OPCSG to Help Nuffield Department of Population Health

The Nuffield Department of Public Health at the University of Oxford carries out many studies on illnesses and treatments, some of which concern prostate cancer. Dr. Karl Smith-Byrne from the Department spoke at OPCSG's open meeting in November 2024 describing some of the Department's exciting new research and outlining the way in which OPCSG members could help them.

Here is how Karl invited us to participate:

We need your help to improve prostate cancer research! We believe that OPCSG can play a key role in guiding our work at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU).  Our team studies why some people get prostate cancer and and how we can prevent it. To do this, we look at things like genetics, molecules that we can measure in the blood, and the impact of other factors, such as lifestyle, using information from studies involving thousands to hundreds of thousands of people.  But to make our work as impactful as possible, we need the insights of people with real life experience of prostate cancer.

Here’s how you can get involved:

1. Join our Executive Committee: Share your experiences and opinions during quarterly meetings.  Your ideas will help us to decide what research questions to focus on and how the work benefits patients like you.  OPCSG have nominated Vice-Chair, Sanjiv Kanwar, and Committee Member, Dafydd Charles to fulfil this role.

2. Help us Communicate Better: Join a group to help us write or review materials, like newsletters or leaflets as we produce new research. You can make sure that the information we share about our researches is clear, helpful and easy to understand.

3. Partner with a Researcher: Work one-on-one with a researcher and with our team to share your experiences of living with prostate cancer.  This will help us design better studies and understand how our findings can make a difference in real life.

Whether you want to share your ideas in meetings, help explain our work to others or work directly with researchers, there’s a way to get involved. Your experience can make a real difference in helping us understand and prevent prostate cancer.