UOW Consumer and Community Research Network

Have you had ill health or experiences with medical or health services?  Are you interested in contributing to meaningful health and medical research? Here’s your chance to make a difference.

The UOW Consumer and Community Research Network is inviting the public to participate in vital research projects. Your lived experience can inspire solutions and drive innovations that enhance the well-being of people and communities worldwide.  

By joining the network, you will: 

• Collaborate with researchers
• Contribute to advancing knowledge
• Help address pressing health challenges like chronic disease, mental health and cardiovascular health 

Whether you have personal experiences with healthcare services, live with chronic health conditions, care for someone who does, or are a healthy and active community member, your voice can help drive innovation in health. 

We would love to hear about your lived experience. It is the starting point for achieving our vision of enhancing the well-being of people and communities worldwide.  

Join the UOW Consumer and Community Research Network and help us advance our knowledge, address pressing health challenges and create solutions that will improve lives. 

Register Your Interest

This network is support by Health Innovations and Molecular Horizons in the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health. 

When you register using our online form you will:

• be added to our secure database
• receive a confirmation email - Welcome to the UOW Consumer and Community Research Network
• be contacted directly when/if an opportunity to participate in research becomes available
  • we will use the details provided in the registration

If you sign up for our newsletter when registering, we will keep you updated on health and medical research at UOW. Signing up is optional when you register to join the network.

Jo Spicer

“Two separate cancer diagnoses and treatment became the catalyst for my involvement as a consumer in research. By adding my voice to others who have lived experience, we can together provide the perspective and knowledge to help improve the lives of everyone in our community.”

Channah

"Consumers in research bring such a meaningful contribution to each project. In a space that is usually reserved for the collection and analysis of data, the human voice needs to heard.

If someone has personal (lived) experience and they are able to identify and offer real world examples to help the research team, the benefits are boundless. I know my voice as a consumer holds value and assisting in research enables change, growth and continued striving toward excellence.”

Judith

"I have always had an interest in health research and after I retired, I became a health consumer rep. During this time an opportunity came my way to be a co-researcher on a project that related to my lived experience of a health issue. 

I would highly recommend consumers to take the opportunity to participate in health-related research that interests you, as you can provide a different way of looking at the research project that can benefit the safety and quality of patient care.”

Elizabeth Cuthbert 

My interest in this role is deeply personal. Assisting my mother manage her chronic pain has given me firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by individuals living with chronic conditions. I am motivated by a strong sense of social responsibility to advocate on behalf of others in similar situations.

Professor Judy Mullan invited both myself as a carer, and my mother as a consumer to participate in the design of a UOW Medical Research Future Fund grant proposal. The research team were so very welcoming of us and were always particularly interested in the contributions my mother was able to make based on her experiences navigating the health system to manage her chronic pain.

As we are both new to this experience, we were incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the Health Consumers NSW online course CCI: Introduction to Consumer Involvement in Health Research. This course provided valuable insight into the role of consumers in research. Additionally, I very much enjoyed participating in the “Keeping the Co in Co-design workshop.” This training has improved my confidence and understanding of the expectations of the role consumers play in research.