For more than 30 years, Cochrane has worked toward a simple goal: to help people make better health-related decisions on the basis of reliable, accessible synthesized evidence. The inspiration for this goal came from the Scottish epidemiologist Archie Cochrane, whose formative experiences working with field medical teams during the Spanish Civil War and as a medical officer in prisoner-of-war camps during World War II shaped his lifelong belief in the importance of scientific evidence underpinning healthcare decisions (video).

Evidence and rigorous research were the critical foundation for what came to be known as evidence-based medicine. Emerging in the 1980s and 1990s, it aimed to redefine healthcare practice by prioritizing data over dogma and encouraging healthcare providers to question expert opinion unless it was supported by evidence. As part of this movement, evidence synthesis, including systematic reviews, became the primary route through which evidence informed healthcare practice and policy.

About five years after the death of Archie Cochrane, The Cochrane Collaboration was established in 1993 as a collaborative and volunteer-driven movement; its story has been documented in The Cochrane Collaboration: Medicine's Best Kept Secret (2015). Over the last 10 years, Cochrane has undergone considerable change and transformation, yet the organization's initial vision remains as relevant (and crucial) today as ever: building a trusted evidence base, raising standards for rigor and research transparency, and continually adapting to new scientific challenges.

Cochrane's network of contributors is a diverse, committed community of researchers, practitioners, patients, caregivers, funders, and evidence users. At the end of 2025, the organization counted over 180,000 active members and supporters in more than 200 countries and territories. They share the belief that reliable evidence can save and improve lives. In the early years, the community contended with biases that were sometimes hard to identify or correct but were, at least, predictable: issues with study design, methodological flaws, and publication bias. Today, this ambition faces challenges posed by far less predictable forces, including misinformation and misconduct, in a world that seems to increasingly value speed and convenience over rigor and accuracy.

With the launch of its scientific strategy in late 2024, Cochrane set out a clear plan to address and counteract many of today's unprecedented health challenges. Alongside outlining four research priorities focused on major global health needs, the strategy commits the organization to championing research integrity, advancing methodological innovation, and strengthening health equity, all of it done collaboratively, actively involving its diverse network of contributors.