Have you ever heard of 'the elevator pitch?' It's the notion that you should be able to summarise and sell an idea in the 30 seconds or less it takes to get to the top-floor in a lift. I suppose the equivalent is the pitching of a film script to Hollywood producers. For instance I just watched an … Continue reading Elevator pitches in health research: some examples…#whywedoresearch
Author: simondenegri
Blog: our regions will need a stronger patient voice if health research gets the devolution bug
As a democrat it doesn't sit well with me that the new interim Major of Greater Manchester is unelected. The excuses for it seem pretty poor. You should start as you mean to go on. Perhaps we should have sensed something was up when 'DevoManc' emerged as the nickname for the entity that will be … Continue reading Blog: our regions will need a stronger patient voice if health research gets the devolution bug
Briitsh Patients put gum disease and dentistry in the chair
I shall resist the temptation to fill this brief blog with puns. But this afternoon I chaired an excellent session at EuroPerio8 in London - the largest European meeting of periondologists - to launch a new film which explores the patient perspective on gum disease. The film can be found here http://www.efp.org/public/index.html and is truly … Continue reading Briitsh Patients put gum disease and dentistry in the chair
Smash, shrapnel and loose change – a mish mash of news from around public involvement and engagement in health research
Here's a few things that I've been collecting and now seems as good a time as ever to gather them together and share them as one. Researchers may wish to note the following exercise that is running throughout universities and institutions to identify barrier to public engagement. It's a repeat of an exercise done by … Continue reading Smash, shrapnel and loose change – a mish mash of news from around public involvement and engagement in health research
The best thing since sliced bread? Mobile phone technology and public health.
A curious story caught my eye in the Sunday Telegraph. It told how High Street retailers are sending adverts and money-off coupons to the mobile phones of passers-by. Soon, they hope to be able to track people through their shops; when they pass the sock counter or the delicatessen they'll get more messages about the … Continue reading The best thing since sliced bread? Mobile phone technology and public health.
Clinical research takes to the streets for International Clinical Trials Day (ICTD) 2015 #NIHRoktoask #trialsmatter #clinicaltrialsday
Happy International Clinical Trials Day (ICTD) 2015 everyone! Today over 100 NHS Trusts will be taking part in NIHR's 'OK to ask' campaign aimed at raising public awareness of clinical research and encouraging patients to take part in clinical studies. There will be displays in hospital receptions and staff canteens, mock trials with chocolate (yummy!), … Continue reading Clinical research takes to the streets for International Clinical Trials Day (ICTD) 2015 #NIHRoktoask #trialsmatter #clinicaltrialsday
We must maintain our national impetus and leadership on involving young people in research – comment on new report from @Nuffbioethics
This morning the Nuffield Council on Bioethics published its report: Children and research: ethical issues calling for a change in research culture to enable young people to shape how research is ‘prioritised, designed and reviewed.’ In what amounts to a ‘call to arms’ the report urges funders, clinicians, researchers and ethicists to work together and, … Continue reading We must maintain our national impetus and leadership on involving young people in research – comment on new report from @Nuffbioethics
Dancing with Purdah
Were I dancing with the starlet of 'The Avengers' - the revered spy-fi tv show of the sixties - it might be news. But sadly not.* No, I am referring to the silence that falls across Whitehall during a General Election and is intended to ensure the fight between political parties is a fair one. … Continue reading Dancing with Purdah
Review of public involvement in NIHR published #ppiextramile
Hot off the presses: Almost a year to the day that the Director General Research and Development/Chief Medical Officer commissioned a strategic review of public involvement in the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the final report and recommendations have today been published. Simon Denegri, the National Director for Patients and the Public in Research … Continue reading Review of public involvement in NIHR published #ppiextramile
Consent for medical research comes under scrutiny yet again: time for ethics committees to stop second-guessing the public?
This is a really interesting study published in PLOS ONE today. Eessentially it's a survey of the attitudes of 2300 participants in TwinsUK (a national biobank) to giving their consent to medical research. The full paper can be found here. The results of the survey would seem to highlight what has been a growing theme in the … Continue reading Consent for medical research comes under scrutiny yet again: time for ethics committees to stop second-guessing the public?
