Laura Forsythe, PhD, MPH

Laura Forsythe, PhD, MPH, is the Director for the Evaluation and Analysis department at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). She is responsible for evaluating PCORI’s engagement activities and overseeing externally funded projects. She previously served as associate director.

Forsythe is experienced in conducting research on facilitating adjustment to chronic illness. Her work has examined how psychological factors, the social context, and interventions affect pain, mood, and functioning among chronic pain populations. Most recently, Forsythe was a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute. Her work there focused on the development of a more effective approach to caring for cancer survivors through the study of survivor, provider, and healthcare system influences on health and well-being after cancer.

Forsythe received a BS in biology and psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Johns Hopkins University. She also earned a PhD in clinical health psychology from the University of Alabama and completed her clinical residency at the VA Maryland Healthcare System/University of Maryland School of Medicine Internship Consortium.

Mogens Hørder

Professor, dr.med. 5000 Odense C Denmark

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Prof Thilo Kroll

Associate Dean for Research, Innovation and Impact B225, UCD Health Sciences Centre,+353 1 716 6675Thilo.Kroll@ucd.ie

Since 1992 I have been conducting research into the social dimensions of health and well-being with a particular emphasis on public health perspectives on disability and health topics. I have carried out social and health-related research in various health systems and care environments in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Scandinavia. My background in psychology has led to a variety of interdisciplinary research studies combining quantitative and qualitative research methods with a particular emphasis on inclusive research designs for otherwise marginalised groups. 

My research interests and passion are focused on systems-related topics in global public heath and inclusion. The scale of work ranges from the individual to health and population level service systems.

Specialties: Disability and Public Health, Health Systems, Psychology, Ageing and Rehabilitation Research, Social Dimensions of Health, Wellbeing and Participation, Health Inequalities, Environment and Access, Violence and Health, Inclusive research design, methodologies and data collection approaches

Sophie Staniszewska

Professorial Fellow

Sophie Staniszewska leads the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) and Patient Experiences Programme at the RCN Research Institute, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick. Previously Sophie was Director of Research at the National Centre for Involvement and Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Health and Social Studies. Sophie is a member of the National Quality Board Patient Experiences Sub-group. Sophie has carried out a wide range of studies. Sophie recently completed a scoping study for NICE which developed the Warwick Patient Experiences Framework that informed the NICE Patient Experiences Guidance. Sophie also led a systematic review of the impact of patient and public involvement on health and social care research, funded by the UKCRC. Sophie is currently working with EQUATOR to develop the first international guidance to enhance the quality of PPI reporting. Sophie also led the POPPY Project which examined parents' experiences of having a pre-term baby (www.poppy-project.org.uk). Sophie recently chaired the NICE Patient Experiences Guideline and Quality Standard. Sophie is a member of the Internal Methods Advisory Group at NICE. Sophie is also a member of the Research Excellence Framework 2014 Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care Panel. Until recently Sophie chaired the Evidence, Knowledge and Learning Group of INVOLVE and was a member of the Main Group of INVOLVE. Sophie is now an INVOLVE Associate having completed her term of office. Sophie is a member of the NETCC PPI Group. Sophie is also a member of the Health Technology Assessment International Patient/Citizen Involvement Steering Group and co-chairs the Methods and Impact Group. Sophie reviews for a range of funding bodies and international journals, is on the editorial board of the International Journal for Quality in HealthCare, Patient Experiences Journal, The Patient: Patient Centered Outcomes Research and supervises a number of PhD students. 

Professor Louise Locock

Professor in HSRU. Health Services Research Unit University of Aberdeen 3rd Floor, Health Sciences Building Foresterhill Aberdeen
AB25 2ZD.

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Louise joined the Health Services Research Unit in 2017, following 14 years in the Health Experiences Research Group, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, where she was Director of Applied Research. She is a qualitative social science researcher interested in personal experience of health and illness; patient-centred quality improvement and co-design; and patient and family involvement in research and care. A major recent focus of her work has been how we can better use different types of patient experience data to improve care.

Professor Nicky Britten

Professor of Applied Health Care Research

Professor Britten is a medical sociologist with particular interests in lay views of prescribed and non-prescribed treatments, patient-doctor communication about prescribing, the management of multiple medications in chronic illness, the synthesis of qualitative research, and user involvement in research. Within the Institute of Health Research at UEMS, she leads the Third Gap research group. She is also a member of the Executive of PenCLAHRC with particular responsibilities for patient and public involvement, person-centred care, and the internal evaluation. Before coming to Exeter, Professor Britten worked at the London School of Economics, Bristol University, the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospitals, and King’s College London.

Professor Britten chairs the University of Exeter Gender Equality Group and the Positive Working Environment Support and Challenge Group. She is a member of the University’s Equality and Diversity Advisory Group, and a member of both the University and the UEMS Athena SWAN working groups. Professor Britten is also a member of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry Research Degrees Committee. Within the Institute of Health Research, she leads the Qualitative Research Support Group which has a regular seminar series.

