On Saturday 30 November, patients and members of the public involved in our research gathered with researchers to provide feedback on upcoming projects and reflect on our 2024 work.
At Oxford Population Health we strive to put people at the centre of our research to ensure that it is relevant and beneficial to those who need it the most. For the third consecutive year, our Annual Public Advisory Panel Meeting took place in Oxford and online. More than 20 public contributors from across the UK and from various Public Advisory Groups joined us to meet our researchers, network, and review our research.
The day-long meeting included talks, discussions, and workshops from a wide range of research groups. The public contributors received the most recent updates from the EASi-KIDNEY and ASCEND PLUS trials and discussed ways to increase patient engagement. The ANTITHESES platform, in collaboration with the Design Bioethics Lab team, held a co-production workshop exploring divisive and polarising issues in today’s society. Public contributors identified 'radical value disagreements' and expressed their views on how these will impact future generations. During the afternoon sessions, members of the Health Foundation REAL Demand Unit Public Advisory Panel worked together to prioritise and rank pathfinders focusing on addressing the need and demand for social care in the UK.
Early-career researchers had the opportunity to present their upcoming projects and receive valuable feedback on the future of the ASCEND-Eye project and the UK respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programme. They will continue working on integrating these ideas into their research proposals.
Doreen Zhu, Academic Clinical Lecturer based in the Renal Studies Group at the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, said ‘I really enjoyed the public advisory panel meeting as it provided a fantastic opportunity to hear directly from patients and the public. Their thoughtful feedback was incredibly valuable and offered me fresh perspectives that will help improve our research approach and impact.’
The meeting came to an end by reflecting on our practices and ways of working with public contributors at Oxford Population Health with the aim of making our collaboration stronger and more meaningful.
The public contributors described the meeting as ‘enlightening’ and ‘inspiring’. It was also mentioned that ‘The day was well organised and it was great to meet up with the other panel members. It left me feeling inspired and enthused to get involved in more meaningful and exciting research projects.’
Leandros Tsiotos, Senior Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement Officer, commented ‘It is fulfilling to bring people together to share their stories, experiences and expertise that meaningfully impact our research. Our annual meeting acts as a way to celebrate public involvement and create a welcoming environment which builds bridges between researchers and the public. We are thankful to all of our public contributors for their continuous support and collaboration with us.’
Find out more about our public and patient involvement and engagement activities.