People Powered Research – Investigating ethical and operational hurdles in public-research engagement

The general public play a crucial role in modern scientific research. This is through patient groups and healthy individuals that contribute opinions, advice and support to researchers on a range of important areas including priority setting and patient perspectives. In recent years, this contribution has helped shape research direction and outputs. More recently, this has also extended to financial support for medical research such as laboratory studies or clinical trials.

Given the advancement of patient and public involvement in research, this project will investigate the challenges of people powered research (PPR), specifically where one individual or small/large groups are funding the study.

Beginning with a comprehensive systematic review of this area, this project will use existing data and interviews with stakeholders (eg. patients, public, REC officers, scientists, clinical trialists) to identify key challenges of PPR, explore ways in which PPR might be managed to correctly comply with the rigour demanded from medical research, and emulate a potential trial protocol which would be supported by PPR.

This project will employ health data science approaches along with scientific design and clinical trial development.

Supporting References

Wenner DM, Kimmelman J, London AJ. Patient-Funded Trials: Opportunity or Liability? Cell Stem Cell. 2015 Aug 6;17(2):135-7. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2015.07.016. PMID: 26253199.

King M, Ballantyne A. Donor-funded research: permissible, not perfect. J Med Ethics. 2019 Jan;45(1):36-40. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2018-104966. Epub 2018 Sep 18. PMID: 30228163.

Shearman K, Masters A, Nutt D, Bowman S, Draper H. Acceptability of donor funding for clinical trials in the UK: a qualitative empirical ethics study using focus groups to elicit the views of research patient public involvement group members, research ethics committee chairs and clinical researchers. BMJ Open. 2022 Jun 17;12(6):e055208. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-055208. PMID: 35715186; PMCID: PMC9207757

Training

The Botnar Institute plays host to the University of Oxford's Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences, which enables and encourages research and education into the causes of musculoskeletal disease and their treatment, along with a broad range of additional research themes such as clinical trials, ageing and cancer. Training will be provided in techniques including preparation of systematic review, health data analysis, clinical trial development and management.  

A core curriculum of lectures will be taken in the first term to provide a solid foundation in a broad range of subjects including musculoskeletal biology, inflammation, epigenetics, translational immunology, data analysis and the microbiome.  Students will also be required to attend regular seminars within the Department and those relevant in the wider University.

Students will be expected to present data regularly in Departmental seminars, and to attend external conferences to present their research globally, with limited financial support from the Department.

Students will also have the opportunity to work closely with the Edwards group, along with members of the Patient Powered Research charity.

Students will have access to various courses run by the Medical Sciences Division Skills Training Team and other Departments. All students are required to attend a 2-day Statistical and Experimental Design course at NDORMS (information will be provided once accepted to the programme).

How to Apply

Please contact the relevant supervisor(s), to register your interest in the project, and, if required, the departmental Education Team (graduate.studies@ndorms.ox.ac.uk), who will be able to advise you of the essential requirements for the programme and provide further information on how to make an official application.

Interested applicants should have, or expect to obtain, a first or upper second-class BSc degree or equivalent in a relevant subject and will also need to provide evidence of English language competence (where applicable). The application guide and form is found online and the DPhil or MSc by research will commence in October 2026.

Applications should be made to one of the following programmes using the specified course code.

D.Phil in Musculoskeletal Sciences (course code: RD_ML2)

MSc by research in Musculoskeletal Sciences (course code: RM_ML2)

D.Phil in Molecular and Cellular Medicine (course code: RD_MP1)

MSc by research in Molecular and Cellular Medicine (course code: RM_MP1)

D.Phil in Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Statistics (course code: RD_NNRA1) 

For further information, please visit http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/applying-to-oxford.