EP 41: Trials and errors – rethinking health research with Shaun Treweek

In this episode, we speak with Prof. Shaun Treweek about why so much health research still falls short. Shaun argues that big parts of health research is “bad” and does not bring the value to the evidence-base we need. As a leading expert in trials methodology he explains how we can change that and how we can conduct “good” research for our patients.

Other topics we cover

• What leads to “bad” studies and eventually research waste
• The gender health gap and what a Pink Floyd lyric has to do with it  

Literature we discuss

• Daly et al. (2025). Tolerating bad health research (part 2): still as many bad trials, but more good ones too. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-025-08747-4
• De Paoli et al. (2022). Another Brick in the Wall … no More! Breaking the Sex Bias. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2022.09.052
• Pirosca et al. (2022). Tolerating bad health research: The continuing scandal. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-022-06415-5
• Rogus-Pulia et al. (2024). A Proposed Framework for Rigor and Transparency in Dysphagia Research: Prologue. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00368
• Treweek et al. (2022). Getting it wrong most of the time? Comparing trialists’ choice of primary outcome with what patients and health professionals want. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-022-06348-z
• Werden Abrams et al. (2024). Participant Characteristics for Dysphagia Research: A Proposed Checklist. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-22-00183
• FRONTIERS website www.frontiersframework.com