Praveena’s story: how I transform health research in Wales as a student

Praveena Pemmasani from north Cardiff is 19 years old and studying for a degree in medicine at Cardiff University. For the past three years, she has helped researchers to plan the studies they want to carry out in Wales as a member of a youth group who discuss issues around upcoming health studies with researchers.

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“Before I got involved with health research, I didn’t know too much about it. I understood it was important and that it led to new treatments being found, but I didn’t know how that happened. I knew studies needed volunteers to try out new medicines but not that the public could get involved in other ways.

“It was a friend in school who first told me about ALPHA. I was planning to study medicine and wanted to learn more about how research happens. But you definitely don’t need to be planning to be a doctor to be interested in this.

“As a group we meet with researchers once a month and chat to them about their studies which range from alcohol advertising to drug prevention. Recently we gave some feedback on a mental health survey which the researchers wanted to run in schools so it was something that I could relate to as I’d just finished secondary school.

“The researchers wanted to send professionals into the school to run the survey, but we suggested that they train students to deliver the survey instead. We thought students would be more likely to open up to their peers than to other adults. We had several sessions with them and we saw how the research changed based on what we said. I thought it was really cool that we had a say.

“When I first started with ALPHA, I was surprised that the researchers listened to us because I thought you’d need to have several degrees to be taken seriously. But you don’t have to be an expert, researchers are just looking for a different perspective. Sometimes we think of things the researchers haven’t considered.

“To begin with, I was a bit nervous. I was worried I’d need to be technical or know a lot about the latest science, but it’s such a supportive and fun group. We’re all similar ages so you feel you can share your views and you make friends easily.

“The pandemic has made everyone more aware of how health research can change lives but I’ve always felt it’s important. I honestly think lots of people could be very interested in research because these health studies will probably affect all of us at some point.

“I really enjoy being part of ALPHA. You feel like you are part of something that will have an actual impact on people’s lives and will make a difference.”

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ALPHA (Advice Leading to Public Health Advancement) is a public involvement group of people between the ages of 14 - 25 and is led by DECIPHer, which is part of the Health and Care Research Wales funded community.

Find out more about ALPHA and how to join