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Pre-clinical PPI Project

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) has become an integral part of engaging patients and publics in clinical research. However, this type of involvement is not yet well established in pre- or non-clinical research. This project aims to understand the barriers to involvement in this type of research and produce practical tools and guidance for researchers and publics who want to improve societal involvement in pre-clinical research.

About the project

This project focuses on three areas:

  1. Foundational work to define the scope of our project, to understand barriers and motivators for public involvement (from the perspective of both researchers and publics), to inform development of future resources, and to ensure outputs consider diversity of opinion.
  2. Developing resources (for example, toolkits and training) for both researchers and the public on successfully involving the public with animal research.
  3. Sharing what we learned: we will work with our partners to ensure that the resources we create are easily available to everyone. We will also share, in written formats and at conferences, what we learned from doing this project itself. This will help other researchers to successfully collaborate with the public in their own projects.

 

Project updates

  • 23 September 2025: first joint meeting of the project's wider team & advisory board. A news item with highlights will be shared here post-meeting. 
  • September 2025: staffing updates: we welcomed Dr Renelle McGlacken as the postdoctoral researcher hired for this project; said farewell to Dr Hanna Smyth, outgoing Engagement Coordinator; and welcomed incoming Engagement Coordinator, name to be released shortly. 
  • 25 June 2025: first meeting of the project's wider team. 
  • 1 May 2025: project begins, core team starts meeting monthly and working on initial tasks.

 

Project team

  • Core team (meets monthly): Prof. Heidi Johansen-Berg (Clinical Neurosciences), Prof. Beth Greenhough (School of Geography and the Environment), Dr Carinne Piekema (Clinical Neurosciences), Dr Renelle McGlacken (School of Geography and the Environment), Dr Hanna Smyth (Clinical Neurosciences)
  • Wider team (meets every 3 months): Dr Laura Ajram (British Neuroscience Association), Dr Manuel Berdoy (Dept of Biomedical Services), Dr Natalie Doig (MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit), Dr Melanie Fleming (Clinical Neurosciences), Wendy Jarrett (Understanding Animal Research), Dr Yukiko Kikuchi (Newcastle University), Dr Kamila Szulc-Lerch (Clinical Neurosciences), Prof. Mark Walton (Experimental Psychology) and two public contributors. 
  • Advisory Board (meets every 6 months): five members from across Keele University, University of Exeter, Queen Mary University of London, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and a public contributor. 

Key info

Funded by: Medical Research Council

Project dates: 1 May 2025 - 30 April 2025

Overall budget: £521,793.29

Full project title: "Developing resources for public involvement in animal research”

 

Listing image: Clay Banks via Unsplash