Steve McDonald is Co-Director and Senior Research Fellow at Cochrane Australia where he is responsible for supporting Cochrane in Australia, particularly through training, external engagement and advocacy. Steve coordinates the learning and education program of Cochrane Australia and teaches on training courses in Australia and South East Asia. He has broad experience in conducting systematic reviews and managing evidence synthesis projects.
Steve’s background is in information science and he provides search support and advice on all Cochrane Australia’s evidence synthesis projects. For the last few years, Steve has worked on Project Transform, a three-year flagship health evidence project funded by NHMRC and Cochrane, developing machine classifiers to improve the efficiency of study identification. He is currently enrolled in a part-time PhD that is evaluating the application of these new technologies to support living systematic reviews and living guidelines. Steve’s other research interests include methods for overviews of reviews, and the use of text mining and automation in search strategy design.
As part of Cochrane Australia's international responsibilities, he has helped establish Cochrane networks in South East Asia and East Asia. He was an elected member of Cochrane's Board of Directors from 2008 to 2015, and previously managed Cochrane’s international training program. From 2005-2015 he was a member of the Advisory Board of the Joanna Briggs Institute.
Steve has an honours degree in Social and Political Science from the University of Cambridge, a Masters in Library and Information Studies from Loughborough University and a Graduate Diploma in International Health from Monash University. In 2015 he graduated from the Asialink Leaders Program. His Monash University Researcher Profile and list of publications can be found here.
Contact details:
T: 03 9903 0370
E: steve.mcdonald@monash.edu