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We are a team of 5 researchers called the Public Involvement Group (PIG). We meet to discuss all PPIE-related activities in the department, such as PPIE strategy and funding applications.
Sarah Griffiths – PPIE Co-Lead
Sarah is a dementia researcher with a background in speech and language therapy. She has worked on projects aiming to improve care and support for people with dementia and their carers following a diagnosis. She has 10 years of experience working alongside people with lived experience to develop research processes and share research findings. This started with her PhD research on managing everyday conversations involving people with Parkinson’s, using a research method called Conversation Analysis. Sarah worked with people who had Parkinson’s, their families, and actors, to create short videos illustrating the research findings. This sparked a passion for involvement work, particularly around involving people with communication difficulties in co-production. Currently, Sarah is leading an Alzheimer’s Society funded project ‘CAPPD: Communication Aspects of Personalised care Planning in Dementia,’ which aims to develop communication training for primary care practitioners, supporting them to facilitate personalised care planning conversations. This work is supported by a lived experience group of three people with dementia and two carers, with one of the people with dementia co-leading the lived experience group. Sarah is interested in exploring approaches to co-production and methods of measuring the impact of involvement work.
Alice Burnand – PPIE Co-Lead
Alice is a research assistant in the Centre for Ageing and Population Studies (CAPS) and joined UCL in February 2022. She has a background in neuroscience and psychology and has worked on numerous projects focusing on improving the quality of life of older people with neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s and dementia. Alice has also worked in the NHS, supporting people with dementia in the community, working to improve patient access to primary care services. Alice has involved the public in all stages in her research projects, notably hosting large workshops to share findings and support with education for the public. Alice has a particular interest in involving the public in research with an aim to bridge gaps in healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes in the community.
Richard Cable
Richard is the Senior Research Administrator at Priment Clinical Trials Unit and has been at the Department of Primary Care and Population Health since April 2022. Richard has an interest in putting patients at the heart of research, which has been the focus of his career to-date. His experience of involving patients in research stems from numerous roles supporting the NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre and Clinical Research Facility for over 8 years – both, of which, are a joint partnership between Moorfields Eye Hospital & UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. During this time, Richard was involved in supporting a programme of research that is still at the forefront of ophthalmology (and wider healthcare), including projects in gene therapy, stem cell therapy, data science, artificial intelligence, informatics and imaging - incorporating a host of research ‘world-firsts’. Putting people at the heart of that research was pivotal to ensuring the research met their needs.
Sadie Lawes-Wickwar
Sadie is Lecturer (Teaching) in Medical Education and joined the Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health (PCPH) at UCL in July 2020. Sadie is a registered Health Psychologist and has a special interest in behavioural and social sciences, and patient involvement, in medical education and is co-Deputy Director of Medical Education (Primary Care & Community) and Lead for the Primary Care Medical Education Expert by Experience Group at UCL. Sadie is also a Member of the national Doubleday Medical Schools Patient Partnership Collaborative and Behavioural and Social Sciences Teaching in Medicine (BeSST) Committees. Sadie is Academic Lead for modules on the MBBS programme at UCL Medical School focused on primary care and community health, health inequalities, and behaviour change, all of which involve experts by experience in teaching and/or assessment. Prior to this Sadie held research roles at City, University of London and Camden and Islington London Borough Councils where she worked with patients and the public on research teams and led community engagement projects.
Sarah McMullen
Sarah is a Research Assistant in the Centre for Ageing and Population Studies (CAPS) and joined the Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health (PCPH) at UCL in November 2022. She is also currently a PhD student in the Centre of Primary Care and Health Services Research at the University of Manchester. Sarah's research focuses particularly on health inequalities within marginalised and underserved groups. She has set up multiple PPI groups within research, built lasting relationships with public contributors, and has organised engagement events within marginalised communities in collaboration with voluntary and community sector organisations and stakeholders. As a part of the Public Involvement Group, Sarah works closely with public contributors and leads on the development of the Public Involvement Group newsletter sent out twice a year to PCPH staff, students, and the expert by experience group.
