Information for Industry – NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre

Real Voices, Real Impact: Collaborating with Industry in Mental Health Research

Putting People at the Heart of Innovation

In mental health research, the voices of patients, caregivers, and communities are essential. People with lived experience of mental ill-health provide a vital perspective that ensures medicines and therapies are not only scientifically effective but also meet the needs of those who use them. By involving people with lived experience, we build more ethical, relevant, and responsive research.

Our Approach to Patient and Public Involvement

We value authentic participation, not surface-level inclusion. Through genuine partnership with people who have firsthand experience of conditions, treatments, and healthcare systems, we improve the quality and impact at every stage of research and development.

We embed lived experience across the research process:

Early-Stage Discovery: Identifying priorities that matter to patients
Clinical Trial Design: Enhancing protocols for real-world feasibility and acceptability
Recruitment & Retention: Improving trial participation by addressing barriers and concerns
Data Interpretation: Co-developing outcome measures that reflect what truly matters to patients
Regulatory & Access Planning: Supporting patient-centered benefit-risk assessments
Communication & Dissemination: Ensuring trial outcomes are accessible, clear, and meaningful

Why it matters for the public

Ensure safe and secure storage and usage of health data to support understanding of how data is used
Increase transparency within university and industry research partnerships
Maintain a trusted research environment to hold health data (E.g. NHSE Secure Data Environment)
Improve understanding of how and why companies’ are involved in medical research
Confidentiality and anonymity in research data and product design
Understanding how public money is used to support mental health research.

Why It matters for Industry

Incorporating lived experience helps tech and pharmaceutical companies:

Develop more patient-centric medicines, interventions and devices to develop more effective treatments
Increase trust and transparency with the public
Enhance regulatory alignment and fulfil expectations for patient involvement
Uncover unmet need that drives innovation and differentiation
Improve trial efficiency and reduce costly delays

Get involved as a member of the public

We work with medical and tech companies to design and implement lived experience involvement strategies that are ethical, effective, and impactful. We welcome individuals with lived experience of mental ill-health and/or their carers, who are interested in shaping the future of medicine by contributing to research design, governance, and dissemination.

Get involved as a commercial organisations

Whether you’re planning a new clinical trial, refining an existing program, or building out your patient engagement infrastructure, we’re here to help. Email our Industry Engagement Manager Betina Nair: betina.nair@medsci.ox.ac.uk