Be Part of Research campaign: Working across the UK to promote how the public can take part in research

Here we look back at the ways we promoted the vital role the public plays by taking part in research and how we thanked people who have participated over the past year through our Be Part of Research campaign.

Be Part of Research launched on 17 May and was a month-long collaborative campaign promoted across the four nations to encourage people all over the UK to take part in research.

To mark the start of the campaign, we highlighted the experiences of Debra Evans and Suzanne Richards, Research Nurses at Swansea Bay University Health Board, who worked on the Oxford/Astra-Zeneca vaccine trial in Newport.

Debra and Suzanne thanked the public for taking part in COVID-19 research and encouraged more people in Wales to take part in the future:

As well as this, we released the results of a YouGov survey carried out on behalf of Health and Care Research Wales which revealed more than 90% of people in Wales think health research in the UK has been important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the campaign we featured Brian and Michael, two Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial participants, who shared their views on being a part of this ground-breaking research.

“It’s been a resoundingly positive experience,” said Brian, who works for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board as a Cardiac Rehabilitation Exercise Practitioner. “My family are all really proud – they think I’m over here in Wales saving the world!”

Dr Orod Osanlou, Principal Investigator for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trial and the COV-Boost trial in Wrexham, thanked people for participating in COVID-19 research in Wales.

As well as sharing the experiences of research staff and the public, we highlighted the different ways people can take part in health and care research in Wales.

Lewis Darmanin, Primary Care Research Manager at Health and Care Research Wales, talked about opportunities to take part in research through your local GP practice or pharmacy.

To help people to learn more about COVID-19 research, the National Institute for Health Research in England, set up a new course for the public called, COVID-19: Understanding the Research Behind the Pandemic. This online course can help people in Wales discover how scientists responded to the pandemic and how they develop treatments and vaccines.

If you’d like to take part in research in Wales, use the Be Part of Research online service to search for opportunities near you

First published: 17 June 2021