Take Part in Research

Are you an employee with chronic pain or an employer working at a company with less than 250 employees? Researchers would like to hear from you!

Around 43% of people in the UK have chronic pain which can result in absenteeism and employment issues. Researchers lack the perspective of employees working from small - medium sized enterprises (SMEs) - companies with less than 250 employees. This is problematic given SMEs constitute 99.8% of all UK businesses. Glasgow Caledonian University are conducting interviews with employees from SMEs who have chronic pain and SMEs employers to understand their needs in relation to keeping employees at work. Your contribution will help us support people with chronic pain to remain at work.

Researchers are looking for people to take part in a brief questionnaire and a 1 hour online interview.

If you would like to take part, please email Ronald O'Kane at:

ronald.okane@gcu.ac.uk

Researchers at Cardiff University (UK) are developing a new mobile application (app) called MiDerm to support adults to live well with their skin condition and help improve their psychological well-being. The app has been developed and designed based what adults with skin conditions have said they want and need in terms of extra support.

The research team are conducting an online ‘think aloud’ study to gather feedback on the latest version of the MiDerm app. This will involve an online interview in which participants will try out an online version of the app and say their thoughts and feelings out loud as they work through the different sections of the app. The feedback will be used to make changes to app to improve it further.

The research team are currently looking for adults (18+ years) living with any skin condition, anywhere in the world, who can read and speak in English to take part and share their views on the MiDerm app. The interviews will be conducted online and will take up to 1 hour to complete.

For more information, please email the research team: MiDermApp@cardiff.ac.uk

Dermatologists are looking to recruit people living with psoriasis for a 30-minute online focus group to gain feedback on project which aims to look at long-term outcomes and predictors of maintaining disease control in people with psoriasis who achieve disease control on systemic therapy. This will involve a 10-minute presentation on the project followed by a 20-minute group discussion.

They are interested in gaining patient feedback to ensure the proposal is relevant to patient needs. If you are interested, please contact christina.ye@ouh.nhs.uk.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool are looking for volunteers for their study exploring the role of romantic relationships in the adjustment to living with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Their study will include a short interview, lasting roughly 1 hour, conducted virtually (via Zoom) or in-person on the University of Liverpool campus, depending on your personal preference. The interview will include questions about how your life was before and after your diagnosis, how your condition may have affected your relationship, and how your partner may have influenced your adjustment to PsA.

The study aims to gain a greater understanding of the factors that influence adjustment to a psoriatic arthritis.

Please contact Megan Devlin (the student researcher) at hsmdevli@liverpool.ac.uk if you’re interested or would like more information.

Called the HIPPOCRATES Prospective Observational Study (HPOS), the online study will monitor people with psoriasis over a three-year period to see who develops PsA. It will be completely remote with participants filling in questionnaires online and sending small fingerprick blood samples by prepaid post. Initially looking to recruit the volunteers from the UK, the ultimate goal is to recruit 25,000 people with psoriasis across 12 countries.

The study is part of wider research called The HIPPOCRATES project investigating psoriatic arthritis across Europe. It is a large consortium of over 25 research groups across Europe, led by Professor Oliver FitzGerald in Dublin which aims to answer 4 key research questions around psoriasis diagnosis, prediction, response to therapies, and prognosis on who will get joint damage.

If you would like to find out more about the project, or take part, you can find out more at the HPOS study website

Information on how well treatments work (benefits) and side effects (harms) is essential when choosing treatments (whether to start one or which one to choose).

The CICERO trial focuses on the communication of benefits (how well a medication works) and harms (side effects) of treatments. Access to information is essential so that people are adequately informed, feel confident about this information and about taking decisions about their health.

This study consists of a single online session (questionnaires) lasting about 20 minutes. You can complete this session at any time or day, using an internet-connected device (we recommend a computer or a tablet).

We will show you information about fictional treatments using one out of three communication strategies (by chance). Then, we will ask you to go through some clinical scenarios: this may be challenging for some people, but they allow us to explore how people understand and use information.

Only people aged between 18 and 65 years old are eligible for this study.

If you would like to participate or should you have any questions, please visit https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/research/evidence-based-mental-health/cicero or contact Edoardo Ostinelli (edoardo.ostinelli@psych.ox.ac.uk).

At the moment, doctors recommend that people continue regular biologic treatment for their psoriasis, even when their skin is well controlled (clear or nearly clear).

We know from clinical trials that some of these individuals may be able to stop treatment for a while, and then restart if / when the psoriasis begins to come back.

If people only take a drug when they need it this could reduce risks and burden to patients and give them more control, whilst also saving the NHS money.

Our research therefore aims to find out whether biologic treatments can be taken ‘as needed’ in routine care whilst still maintaining control of psoriasis.

Please help by filling out this survey:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=FM9wg_MWFky4PHJAcWVDVldkFS5Tt5tDt6lgNXisraZUMFdGV1ZHUFpRSVhTNkdHSExaQ0I2SEdFVi4u

The METRED-P study is a clinical trial evaluating the effects of different dietary patterns in individuals with psoriasis. This dietary intervention study will be the first to assess the effectiveness of these dietary patterns at modulating psoriasis severity.

The study consists of 3 clinic visits at the Metabolic Research Unit, Corridor A (4th Floor) in the Franklin−Wilkins Building, King’s College London, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH. Virtual diet consultation sessions will be hosted by a Registered Associate Nutritionist who will consult participants to follow a Mediterranean style and/or time-restricted eating diet for 12 weeks.

