Female staff member holding an I am Research banner

Shape our research at Barts Health

To make sure our research benefits everyone in our local communities and beyond, we need the input of lots of people from many different backgrounds, with many different experiences. 

three women having a meeting in a booth

Research that benefits everyone 

We want to make sure that the research we carry out benefits as many people as possible. To do this, we need people from lots of differnet communities and backgrounds to help shape and drive our work. This is referred to as patient and public engagement and involvement (PPIE).

If you’re a patient, member of staff, carer or someone from our local community and you're passionate about healthcare and research, there are lots of ways you can have your say and help us carry out research that benefits everyone.

From telling us if you don’t understand a question or that the aim of the research isn’t clear, to helping us make sure we’re asking people to take part in research in the right way or joining an advisory group, helping shape our research is a lot easier than you might think!

 

Research for you, shaped by you

To be sure the research we fund, and the treatments and devices we develop from it are fit for everyone, it’s important that we involve people from all backgrounds and communities in our work. That way, we can be confident that our work will benefit evertyone. It's why we strive to be inclusive in our work and to involve patients and members of the public from diverse backgrounds so we can know our work reflects our diverse, local populations.

To help us do this, our researchers are always interested and keen for patients and the public to share their insights and experiences to help. Some of the ways you can get involved in shaping our research include helping:

  • select and prioritise research that you feel is important and relevant 
  • researchers design their projects
  • interpret the results of the research
  • make sure the research is reported in understandable ways
  • make sure good research is heard about

By getting invovled in shaping our research you can help us:

  • make sure researchers ask the right questions, in a way that the public understand
  • keep the research on track so that it stays relevant
  • make sure the people involved in the research are approached in the right way
  • improve the quality of the research by adding another point of view to the process 

Opportunities to shape our research

There are lots of opportunities to help shape our research, some of which we've listed below. You can find out about other opportunities to get involved by joining our research engagement mailing list (sign up here) or about wider involvement opportunities on the People in Research website.

Trauma patient groups

Our trauma team The Centre for Trauma Sciences (C4TS) is always looking for former trauma patients, carers and members of the public to contribute to their research, which is looking at the best ways to treat traumatic injury. 

Find out more 

Pregnancy and childbirth research

The Katherine Twining Network (KTN) researches areas of pregnancy and childbirth including pre-term birth, pre-eclampsia, epilepsy in pregnancy, infertility and nutrition in pregnancy. KTN is always looking to speak to pregnant women, new mothers , community advisers and other members of communities to take part in their work.

Find out more or email the team for more information ktnetwork@qmul.ac.uk

Learn more about taking part in our research

Payment for public involvement in research

We value the time and efforts of our public contributors. Sometimes, contributors are compensated for getting involved in our studies, which may include receiving 'out-of-pocket' expenses. 

We follow the National Intisute for Helath Research's guidance on reimbursements for public contributors. Please note that receiving payments for public involvement activities may impact people who receive welfare benefits. If this applies to you, we strongly advise you to get expert advice about your own personal financial circumstances before accepting payment for involvement in research. For more information, please read the NIHR’s guidance.  

As this is a complex area, the guidance above is unlikely to be able to cover everyone’s individual circumstances. We therefore strongly advise you to get expert advice about your own personal financial circumstances before accepting payment for involvement in research.