About our PPI Group
Our PPI group
All the PPI work that we carry out is overseen by our PPI group.
Our PPI group is made up of MRC CTU at UCL staff together with patients who are actively involved in our work. They provide leadership and advice about all aspects of PPI to our staff and in the wider research community.
The group is responsible for developing, promoting, and supporting the active involvement of patients and the public in all our clinical studies. We have policies and procedures in place to support this.
Members of our PPI group
Ben Cromarty
Ben Cromarty has lived with HIV since 2000 and has an interest in HIV treatment and treatment related issues.
Virginia Cucchi
Virginia Cucchi has an interest in improving treatment and wellbeing of patients with long-term conditions. She is living with HIV since 1997 and overcame breast cancer in 2008.
Richard Stephens
Richard Stephens is a cancer patient involved in research since his first trial participation in 1998. He lives in Stevenage.
Ian Newsome
Ian Newsome has an interest in supporting people with MS to be successful in the workplace. He is a member of the MS society research network where he is involved in the lay review of grant applications. He is living with MS since 1988.
Danielle Horton-Taylor
Kate Sturgeon
Kate Sturgeon is a Senior Research Nurse and the Patient and Public Involvement Coordinator at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL.
Annabelle South
Annabelle South is the Policy, Communications & Research Impact Coordinator. She chairs the Unit’s PPI group, and has a particular interest in PPI in the communication of trial results.
Karen Scott
Karen Scott is a trial manager working on international paediatric TB trials.
Berta Terre-Torras
As the Science Communications Officer, Berta is passionate about improving the way we engage and involve with patients, with a focus on accessibility and inclusion.
Denise Ward
Denise Ward is a data manager working on HIV prevention trials in adults.
Sophie Merrick
Sophie Merrick is a cancer doctor who has a research interest in how we can use drugs which stimulate the immune system to fight cancer. She recognises the importance of PPI in designing and delivering more effective clinical trials for patients.
Conor Tweed
Conor Tweed is a Respiratory physician based in North East London. He is interested in improving PPI for trials relating to respiratory infections with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.
Lara Monkiewicz
Lara Monkiewicz is a trial manager working on international paediatric HIV trials. She is particularly interested in PPI and community engagement in low- and middle-income settings.
Charlotte Hartley
Charlotte Hartley is a Science Communications Officer interested in fostering creative communications and two-way engagement with the Unit's research.
Sharing our work in PPI
We want to share our learning about patient and public involvement in clinical trials to encourage the sharing and adoption of PPI good practice in all research. Since our PPI group was set up in 2011, we have undertaken research and develop resources for patients, carers, and members of the public who want to get involved in trials, and for researchers who want to involve them.
These are all available as PPI resources.