About us

The OA Trial Bank initiates meta-analyses of effect of treatment on predefined subgroups of osteoarthritis (OA) patients from existing studies, using Individual Patient Data (IPD). Based on the small to moderate effectiveness of the wide range of symptomatic treatments in OA, and the heterogeneity of OA patients, treatment guidelines for OA have stressed the need for research on clinical predictors of response to different treatments.

Identifying treatment responsive subgroups is not simple and it is essential to use the correct methodology in order to avoid that some patients are erroneously deprived of certain treatments, or are erroneously assumed to have an (better) effect from such treatment.

A meta‐analysis for quantifying interaction effects using Individual Patient Data (IPD) is considered to be the gold standard for subgroup analysis with respect to effect of treatment. This method requires re‐analysis of individual patient data, made available by the authors of the separate trials. These IPD can additionally be used to identify mediators of the effects of treatments and to identify minimum clinically important differences of outcomes in osteoarthritis research. The initiative to collect IPD in osteoarthritis research is commenced by the OA Trial Bank.

The organisation

The OA Trial Bank was initiated in 2012 by Prof. Bierma-Zeinstra at Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam. A chairman, steering committee and an executive coordinator formalize the OA Trial Bank organisation.

Steering Committee

Prof. dr. SMA (Sita) Bierma-Zeinstra

Prof. dr. SMA (Sita) Bierma-Zeinstra

Prof. dr. LS (Stefan) Lohmander

Prof. dr. LS (Stefan) Lohmander

Prof. dr. M (Michael) Doherty

Prof. dr. M (Michael) Doherty

Prof. dr. KS (Krysia) Dziedzic

Prof. dr. KS (Krysia) Dziedzic

Prof. dr. W (Weiya) Zhang

Prof. dr. W (Weiya) Zhang

Prof. dr. TE (Timothy) McAlindon

Prof. dr. TE (Timothy) McAlindon

Prof. dr. M (Melanie) Holden

Prof. dr. M (Melanie) Holden

Executive Coordinator

Dr. M (Marienke) van Middelkoop

Dr. M (Marienke) van Middelkoop

Data Deliverers

Corresponding authors of included studies

Executive Coordinator

Dr. M (Marienke) van Middelkoop

Dr. M (Marienke) van Middelkoop

Coordinating Investigators

Principle Investigators of OA Tral Bank Projects

The steering committee guarantees continuity of the OA Trial Bank, supervises the executive coordinator and approves and agrees on all decisions made and methods applied, i.e. agree on organisational structure and tasks of all parties involved; agree on the design and methods of meta-analyses, definition of subgroups, statistical analyses, provides the content of the license agreement (data access, transfer and storage, predefined analyses, confidentiality and reliability statement, authorship) between data-deliverers and the OA Trial Bank and ensures handling of data and provides a safe data storage.

The steering committee currently consists of six internationally acknowledged clinical and epidemiological researchers in the OA field, including a delegate of the OsteoArthritis Research Society International (OARSI) and a delegate of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR). The advisory board is an informal board that gives expert advice to the steering committee on emerging issues within the OA Trial Bank. The executive coordinator is responsible for the daily management of the OA Trial Bank, and performs or supervises the data-analyses.