The Northeast Institute for Evidence Synthesis and Translation: A JBI Center of Excellence

The Northeast Institute for Evidence Synthesis and Translation: A JBI Center of Excellence, affectionately referred to as NEST, was established in 2004 as a Center of Excellence under the JBI Collaboration.


The Northeast Institute for Evidence Synthesis and Translation: A JBI Centre of Excellence

Our Goals

  • Identify areas where health professionals most urgently require summarized evidence on which to base their practice.
  • Conduct and facilitate systematic reviews of international research.
  • Identify the need for and promote the conduct of multi-site research studies in areas where good evidence is not available.
  • Prepare easy to read summaries of best practice in the form of Best Practice Information Sheets based on the results of systematic reviews.
  • Design and conduct targeted dissemination activities in areas where good evidence is available.
  • Promote broad dissemination strategies to ensure that findings are made available to the profession and to all levels of health care systems, governments, and service provider units.
  • Promote broad dissemination strategies to ensure findings are made available to health care consumers.
  • Evaluate the effects of selected Best Practice Information Sheets on practice variability, health outcomes and cost.
  • Design, promote and deliver short courses in evidence-based practice for clinicians, researchers, managers, lecturers, teachers and students.
  • Offer direct fee-for-service consultancies to health service providers to develop customized evidence-based practice training and evidence-based policy and procedure manuals.

About JBI

JBI is driven to improving health outcomes in communities globally by promoting and supporting the use of the best available evidence to inform decisions made at the point of care. This work begins and ends with the needs of those working in and using healthcare services. JBI responds to their questions and provides high quality, reliable information that is pragmatic and useful where it counts. This information is based on evidence that is feasible, appropriate, meaningful and effective to specific populations and settings. JBI achieves this by working with universities and hospitals from across the globe through the JBI Collaboration. In doing so JBI ensures that the research evidence we seek to synthesis, transfer and implement is culturally inclusive and relevant across the diversity of healthcare internationally. JBI promotes and supports the sustainability of improved healthcare practice and health outcomes globally by developing and delivering a range of unique evidence-based resources, software, education and training.

The JBI approach

The best available evidence, the context in which care is delivered, the individual patient and the professional judgement and expertise of the health professional inform this process. JBI regards evidence-based healthcare as a cyclical process: global healthcare needs, as identified by clinicians or patients/consumers, are addressed through the generation of research evidence that is effective, but also feasible, appropriate and meaningful to specific populations, cultures and settings.

This evidence is collated and the results are appraised, synthesised and transferred to service delivery settings and health professionals who utilise it and evaluate its impact on health outcomes, health systems and professional practice. Therefore, in order to provide those who work in and use health systems globally with world class information and resources, JBI:

  • considers international evidence related to the feasibility, appropriateness, meaningfulness and effectiveness of healthcare interventions (evidence generation)
  • includes these different types of evidence in a formal assessment called a systematic review (evidence synthesis)
  • globally disseminates information in appropriate, relevant formats to inform health systems, health professionals and consumers (evidence transfer)
  • has designed programs to enable the effective implementation of evidence and evaluation of its impact on healthcare practice (evidence implementation).