TERMS OF REFERENCE
Vision:
Research Collaboration between vascular specialists to guide the management of patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).
Mission:
Create an international collaborative network of vascular specialists (cross-specialty) who have an interest in the management of PAD, with the following overarching aims:
- Identify gaps in the evidence relating to the management of PAD
- Provide the evidence through designing and delivering high-quality multicentre applied clinical research.
Structure:
Quarterly meeting involving all members of RCPAD
The agenda for each meeting will include:
• Discussion of proposed research projects (maximum of three per meeting)
• Updates on ongoing research projects
• Future directions and action plan(s)
Proposed projects will be presented by the Chief Investigator (Project owner) in fifteen minutes then discussion to be followed for fifteen minute with all attendees. All the centres will be contacted soon after the meeting for members who wish to take part to express their interest.
Updates on the progress of ongoing projects should be presented by each CI on regular intervals.
If more than three projects are presented to be considered by RCPAD, selection of the most appropriate three projects will be decided based on first-come first-served basis. The other projects will be re-scheduled for the following meetings on the same basis.
Meetings will be co-chaired by one of the RCPAD executive committee and another council member, in a rotational manner.
Research Projects:
The CI should submit the proposal in writing to the RCPAD council at least four weeks prior to the meeting, using the standardised template.
The CI will be giving a fifteen minute presentation of the proposed study to the meeting attendees highlighting:
• The background and rationale behind the study
• The additional value it will bring to the evidence in PAD
• The level of contribution requested from each centre
• The timeframe of the project
• Necessary regulatory approvals and agreements
• Data collection tools necessary for the completion of the project.
The CI will be the senior author on the publication(s) resulting from the project. It is expected that the CI will also lead the writing of the manuscript and allocate it to the first author as they see fit.
All contributing investigators (RCPAD members- usually two per contributing centre) will be named as authors, according to the degree of their contribution to the study (e.g. number of patients they recruited to the study).
The CI will be responsible to circulate a draft manuscript to all contributing investigators in a good time before submission (at least one week).
The CI will make reasonable effort to incorporate the feedback and suggestions from the contributing RCPAD members on the manuscript.
The CI is entitled to decide which scientific journal the manuscript will be submitted to.
The CIs are encouraged to complete their projects and submit their manuscripts prior to proposing other research projects to RCPAD
RCPAD Contributing members:
RCPAD contributing members will have the option to opt out of any research project they do not want to contribute to.
If they agree to taking part in a project, they commit to providing their required input within the timeframe outlined by the CI
They will be entitled to nominate another colleague from their centre to be the local lead on a project if they feel this is more appropriate.
The local project lead will be the ones to decide who from their centre should be recognised as an author or acknowledged in any resulting publications from a project.