The GIN „Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award“

The G-I-N „Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award“
Background
The Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award is named in recognition of Najoua Mlika-Cabanne MD
PHD († 2011), formerly Deputy Head of the Guidelines Department at the Haute Autorité de Santé
(HAS, French National Authority for Health), Trustee of the Guidelines International Network between 2003 and 2010, and G-I-N Honorary Patron.
Najoua Mlika-Cabanne graduated in medicine from Sousse Medical Faculty in Tunisia in 1982. From a
local government post in public health in Tunisia, Najoua moved to clinical research in France first at
the Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre and then at INSERM, the French National Institute for Health and
Medical Research. After that Najoua became deputy head of the Guidelines Department at the
Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS, French National Authority for Health). She was in charge of various
aspects of the development of clinical practice guidelines for over 10 years: drafting of guidelines,
managing a team of guideline developers, and university teaching, in particular courses on medical
statistics, quality management, and assessment of health systems. In her post at HAS, she liaised with
experts in a very wide variety of aspects of the development of quality of care and health technology
assessment.
From 2000, Najoua was increasingly involved in national and international partnerships. She was on
the Committee for the Assessment of National Registers at the French Institute for Public Health
Surveillance (InVS), was the mandated HAS representative for several collaborative international
projects (for example, CoCanCPG), and was an active member of the International Review Panel of
the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQUA), the ADAPTE collaboration, and G-I-N.
Najoua was elected to the G-I-N Board in 2003 and was co-chairman of the International Working
Group on Evidence Tables. She was also a co-editor of enGINe, the G-I-N newsletter.
During her career Dr Najoua Mlika-Cabanne made a significant contribution to the science of clinical
guideline development and consistently fostered international collaboration and friendship.
What should the G-I-N NMC-Award acknowledge? Who should benefit?



The award should acknowledge an individual’s efforts on innovation in the methodology, development, and /or implementation of clinical practice guidelines.
The individual has provided an extraordinary (outstanding) contribution to the guideline
community.
Current members of the Board or G-I-N staff are not eligible.
Who can nominate? Who does select / decide?



Nominations can only be made by organisational and individual G-I-N members. Selfnomination is not allowed.
The judgement is made by an Award Committee comprised of guideline experts selected by
the Board of Trustees (cf. below). The final decision is made by the Board of Trustees.
Current members of the Award Committee can neither nominate nor be eligible.
What might be the benefits?



Award certificate
Public presentation of award at opening, luncheon, or closing ceremony at the G-I-N conference with an acceptance speech that highlights their work.
Publication of the award lecture in a G-I-N organ (website or journal)
G-I-N “Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award”
Page 1 of 4

Airfare and registration to the G-I-N conference during which the “Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award” will be presented.
Nomination and selection process:



Nominations should be sent by email to the G-I-N office: [email protected]
o Nominations should include:
o Name of the nominee,
o Position and affiliation of the nominee,
o Contact details of the nominee,
o Reason for nomination,
o CV or link to the CV and list of relevant publications of the nominee
o Name, position, affiliation and contact details of the person(s) sending the nomination
Members of the award committee review the nominations received. They are allowed to obtain additional information by contacting the person(s) having sent the nominations and/or
by searching for more information e.g. via internet.
Final decision on selection is made by the G-I-N Board based on the advice of the award
committee.
G-I-N “Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award”
Page 2 of 4
Terms of Reference of the
G-I-N „Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award“
Composition
Members of the Award Committee are selected by the G-I-N Board of Trustees. The Committee consists of 5 members, including a Chair. Distribution in the Committee should allow participation of
individuals that are close to G-I-N (e.g. past Board members) along with well known experts in the
field. The committee should include individuals from at least 3 regions of the world. Representation
in the committee should allow linkage with partners such as HTA, Cochrane etc. If feasible, members
of the committee should represent a mix of occupations: physicians, nurses, allied health professionals.
Up to one current member of the G-I-N Board may be represented in the committee, who may also
serve as chair of the committee. Depending on the years, the Board member has a right to vote or
will serve as ‘technical’ chair and act as liaison to the Board of Trustees.
Initial composition of the Award Committee

Chair: Sara Twaddle (UK)

Liaison to the Board of Trustees (no voting rights): Günter Ollenschläger (DE), G-I-N Trustee,
former G-I-N Chair and G-I-N honorary patron

Heather Buchan (AU)

Isabelle Durand Zaleski (F)

Marjukka Mäkelä (FI)

Ian Graham (CA)
Terms of service
Members of the committee are nominated for a period of 2 years, renewable once. The annual goal
is to have about 1/3 of the group replaced.
Process
The award committee will exchange via email and hold at least one teleconference meeting to discuss the nominees.
Foreseen timeline for 2012
Nominate members of the award committee
G-I-N Board
20 March 2012
Obtain agreement from the nominated individuals
G-I-N EO
25 April 2012
Announce the award and the open nominations
G-I-N Board
25 April 2012
Deadline to receive nominations
17 May 2012
Discuss the nominees and make a proposal to the Award Committee
Board
30 May 2012
Select award winner
G-I-N Board
15 June 2012
Announce to the selected individual
G-I-N Chair
20 June 2012
Announcement of award winner is made at the G-I-N Chair/Chair of the 22-25 August 2012
conference (e.g. during AGM or open or closing Award Committee
ceremony)
G-I-N “Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award”
Page 3 of 4
Foreseen timeline for future years
Nominate members of the award committee
G-I-N Board
End August N-1
Obtain agreement from the nominated individuals
G-I-N EO
Mid-September N-1
Announce the award and the open nominations
G-I-N Board
End September N-1
Deadline to receive nominations
15 February N
Discuss the nominees and make a proposal to the Award Committee
Board
30 March N
Select award winner
G-I-N Board
15 April N
Announce to the selected individual
G-I-N Chair
30 April N
Announcement of award winner is made at the G-I-N Chair/Chair of the Conference N
conference (e.g. during AGM or open or closing Award Committee
ceremony)
G-I-N “Najoua Mlika-Cabanne Innovation Award”
Page 4 of 4