-review
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Australian recommendations on perioperative use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in people with inflammatory arthritis undergoing elective surgery
Buchbinder, R., Glennon, V., Johnston, R. V., Brennan, S. E., Fong, C., Edward May, S., O'Neill, S., Smitham, P., Trevena, L., Whittaker, G., Wluka, A. & Whittle, S. L., Jul 2023, In: Internal Medicine Journal. 53, 7, p. 1248-1255 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access2 Citations (Scopus) -
Critical elements of synthesis questions are incompletely reported: survey of systematic reviews of intervention effects
Cumpston, M. S., McKenzie, J. E., Ryan, R., Thomas, J. & Brennan, S. E., Nov 2023, In: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 163, p. 79-91 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Interventions from pregnancy to two years after birth for parents experiencing complex post-traumatic stress disorder and/or with childhood experience of maltreatment (Review)
Jones, K. A., Freijah, I., Brennan, S. E., McKenzie, J. E., Bright, T. M., Fiolet, R., Kamitsis, I., Reid, C., Davis, E., Andrews, S., Muzik, M., Segal, L., Herrman, H. & Chamberlain, C., 4 May 2023, In: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2023, 5, 197 p., CD014874.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access4 Citations (Scopus) -
Research Note: Interpreting findings of a systematic review using GRADE methods
Brennan, S. E. & Johnston, R. V., Jul 2023, In: Journal of Physiotherapy. 69, 3, p. 198-202 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment / Debate › Other › peer-review
Open Access11 Citations (Scopus)