Coeliac UK is working with various research teams around the UK on research projects relating to coeliac disease. It is important that there is patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) throughout these projects to ensure that the research remains relevant to its intended beneficiaries.  

We are currently recruiting volunteers for the following projects:   

Sheffield – Exploring patient preference of the no-biopsy approach for diagnosing coeliac disease.

Eight volunteers are required to attend a semi-structured interview to discuss personal opinions around diagnosis and condition management to identify which attributes are most important to patients when diagnosing coeliac disease. At the end of the interview attendees will be asked to rank these attributes on importance.   
 
The researchers will use the information gathered to create a discrete choice experiment (DCE), a method of determining patients’ preferences. The wider coeliac community will then be invited to take part in the CDE to better understand patient preferences around a no-biopsy method of diagnosing coeliac disease.  

Who can apply?  

To be able to attend an interview you must:  

• Be aged 18 years or over
• Diagnosed with coeliac disease via a blood test and endoscopy with biopsy  
• Able to travel to Sheffield to attend a face to face interview in June 2023  
• Have the time available to commit to the project   
• Fluent in English
• Able to provide written, informed consent  

What is involved?  

You will be required to attend one interview at either the Medical School or Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield in June 2023.  
The project would compensate you for your time and pay for reasonable travel expenses to attend the interview.  

How to apply  

If you are interested in being on the PPIE panel, please email research@coeliac.org.uk with the following information: 

• Project you are applying for 
• Your name 
• Telephone number 
• Confirmation of your diagnosis 
• A brief summary of why you would be a suitable candidate  

Deadline for applications is 10am, Wednesday 17 May 2023.  

If shortlisted, you would need to be available for a short telephone or Zoom call on the afternoon or early evening of Wednesday 17 May or Friday 19 May. 

Bristol – Expanding the eligibility criteria for a no-biopsy diagnosis of coeliac disease in adults and children

A research team, predominantly based in Bristol, are looking to submit a grant application for funding from the National Institute of Health and Social Care Research to investigate the eligibility criteria for diagnosing coeliac disease without a biopsy. They are looking for an individual to provide a patient’s perspective within the grant application.  
 
You would then attend regular team meetings, to give a patient’s perspective to the proposed research, if the grant is awarded. Meetings will mostly be held online but up to two meetings may be held face to face in Bristol, over the course of two years, from May 2024.   

Who can apply?  

To apply to be on the PPIE panel for this project you must:  

• Be aged 18 years or over
• Diagnosed with coeliac disease via a blood test and endoscopy and biopsy in the last 3 years 
• Able to travel to Bristol to attend face to face meetings  
• Have the time available to commit to the project 
• Fluent in English  
• Able to provide written, informed consent  

What is involved?  

From June this year, provide a patient’s perspective to the design of the research and the content of the lay summary to be included in the grant application, due for submission in September.   
 
If the project grant is awarded, you will be required to attend project team meetings online, most likely on a quarterly basis (to be confirmed) and up to around two face to face meetings in Bristol, for two years from the proposed project start date, May 2024.  The project pays for reasonable travel expenses to attend the face to face team meetings.  

How to apply  

If you are interested in being on the PPIE panel, please email research@coeliac.org.uk with the following information: 

• Project you are applying for 
• Your name 
• Telephone number 
• Confirmation of your diagnosis and when you were diagnosed 
• A brief summary of why you would be a suitable candidate for the PPIE panel 

Deadline for applications is 10am, Wednesday 17 May 2023.  

If shortlisted, you would need to be available for a short telephone or Zoom call on the afternoon or early evening of Wednesday 17 May or Friday 19 May. 

We thank you for your interest in assisting us with our research projects.