Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research is a requirement for most health and care funding applications. Whilst there is a plethora of resources about how to actively involve patients and the public in applied and clinical research, resources tailored to non-clinical; laboratory-based research remain limited. There is also little evidence describing the added value PPI brings to researchers and public contributors in this setting. In this reflective case study, the authors explore how sustained PPI helped shape a non-clinical, lab-based research project over a three-year period and highlight learnings from both a researcher and public contributor perspective. The authors describe how involvement improved communication, the framing of research questions, and the development of translational relevance, outlining challenges and opportunities that emerged through iterative co-learning and reflexive dialogue. The experience of the authors highlights how PPI can foster meaningful engagement in basic science, contributing to translational advances for patients. Importantly, this collaboration also shaped researcher identity and contributed to career development, showing that involvement can influence not only research outputs but also professional direction and institutional culture. This article is co-authored by a lab-based researcher and a public contributor with relevant ‘lived’ experience. It details their experience of patient and public involvement (PPI) in a laboratory-based cancer research project investigating why and how breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, particularly the lungs, with the aim of understanding how to intervene and stop spreading. The relationship between the two co-authors (Sarah Hatch (SGH) and Naledi Formosa (NF)) began at the start of NF’s funded fellowship in February 2023. This article offers an overview of how their collaboration developed over time and how their respective perspectives complemented one another, reflecting openly on how PPI can influence and enhance lab-based research.
Hatch et al. (Mon,) studied this question.