For details on alopecia research projects and clinical trials currently looking for participants, please see here.

Beyond helping researchers find people to take part in research studies, we aim to involve the alopecia community in all aspects of research, to make sure it answers the questions they think are most important and achieves outcomes that benefit people affected by alopecia. In 2013, we undertook a Priority Settings Partnership, facilitated by the James Lind Alliance, which resulted in a list of the top 10 priorities for people with 1) alopecia areata; and 2) other types of alopecia (excluding alopecia areata). Details of this can be found here.

Since then, we have directly provided funding to research projects that seek to address these important questions. The alopecia community are a crucial part of our decision making on which projects are awarded funding.

We also have a Lay Research Panel of people with lived experience of alopecia who get involved in research projects. 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.