Research Research Home Research Aims Funded Projects Participate in Research Lay Research Panel Research Committee For Researchers Our Lay Research Panel Involving patients and the public: The Alopecia UK Lay Research Panel Researchers can involve people living with or affected by alopecia throughout all stages of the research process. There is growing evidence that involving people with lived experience of a condition can improve the quality and impact of research, for example by improving the experience for individuals participating in research or by helping share key messages. Beyond improving the quality of research, we believe people affected by alopecia have the right to be involved in shaping research to ensure it is relevant to them and addresses their real needs and challenges. Lay Research Panel members We work with a group of people with lived experience of different types of alopecia who make up our Lay Research Panel. The panel provides a unique resource to researchers who wish to involve people affected by alopecia in their work. It includes people with different types of alopecia, carers and family members. What does the Lay Research Panel do? The Lay Panel acts as a bridge between researchers and the community of people affected by alopecia. To make sure research achieves the best results, we involve people affected by alopecia in research directly through a process called Patient and Public Involvement (PPI). This allows researchers and people affected by alopecia to speak directly and work together on findings answers to the most important questions and challenges. Some examples of Lay Research Panel activity include: reviewing language used in documents, applications, interviews and surveys to ensure it is accessible and appropriate for people with alopecia. reviewing applications or be part of judging panels to ensure the priorities and needs of those with alopecia are represented in research. participating in meetings, focus groups or workshops with researchers to guide study design and management. engaging in two-way learning with researchers, optimising sharing of information between the research community and those who can implement, and benefit from, the findings of research. identifying and addressing barriers and challenges to participation in research. improving inclusion of people from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds in research, to ensure research outcomes are relevant for everyone in society affected by all types of alopecia. Requesting Lay Research Panel involvement in research If you would like to contact our lay research panel with an involvement opportunity, please complete the application form for PPI support and return it to [email protected]. If you have any questions about the network or would like to know more about involvement in alopecia research, please contact us.