A high priority of the NICHD is the conduct of randomized clinical trials and the promotion of evidence-based practice of clinical medicine to improve the care of newborn infants and other populations that are central to the Institute's mission. In the mid 1980s, scientists from several countries developed processes for systematically developing evidence-based summaries of data from trials of clinical therapies. These summaries reflect systematic evaluations of the strength of existing evidence on the efficacy of interventions that are the subject of clinical trials. By the early 1990s, a non-profit entity, The Cochrane Collaboration (CC), formed in United Kingdom, began a process of systematically reviewing and evaluating data from clinical trials in many fields of medicine, and updating evaluations as new data became available. The CC also established an ongoing Library of such reviews. The NICHD supported scientists from McMaster University, Canada, to continue review of neonatal trials and provide the entire review for to the NICHD. This Neonatal Cochrane Review Group (NCRG) has provided more than 225 evidence-based reviews or ?reports? or ?summaries? thus far. These reviews of effectiveness of treatment are placed on the NICHD website, and are being used by clinicians as well as scientists all over the USA. This is one of the most popular websites in the entire NICHD electronic pages.
