The Julius Centre University of Malaya was borne out of the collaboration of the University of Malaya (UM) with the University Medical Centre, Utrecht (UMCU). UMCU together with the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM), University of Oxford, the Rumah Sakit Cipto Mangunkusumo (RSCM) Hospital, Jakarta and UM were earlier members of the Asia-Link project an Asia-Europe Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine project (fondly referred to as Asia-Link within JCUM) Funded by grants from the European Union.

The winning bid for this particular Asia-Link project was called the Asia-Europe Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine project (fondly referred to as Asia-Link within JCUM) and required the collaboration of at least two European and two Asian partners. The project will last for three years (Nov 2007 to Oct 2010) and was officially launched on 19 Nov 2007 in UM. To further strengthen the ties between UMCU as well as UM, it was decided by the SPM Department that the department would set up a centre which would further the collaboration beyond the remit of the Asia-Link project. Professor Awang Bulgiba presented the proposal to create this centre to the UM Management and the centre was approved by the UM Management on 9 Jan 2008 and subsequently by the UM Senate in April 2008.

Renovation work to create space for the centre started in late 2008 and was completed in early 2009. Currently the centre has a visiting professor room, 2 work areas which are able to accommodate 12 doctoral students and 2 research officers, a utility room and a meeting room. The centre is currently equipped with 15 personal computers, a file server, an all-in-one printer. Plans are afoot to equip the centre with video-conferencing facilities to enhance communication.

The first project officer hired under the Asia-Link programme was Ms Celine Quek She Lin. She served as project officer from January to March 2008 and was succeeded by Ms Aimi Naira Mat Ruzlin who served from April to December 2008. Ms Aimi left to pursue her studies at the end of 2008 and she was succeeded by Ms Hamizwanis Abdul Hamid.

The future is bright for JCUM as it is an officially recognised research centre in the Faculty of Medicine and is expected to grow to be the referral centre for epidemiology and evidence-based medicine in Malaysia.

Aims

The aims of the JCUM are:

To carry out research in the field of epidemiology
To develop the field of epidemiology in Malaysia
To train medical staff in the field of epidemiology and medical statistics
To improve the quality of epidemiological research in Malaysia
To develop training and activity development programmes in epidemiology and medical statistics in the Faculty of Medicine, UM
To act as the centre for problem solving in research methodology and medical statistics in the country
Strengths / Expertise

The strengths of the centre lie in its expertise in statistics, epidemiology and research. As a young centre, it is still growing in stature but has proven itself capable of organising itself very well. The other main strength of the centre is its close links to its partners in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Indonesia.

Center Activities

The activities of the JCUM are:

Managing researchactivities in the field of clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine.
Managing the Asia-Europe Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine Programme.
Short courses in the field of clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine.
Student exchange programmes amongst PhD candidates between Utrecht, Oxford and Jakarta.
Development of curriculum in the field of clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine.
As a reference and advisory centre in the field of clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine.

Since its inception, the centre has been active in carrying out activities under the Asia-Link programme. These activities include maintaining the Asia-Europe CE & EBM website organising short courses (with UMCU, CEBM and RSCM partners), selecting PhD fellows destined for UMCU and CEBM Oxford and coming out with the clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine module for the MBBS programme. Two PhD fellows were selected for 2009 under the Asia-Europe Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine Programme. They were Dr Ng Chong Guan and Dr Sharmini Selvarajah. Both are currently in UMCU. The following activities were carried out by the Julius Centre UM in 2009.

Although the project ended in December 2010 to further strengthen the ties between UMCU, CEBM, RSCM and UM, it was decided that the department would set up a centre that would further the collaboration beyond the remit of the Asia-Link project. The strengths of the centre lie in its expertise in epidemiology and research, medical statistics and evidence-based medicine. The other main strength of the centre is its close links to its partners in the Netherlands, Australia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. Since its inception, the centre has been active in carrying out activities both under the Asia-Link programme as well as its own activities separately from the Asia-link programme.

Vision

To ensure a healthy population through advanced epidemiological methods and health data analytic.

Mission

To advance knowledge and learning of Evidence-based Medicine, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics through high-quality research and education, capacity building, and networking.

Objectives

Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-based Practice (Formerly known as Julius Centre University of Malaya) aimed :

To be a regional referral centre for learning and research in the areas of epidemiology, clinical epidemiology, evidence-based medicine, and biostatistics.
To promote the translation of evidence into practice.
To conduct high-quality research that benefits the health of the community.
To establish international linkages to collaborate in areas of research and learning.

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