Diagnostic Evidence Workshops 2026
Monday, 08 June 2026 to Wednesday, 10 June 2026, 9.30am - 5pm
Worcester College, Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HB
Click to registerA three-day workshop aimed at clinicians, researchers and predominantly small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the diagnostics sector.
The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Community Healthcare is pleased to offer a series of workshops for 2026 that will build on the educational programme previously delivered by the NIHR Community Healthcare MedTech & IVD Co-operative. Running sequentially, the workshops cover:
- Workshop 1: An introduction to evaluation of diagnostics
- Workshop 2: Cost-effectiveness analysis of diagnostic tests for development and adoption
- Workshop 3: Statistical methods for diagnostic accuracy in medical research
These workshops can be taken individually or combined depending on your requirements.
Why attend?
Taught by academic clinicians, information specialists, behavioural scientists, statisticians, and health economists with expertise in value-based healthcare and NICE evaluations, these workshops aim to equip you with the necessary skills to evaluate IVD and non-IVD diagnostic medical technologies to support the development of evidence portfolios.
This series is aimed at all professionals who wish to advance their understanding of diagnostic test evaluation, including those working in industry, academia, research funding and regulatory affairs organisations.
Course leads:
- Professor Gail Hayward, University of Oxford and Clinical Director, NIHR HRC in Community Healthcare.
- Dr Rositsa Koleva-Kolarova, University of Oxford and NIHR HRC in Community Healthcare.
- Dr Jane Wolstenholme, University of Oxford and NIHR HRC in Community Healthcare.
- Professor Chris Hyde, University of Exeter and NIHR HRC in Sustainable Innovation.
- Dr Tom Fanshawe, University of Oxford and NIHR HRC in Community Healthcare.
- Dr Jason Oke, University of Oxford and NIHR HRC in Community Healthcare.
>Downloadable provisional program will be available soon
INTRODUCTION TO EVALUATION OF DIAGNOSTICS
The opening workshop of the series will be taught by front-line diagnostics researchers and will provide participants with a basic overview of the components which one might employ for the evaluation of diagnostic tests, including basic health economics and statistics, searching for evidence, pragmatic study design, and behavioural and qualitative methods. Colleagues from the NIHR Research Support Service will discuss NIHR funding and give their top tips for the development of competitive funding applications.
PREREQUISITES and requirements
There are no prerequisites for attendance. The workshop has been formulated so that it is accessible to all who have an interest in gaining a basic understanding of the evaluation of diagnostic tests. Attendees will need to bring a laptop computer with them in order to fully engage with the session on evidence searching.
COURSE STYLE
The course will consist of three sessions of seminars separated by lunch and refreshment breaks. Some of the seminars will incorporate short practical exercises.
Course content (subject to minor changes)
1. Tests as part of a clinical pathway
2. Basic statistics for diagnostic medicine
3. Searching for existing evidence on diagnostic tests
4. Introduction to study design for pragmatic evaluation of diagnostics
5. Behavioural science and qualitative approaches to test evaluation
6. Basic health economics for diagnostic evaluation
7. Top tips for applying for NIHR funding
In collaboration with: NIHR Research Support Service
COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS OF DIAGNOSTIC TESTS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION.
This one day course aims to explain how cost-effectiveness analysis of diagnostic tests is conducted and used in the research, development and evaluation of diagnostics. It is aimed at those involved in the development and evaluation of diagnostics, in both academic and commercial settings.
Prerequisites
Participants should have a basic understanding of measures of diagnostic accuracy and clinical effectiveness, as well as basic descriptive statistics (means, ranges). Previous knowledge of cost-effectiveness concepts would be an advantage, but these are not necessary as they will be revised in the first session. For the practical session, participants will need a laptop with Microsoft Excel installed.
By taking this course
Participants will revise the core concepts underlying cost-effectiveness analysis, including incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. They will learn how diagnostic tests can be evaluated using cost-effectiveness methods, and will get practical experience of working with a pre-built decision model and performing sensitivity analysis to understand how cost-effective a diagnostic would be in different settings. They will also learn about the diagnostic evaluation evidence requirements used by NICE, and consider contemporary issues related to cost-effectiveness analysis of diagnostics.
Course content (subject to minor changes)
1. Introduction to cost-effectiveness for diagnostics
2. Generating and using cost-effectiveness evidence for diagnostics
3. Practical: Identifying evidence, decision modelling, and evaluating determinants of cost-effectiveness
4. Evidence for implementation in routine clinical practice – NICE evaluations
5. Evidencing the 'value' in value-based healthcare
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STATISTICAL METHODS FOR DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY IN MEDICAL RESEARCH
This one-day course is designed for researchers who want to analyse their own diagnostic accuracy data. Typically, this will be analysis on results from research carried out in an early development/exploratory phase but the methods covered will also be applicable to research where tests are studied in a clinical setting. Participants will gain hands-on experience of analysing diagnostic accuracy data in computer practical sessions using the free statistical software R (https://cran.r-project.org/).
Prerequisites.
Participants should have a basic understanding of statistics up to the level of confidence intervals and p-values. A rudimentary knowledge of the basics of diagnostic accuracy would be advantageous, but not required as we will revise the basics in the first session. Participants will be expected to bring their own laptops and have R and/or RStudio installed.
By taking this course:
Participants will increase their understanding of common measures of diagnostic accuracy, learn how to calculate these measures using data and quantify uncertainty in their estimates. They will learn when and how to use ROC analysis, how to compare two diagnostic tests and understand methods for finding optimal thresholds.
Course content in detail
1. Summary estimates of diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios and other measures)
2. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC)
3. Comparing the accuracy of two tests (paired and unpaired designs)
4. Methods for finding optimal thresholds (including interpretation of the ROC curve, and net-benefit analysis)
In collaboration with:
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