This opportunity is now closed, but we will have regular opportunities for members of our community to get involved. Sign-up to our eNewsletter and research community to find out more.
About the Brain and Genomics Hub
The UKRI Brain and Genomics Hub is one of 5 specialist research centres which make up the new UKRI Mental Health Research Platform (£4.3 million for world-leading research into severe mental illness - News - Cardiff University). It is a partnership between Cardiff, Bristol, Swansea, Exeter and Bath Universities, together with Bipoloar UK and Adferiad. Research conducted at the Hub will aim to improve the lives of people who have experienced psychosis, by combining and analysing data acquired at scale, with machine learning and clustering approaches, to advance knowledge of the causes behind the development of severe mental illnesses. Another aim will be to improve the systems currently in place for the diagnosis of psychotic disorders which is currently based solely on descriptions of symptoms and behaviour. The team will develop more objective methods of diagnosis by using biopsychosocial measures such as genetics, cognitive tasks, brain imaging, markers in people’s blood, as well as assessments of their development and social and cultural background. These more precise diagnoses will enable the development of better targeted treatments, aiming to replicate advances made within cancer care treatment.
Lived experience involvement - an innovative plan for expanding involvement.
Bipolar UK and Adferiad are partners within the Hub and will be working to establish an innovative approach to coproduction/lived experience involvement, which allows a much wider and more inclusive group of people to have some type of lived experience advisory role within the Hub's research. In order to broaden out opportunities for involvement, we will need a small core team of people who have lived experience, but also research and/or clinical experience, in order to help us bring about these innovations and create accessible and practicable opportunities for lived experience involvement.
Specialist LEAP (lived experience advisory panel) responsibilities
The specialist LEAP will meet 3 times per year for the 5 years of the project, to come together to work with other research team members on research design, process, analysis and dissemination, as well as working within the LEAP to create inclusive opportunities for research participants without specialist background to become involved in some advisory capacity. LEAP members will be paid for meeting attendance and preparation (£80 per meeting), and there may also be opportunities for extra paid advisory work during the course of the 5 years outside of meetings. The meetings will usually be remote. However, we are hoping that there will be an annual face-to-face meeting which will take place at one of the host universities. Travel expenses etc. for this meeting will be covered.
The LEAP will be co-led and coordinated by Dr Tania Gergel and Dr Talen Wright, who both have lived experience and expertise in psychiatric research.
Who we are looking for:
We are looking for people who meet the following criteria:
- Research and/or clinical experience in Mental Health (at least Masters level or equivalent)
- Lived experience of psychosis and a diagnosis of either schizophrenia, bipolar, or schizoaffective disorder.
- Aged 18+
- Living in the United Kingdom
We particularly welcome applications from members of minoritised racial, ethnic or other communities who are typically underrepresented within research.
Importantly, although we recognise that people have diverse views on the aetiology of mental illness, this project will be focusing on biomedical data acquired via genetic and neuroscientific testing, alongside clinical, social and lived experience-based factors. Therefore, it is critical that members of this advisory panel are open to biomedical approaches to psychiatric research and a biopsychosocial model of mental illness. The role of the LEAP will be to provide oversight and critique, but within the context of the overall aims and methods laid out for the Hub.
Last updated: 08 August 2024