Should we be stopping people in the street about their health? But not in our slippers.
I live in Tunbridge Wells. I would be happiest in Chester. I should avoid Wealden. But if I couldn't make the journey then Sevenoaks is my best bet. That's what I learnt from the interactive test entitled 'Where in Britain would you be happiest?' that's now available on the BBC website. Do it. It's fascinating. The foundation … Continue reading Should we be stopping people in the street about their health? But not in our slippers.
Stop ticking the box (disarming a bureaucrat) #tokenism #NHS #bureaucracy
It's world poetry day today and, as you may know, I try to publish a verse or two to mark the occasion each year. I was going to read this at the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) event 'Stop ticking the box' event last Monday. But time did not allow. This is for … Continue reading Stop ticking the box (disarming a bureaucrat) #tokenism #NHS #bureaucracy
NIHR turns to public for help with defining research priorities in alcohol-related liver disease
This content is straight from the NIHR but I feel so deeply about this issue that I wanted to use my blog to highlight what is clearly a very important initiative. But here's a factoid about Priority-Setting Partnerships that's worth sharing as a presage to the piece: 29 PSPs have now been completed since the beginning … Continue reading NIHR turns to public for help with defining research priorities in alcohol-related liver disease
Public involvement in health research: that’s another country right? #diversityandinclusion
When you live abroad you get used to neighbours and friends saying things to you like 'I've got a relative in Rugby do you know them?' Less so their palpable disappointment that, try as they might, you can't place their next of kin in a country going on for 65 million people. When I lived … Continue reading Public involvement in health research: that’s another country right? #diversityandinclusion
Government pushes forward with review to speed up availability of innovative medicines and treatments
Two posts in one day! Ah, those were the days when we got two Post Office deliveries a day.... Just to say the Government has published the full terms of reference for its Innovative Medicines and MedTech Review to be headed up by Sir Hugh Taylor who is currently Chair of Guy's and St Thomas's. Yes, that's … Continue reading Government pushes forward with review to speed up availability of innovative medicines and treatments
Old rules need not apply – Is Apple tearing up the rule book with #ResearchKit?
'Purdah' will very shortly fall over Whitehall as the General Election looms. At the end of March the airspace over government will be closed for six weeks or so. No new flights of Ministerial fancy can take off. Those already in the air may continue on their way but must do so in radio silence. Still, … Continue reading Old rules need not apply – Is Apple tearing up the rule book with #ResearchKit?
Forget the General Election, cast your vote for public understanding of science NOW! #A2Ucomp
Cast your vote now! This is the third year running that I have been involved in the Access to Understanding awards run by EuropePMC, eLife and the British Library. It's a great initiative that has gone from strength to strength. And this is the part of the competition where you get to have a say … Continue reading Forget the General Election, cast your vote for public understanding of science NOW! #A2Ucomp
Who are the good, the bad and the ugly at involving the public in medical research? New comparative figures for Government, charities and industry
What should we make of the latest figures from INVOLVE and the Health Research Authority (HRA) showing which funders are best at public involvement in research? In a re-run of an joint-exercise first done in 2010, INVOLVE and the HRA looked at the public involvement component of over 1100 research applications that went before research ethics … Continue reading Who are the good, the bad and the ugly at involving the public in medical research? New comparative figures for Government, charities and industry
Blog: £6bn health tremors in Greater Manchester shake up national debate
It happens more regularly than the startled headlines suggest. An earthquake somewhere in England rattles the crockery and wakes up citizens in the middle of the night. Later, many miles away, we read our newspapers, shake our heads in that 'well I never' sort of way, and get on with our day. But something truly seismic … Continue reading Blog: £6bn health tremors in Greater Manchester shake up national debate
Sign-up to help step-up research into dementia: new service enables people to volunteer for research studies #joindementiaresearch @beatdementia
Of all the dementia initiatives announced by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, this weekend it may prove the pivotal one. It may not grab headlines in the same way as £ commitments to research or new institutes (although it is doing pretty well). But, without it, this expenditure will be worthless. For other patient populations it … Continue reading Sign-up to help step-up research into dementia: new service enables people to volunteer for research studies #joindementiaresearch @beatdementia
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