Participants will record food and drink intakes in handwritten diet diaries, and complete confidential multiple-choice questionnaires about psoriasis. At the clinic visits, a Consultant Dermatologist will conduct a psoriasis examination and the Nutritionist will take body composition and clinic blood pressure measurements. A phlebotomist will collect a fasting blood sample (approximately 4.5 teaspoons). ​

To participate in the study, volunteers should be adults (18 years of age or older), have a diagnosis of plaque psoriasis​, have a body mass index between 20-40​ and should NOT be receiving phototherapy treatment for psoriasis​ currently or in the three months prior to participating in the study.

More information: https://www.dietandpsoriasisproject-apple.com/

Contact information: Sylvia Zanesco (Nutritionist): dietandpsoriasisproject@kcl.ac.uk

A team at the University of Sheffield are doing a research project looking at questionnaires that are used to measure health of children and adolescents.

Why are they doing this?

Questionnaires are used to measure the health of children and adolescents. Some of the most popular questionnaires are being used without us knowing whether they are suitable. The researchers want to find out whether some commonly used questionnaires are asking the right sort of questions in the right way. They want to find out whether the questions in the questionnaires are relevant, whether they are easy to understand, and whether there are any important questions missing.

What do they want to do?

They want to talk to children and adolescents with health conditions aged between 8 and 17 years old, as well as parents of children or adolescents with health conditions who are aged between 4 and 17 years old. The study involves an online interview which would last up to an hour. The interview can be arranged for a suitable day or time. As a thank you, a £25 Amazon voucher is available.

If you are interested in finding out more, click on the link. https://tinyurl.com/t8cymcew

For further information please contact Jill Carlton: j.carlton@sheffield.ac.uk

People living with psoriasis often wish to know whether changing what they eat could be helpful for their skin. At present, there isn’t enough high-quality research for us to be able to make specific recommendations. To answer this question, King’s College London have partnered with the Psoriasis Association to launch The APPLE Study!

The study will involve the completion of:

• An online multiple-choice survey
• An online diet diary

The researchers aim to find out if there are certain foods and lifestyle patterns that are more commonly found in people with more severe psoriasis compared with those with milder forms of psoriasis.

This is the first study of its kind in the UK. The researchers would use this information to work out if dietary changes could be helpful for psoriasis management in the longer term.

Inclusion criteria:

• 18 years or older
• Have a medical diagnosis of psoriasis
• A resident in the United Kingdom
• Able to complete surveys in English

Upon completion of The APPLE Study, you will receive:

• A personal nutrition report
• A webinar invite to “A Guide to Nutrition & Psoriasis” by our Consultant Dermatologist, Dr Thivi Maruthappu.

Take the survey here

Contact details: dietandpsoriasisproject@kcl.ac.uk

Website: https://www.dietandpsoriasisproject-apple.com/

Instagram: the_apple_study

***UPDATE - Please note that Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this study are now closed to recruitment. Recruitment for Part 4 of the study has not yet commenced – details will be announced in due course.***

This is an opportunity for 12-17 year old patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The trial, sponsored by the pharmaceutical company, AbbVie, compares the treatment efficacy and safety of Risankizumab (Skyrizi) vs Ustekinumab (Stelara), two biologic therapies. All participants are guaranteed active treatment, regardless of whether they have had systemic therapy before.

Recruitment criteria (list not exclusive):

• Aged between 12 to < 18 years at the time of enrolment
• Have had a diagnosis of chronic plaque psoriasis for at least 6 months
• Have moderate to severe psoriasis, defined as ≥ 10% Body Surface Area (BSA) psoriasis involvement with a static Physician’s Global Assessment (sPGA) score of ≥ 3, or Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) ≥ 12


No history of:

• Erythrodermic psoriasis, generalised or localised pustular psoriasis, medication-induced or medication exacerbated psoriasis, or new onset guttate psoriasis;
• Active skin disease other than psoriasis that could interfere with the assessment of psoriasis;
• Clinically significant drug or alcohol abuse within the last 6 months;
• An allergic reaction or hypersensitivity to a biologic agent or its excipients;
• A latex allergy;
• An organ transplant that requires continued immunosuppression;
• Any malignancy except for successfully treated non-melanoma skin cancer or localised carcinoma in situ of the cervix.


No evidence of:

• Hepatitis B (HB) (hepatitis B virus [HBV]) or hepatitis C (hepatitis C virus [HCV]) infection;
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), defined as confirmed positive anti-HIV antibody (HIV Ab) test;
• Genetic deficiency in IL-12/IL-23;


The following centres are open for recruitment into the study (please email the investigators directly):

• West Ambulatory Care Hospital, Glasgow: Areti.Makrygeorgou@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
• Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey: sara.sherif@nhs.net
• Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Devon: naomi.goldstraw@nhs.net
• Derriford Hospital, Plymouth: thurein.newin@nhs.net
• Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London: please email Eva.Hilger@gstt.nhs.uk or call 07917217601


Dr Wedad Abdelrahman, Chief Investigator (wedad.abdelrahman@gstt.nhs.uk)
Prof Carsten Flohr, Study Investigator (carsten.flohr@kcl.ac.uk)
Consultant Paediatric Dermatologists

St John’s Institute of Dermatology,
Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust