NIH ENGAGE

An Initiative to Increase Public Engagement in Clinical Research

Welcome

Patients, communities, and members of the public are essential and equal partners in the success of clinical research, and their input informs the highest quality science. The NIH ENGAGE Initiative will inform how NIH incorporates public voices in clinical research.

To learn more about the goals of ENGAGE, check out this Under the Poliscope blog authored by Lyric Jorgenson and the ENGAGE Co-Chairs, Suzanne Bakken and Christin Veasley.

What is ENGAGE?

Engaging the Public as Partners in Clinical Research (ENGAGE) is an initiative of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which is working to develop a vision and framework for incorporating public voices in all phases and types of clinical research. To accomplish this, NIH asked the Novel and Exceptional Technology and Research Advisory Committee (NExTRAC) to form the ENGAGE Working Group. This Working Group includes patients, advocates, researchers, clinicians, non-profit representatives, and more (see Meet the Team page for more information).

News and Events

Community Conversations: ENGAGE is kicking off a series of 10 in-person conversations and 2 virtual conversations with communities across the country to hear directly from members of the public on their perspectives on clinical research engagement. More information about the Community Conversations can be found here

Virtual Webinar and Listening Session: NIH recently hosted a virtual webinar and listening session as part of a larger effort on improving public engagement in clinical research. More information, including a recording of the webcast, can be found here

For more news information about ENGAGE events, visit the News and Events page

Co-Chairs’ Corner

As the Co-Chairs of the ENGAGE Working Group, we are excited to help NIH promote engagement in research. We come from different backgrounds – one of us a patient advocate and one a researcher – but we share the same goal of ensuring NIH-funded research and its outcomes are meaningful and actionable (especially for those who could benefit from or be affected by the research).

We believe, and the Working Group agrees, that engagement should happen early and often throughout the research process. And by that same thought, frequent public engagement should also be a key component of the ENGAGE Initiative. Therefore, we are very excited to release an update on our Phase 1 efforts and seek public input on preferences, experiences, and recommendations relating to increasing public engagement in all phases of clinical research. We look forward to hearing from you!

– Suzanne Bakken and Christin Veasley

Questions?

Please reach out to Liz Siembida ([email protected]) with any questions or comments on this effort.