Professor Patricia Wilson

PhD, MSc BEd (Hons), RN, NDN, Professor of Primary and Community Care

‌I was appointed CHSS Professor of Primary and Community Care in April 2014 to lead the new Kent Academic Primary Care Unit (KAPCU). The unit will play a major role in ensuring that Kent will benefit from primary and community care which is a national example for quality and patient-centred care. Good primary care forms the bedrock of the NHS and leads to better health outcomes. Before joining CHSS I was a Reader in Patient Experience in the Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care at the University of Hertfordshire.

My career began in NHS community nursing - I was attracted by working with patients and families as partners in the community. My particular interest is in long term conditions management and in involving patients, carers and the public in health services at all levels - including a say in NHS structures. During the 1990’s I moved into higher education and was programme lead for the specialist community nursing degree and developed an MSc Advancing Practice in Primary Care.

In 1999 the white paper “Our Healthier Nation – Saving Lives”, first mentioned the concept of “expert patient”. This was a turning point for me, bringing together a long-held professional interest, policy agenda and some personal experience of managing a long term condition. It led to a PhD, programme of research and a series of publications charting the development of chronic disease self-management programmes both in the UK and internationally. This work helped deliver local Expert Patients Programmes, and contributed to national and international work developing self-management programmes for people with learning disabilities, sickle cell anaemia, cancer and other chronic diseases.

Over the past six years my interest in involving people in their care at self-management level has extended to the field of patient and public involvement (PPI) within NHS structures and health research. I have a national and international PPI profile and was part of a group working to establish more regionally focused and synergistic PPI by bringing together component parts of the research infrastructure – CLAHRCS, AHSN, RDS and the research networks. I co-led the PPI research theme within the newly formed CLAHRC East of England. I was a member of the Eastern Academic Health Science Network node board and advised particularly on PPI. I was appointed to the NIHR INVOLVE advisory board and Self-Management UK (formerly the Expert Patients Programme) national advisory panel in 2012, and sit on the Editorial Board of a new journal, Research Involvement and Engagement.

In my previous role I was part of the Primary Care Research Network East of England management group, with specific remit for community services research. In 2014 I was appointed Primary Care Academic Speciality Lead, Division 5, Kent Surrey and Sussex NIHR Clinical Research Network. I also sit on the editorial board of Primary Health Care Research and Development, and was recently appointed to the South East Research for Patient Benefit regional funding committee having previously served on the East of England committee.

In 2015 I was appointed as co-convenor of the International Collaboration for Community Health Nursing Research, and link with a number of international colleagues.

Dr Kristina Staley

TwoCan's Director

Kristina is an experienced analyst, researcher and writer. She has a background in biomedical science, gaining her PhD from Cambridge University, and working as a post-doctoral fellow in the USA. She moved into health and science policy working at the King’s Fund and Sussex University’s Science Policy Research Unit, to involve the public in health policy debates. Through working as an adviser at the London Science Museum, she gained considerable experience in making research accessible to the public.

Over the last fifteen years she has worked in a wide range of voluntary and statutory sectors organisations, including NICE, the Health Research Authority, INVOLVE, Parkinson’s UK, and The Mental Health Research Network, to evaluate and develop policy and practice. She is the author of INVOLVE’s seminal report: ‘Exploring Impact: Public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research’.

Relevant skills and experience

• Leadership and expertise, supporting the development of strategic approaches to involvement.
• Research and analytical skills, producing robust evidence and valuable insights into what works and why.
• Writing in plain English – producing reports that everyone can understand
• Making connections and identifying common solutions – enabling shared learning across sectors, disciplines and different organisations.

Dr Andy Gibson

Professor in Patient and Public Involvement, HAS - Health and Social Science

Andy is Associate Professor in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) and has a social sciences background. His research interests focus on public involvement in health research. He is the academic lead for People in Health West of England (www.phwe.org.uk), a UWE-led collaborative initiative on PPI in research with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC West), the West of England Academic Health Science Network, the Clinical Research Network West of England, Bristol Biomedical Research Centre and Bristol Health Partners.

He also leads the UWE patient and public involvement team based in the Department of Health and Social Sciences.

Prior to moving to the University of Western England Andy led the development of PPI at the Peninsula Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (PenCLAHRC),where he established an innovative model of PPI which received national recognition. His work has involved developing PPI in research areas which typically have not involved the public, such as computer modelling and with seldom heard groups such as people with dementia.

He has developed a framework for conceptualising PPI (Gibson et al, 2012; 2017) that also has practical utility in the evaluation and planning of PPI. He was also part of the MRC funded team that developed the Public Involvement Impact Assessment Framework (PiiAF).

He was a major contributor to organising the first UK conference focusing on developing the evidence base for PPI, held in Exeter in November 2013, which was attended by many of the leading academics in the field.

Audrey L'Esperance

Strategic advisor and research associate with the Centre of Excellence on Partnership with Patients and the Public (CEPPP)

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Audrey completed a PhD in political science at the University of Ottawa and a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto. She was also visiting scholar at BIOS – Centre for the Study of Bioscience, Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Society at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK in 2011. Her work has focused on public policies and practices related to assisted reproduction, experiential knowledge, expertise and policy-making processes. Over the years, she has developed an expertise in program evaluation, public policy analysis and project management in various academic and public-health settings.