Patient Information Sheets (PIS) are a key document for potential participants to make an informed decision about whether to take part in a clinical study.  While there is clear guidance from the Health Research Authority (HRA) on content and regulatory requirements, PIS are customised for each clinical trial and the specific patient population. Choosing the right language and format for patient facing materials for research studies and clinical trials still greatly varies and depends on the skills and experience of the team putting them together.

In this workshop attendees will gain useful insights on how to work on the format, language and delivery of the PIS thanks to the participation of patient representatives with experience in clinical trials of different phases and with different clinical interventions. The session includes an initial overview of the HRA guidance on the PIS design, an introduction to writing in plain English and a patient’s perspective in providing consent to a clinical study, followed by group work where research staff will go into virtual breakout rooms with Patient and Public representatives to review together a PIS that will be provided to the attendees a week prior to the course. Most importantly, at the end of the course, participants will be provided with a “PIS Checklist”: a memorandum of the considerations to take into account when designing (or reviewing) a Patient Information Sheet.

This session will take place online via Zoom

Last booking date 22 June 2025

This session gives a comprehensive overview of the clinical pathways cancer patients can take to be eventually referred for trial entry.

The first part of the session spans across the diagnostic methods and staging of cancerand gives a brief overview of the common tests carried out prior to trial treatment. 

In the second part of the session participants will learn about the importance of ensuring only eligible patients enter a trial and how eligibility criteria help to safeguard patients and differ amongst different phases of trials. They will also learn the importance of assessing treatment compliance and how every clinical intervention comes with a different set of challenges in collecting data about patient compliance.

This session is a basic introduction to cancer treatments and their most common side-effects and adverse reactions.

The course provides an overview on cancer surgery ,radiotherapy and chemotherapy we well as insights on the mechanisms of action of targeted therapies such as monoclonal antibodies, small inhibitory molecules, CAR-T cell therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

In the second part of the session, participants will learn about the mechanisms of toxicity linked to the different categories of cancer therapy and how these are managed.

This course is not recommended for clinicians.