Research Advisory Panel - stakeholder members

The Research Advisory Panel is made up of people who assess applications for funding and help the charity make decisions about which research projects to fund.

Stakeholders are people with lived experience of cancer, including people who have or have had cancer, carers, friends and family, service users and other interested members of the public.

Stakeholders decide whether funding applications fit the strategic aims of the charity, align with the topics of the funding call and consider the need for the research.

The assessment of funding applications has two main stages, which both involve stakeholders.

1. Stakeholders assess the preliminary applications
2. Stakeholders and experts work together to assess the full, detailed applications with the expert members assessing the scientific quality

No qualifications or previous experience are needed. It is your lived experience of cancer that makes your unique insights and perspective so important in deciding what research we should fund.

To be a stakeholder Research Advisory Panel member, you need:

• Lived experience of, or an interest in, cancer
• Confidence to share your opinions
• Willingness to listen to others with respect
• Time
• Reliability 

We work in partnership with our panel members and provide full support and training.

Researchers, clinicians and funders may not have first-hand experience of the condition or disease that they want to research.

Stakeholders provide unique insights into:

• What it’s like to live with cancer
• What matters the most in terms of treatment and care
• What it’s like to use a treatment or service

These insights help make research more relevant to the needs of patients, service users, carers and loved ones, leading to healthcare solutions that better meet their needs.

The Research Advisory Panel:

• Adds value to the research, and benefits the researchers, funders, people who get involved, patients and the wider public
• Improves research quality and impact, for example, by leading to better design, conduct and dissemination of research
• Motivates researchers, bringing enthusiasm and a keenness to see results
• Helps charities set research priorities, make better funding decisions, gain recognition, increase transparency, and boost fundraising
• Helps us do everything we can to meet patient and carer needs

Your feedback and involvement will help us ensure that we not only fund the best research projects, but those that represent the views of people living with cancer in Yorkshire.

Through the Research Advisory Panel:

• You can contribute and influence change by making research more relevant, useful, and beneficial. This will help to improve future cancer treatment and care for people in Yorkshire, and beyond.
• You can use your lived experience, which can be empowering, provide purpose and build confidence, while also giving hope to others. Being part of research can be exciting, stimulating and thought-provoking, and allow you to use and develop skills that you might not realise you have.
• You will meet new people and be part of a friendly team of individuals who will share your passion for making a positive impact for the future and may have had similar experiences.

The work involved in assessing applications received in our annual funding round is expected to take a few days of your time, plus attending a one-day meeting every year, held at the charity's Harrogate office.

From time to time, we may also invite you to take part in other opportunities to support other charity activities where your insights and views would be valuable.

The charity will reimburse any out of pocket expenses involved in Research Advisory Panel activities and offers an honorarium payment to stakeholder members in recognition of their time and effort. This is in line with NIHR recommendations.

Please get in touch if you have any questions at research@ycr.org.uk