The ECR event is now fully booked.
This year’s event for early career researchers will be themed around Patient and Public Involvement (PPI[E]) and co-production in research and funding applications. It will be held on Monday April 20th from 13.00-17.00 at One Strawberry Lane (NE1 4BX). Light refreshments will be provided.
Session 1
Dr. Will McGovern
Dr. Will McGovern, Associate Professor at Northumbria University, has over 30 years experience of public involvement as a mental health and substance use practitioner, service manager and researcher/academic. He is the Public involvement Co-lead for the NIHR IDEAS national Evaluation Team and lead editor on “Public Involvement and Community Engagement in Applied Health and Social Research: Critical Perspectives and Innovative Practices (2025)”.
In his presentation “Hi I’m Will and I’m a Public Involvement Lead” Will, will critically reflect on his experiences and observations of critical incidents and innovative concerns during his practice years: he will consider the implications of these in relation to learning and others who may be a an earlier stage of experience and or involvement.
Session 2
Prof. Adam Todd
Prof. Adam Todd is Professor of Pharmaceutical Public Health at Newcastle University and also chairs the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit panel for Yorkshire North East. He is a qualified pharmacist registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council, and a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. He leads a programme of research that applies pharmaceutical knowledge to prevent disease, prolong life, promote health, and reduce health inequalities, across different populations. Adam also has a clinical role where he works with the specialist palliative care Multidisciplinary Team at St. Benedict’s Hospice, providing guidance on the appropriate and safe use of medicines.
Prof. Todd will discuss what funding panels are looking for when considering the patient and public involvement elements of grant applications.
Session 3
Dr. Masuma Mishu
Dr. Masuma Mishu is Lecturer in Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London and visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Health Sciences University of York. She graduated as a Dental surgeon (2005) from Dhaka Dental College Hospital, Bangladesh and worked as a clinical dentist for five years. Later she completed an MSc in Dental Public Health (2011) and PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health (2017) at UCL under Commonwealth Scholarship. Masuma worked as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow (2017-2022) at the University of York.
As a Public Health researcher, she is interested to work in the area of health inequalities. Her research so far focused on addressing and improving oral health among children and people with mental health conditions as well as on tobacco control policy in South Asian countries. She is leading a project on improving oral health among people with severe mental illness . She also led project on tobacco cessation among diabetic patients in Bangladesh. She is involved in patient- Public involvement and engagement and co production of interventions. She has so far more than 50 publications with ever 1000 citations.
Dr. Mishu will present about her early career work on patient and public involvement, as well as co-production.
Session 4
Kate Hawley
Kate Hawley lives in Newcastle with two young children and her American husband, Scott. She was inspired to get involved in public and patient involvement when her best friend passed away from a rare form of mouth cancer in her early thirties, leaving two preschool-aged children behind. As part of this cancer journey, Kate’s friend lost the use of her voice, and so the ability for Kate to amplify the patient ‘voice’ is even more poignant.
Kate is now experienced in patient and public advocacy, sitting on numerous NIHR panels to assess PPIE input into funding applications and being part of Patient Advisory Groups in Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, NICE, NHS England and Great Ormond Street Hospital. She spent time as a Governor to the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust and a non-executive director for Edinburgh University. Outside of her health advocacy, she is a senior manager for the Forestry Commission and spends her time leading on government grants for woodland creation and management in Northumberland and Yorkshire.
Kate will give insights about the role of patient and public representatives in funding application assessments, what they are looking for, and tips for submitting applications with strong patient and public involvement elements.
Schedule
1:00 pm – Registration and networking
1:30 pm – Welcome & opening remarks
1:40 pm – Session 1
- Dr Will McGovern, Associate Professor at Northumbria University with leading roles in PPIE, introducing PPI/co-production and practical tips to involve patient and public groups meaningfully.
2:30 pm – Session 2
- Professor Adam Todd, Professor of Pharmaceutical Public Health and chair of NIHRs Research for Patient Benefit panel for Yorkshire North East, speaking about what they look for as funders regarding PPI, and tips for PPI in funding applications.
3:15 pm – Break and networking
3:50 pm – Session 3
- Dr Masuma Mishu, lecturer in Public Health at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL and visiting senior research fellow at the Department of Health Sciences, University of York, sharing their experiences of PPI/co-production in their early career research.
4:15 pm – Session 4
- Kate Hawley, NIHR funding panel PPI representative, speaking about their role as a PPI funding panel member, what they look for in funding applications as patient/public representatives, and tips for good funding applications and PPIE strategies.
4:40 pm – Closing remarks and networking.
5:00 pm – End of ECR event.
5:30 pm – Pre-dinner drinks at the Crowne Plaza hotel.