Dr Alison ThomsonSenior Lecturer in Patient Public Involvement and Public Engagement in ScienceEmail: a.thomson@qmul.ac.ukWebsite: https://alisonthomson.uk/Twitter: @somehow_relatedProfileResearchPublicationsSupervisionProfileI am a design-led researcher based in the Centre for Preventive Neurology at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health. Currently I am Senior Lecturer in Patient Public Involvement (PPI) and Public Engagement in Science (PES), and co-lead the Institutes Public Advisory Panel. I am also a member of the Design Societies Research Unit at Goldsmiths which combines and cultivates expertise in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and design to engage technoscientific and environmental matters of care and concern. My practice-based design background comes from studying Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art after which I went onto complete a PhD in design-led research at Goldsmiths. This specifically looked at the patient experience of people with Multiple Sclerosis using STS and design-led research. I sit on a number of grant review panels including The Wellcome Trust, UKRI and am a member of the ESRC Peer Review College. My academic work is presented at a national and international level while I also contribute to the practice-based design research community through establishing initiatives such as PhD By Design. I co-lead the award-winning module Engaging the Public with Science and supervise under-graduate and doctoral student projects. ResearchResearch Interests:My practice-based research sits at the intersections of PPI, PES, Science and Technology Studies and Design Research. This work aims to articulate how design-led methods can study the notion of ‘patient experience’ within both healthcare and biomedical research settings, leading to the design of more inventive interactions about our health. I create designs that investigate how patient experiences of people with neurological conditions might be improved through co-design, design-research and design-led interventions. Recent projects include the design of an approach to engage families to discuss living with MS, developing and testing an alternative rehabilitation activity to improve a person’s upper limb function, and creating an accessible upper limb outcome measure. These products, educational tools and resources all aim to improve the lives of people living with MS and are disseminated through national and international public engagement events, academic outputs and Neurology services. Recently, I am interested in exploring wider forms of participatory research practices, working with peer researchers to explore patient experiences and co-leading a research team developing a Participatory Research program supported by Research England, with the goal of expanding participatory research activities at QMUL. I have developed and delivered different styles of engagement work across multiple audiences, ranging from examples such as MS:The Big Knit and The Charcot Tapestry to more traditional forms of engagement like patient research information days. Recent work looks at how we can support and engage different groups of people with long term conditions to take part in the design of this work, considering the many challenges and barriers to inclusion.Publications Thomson A, Fudge N, Van Blarikom E et al. (2024). Addressing Polypharmacy: Developing Public-Facing Resources Through Storytelling-Based Co-Design. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1177/16094069241266194 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/101025 Thomson A, Horne R, Chapman C et al. (publicationYear). Engaging a community to focus on upper limb function in people with multiple sclerosis: the ThinkHand campaign case study. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1186/s40900-024-00586-y QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/97011 Kuri A, Henshall DE, Chaudhry D et al. (publicationYear). Delays in Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis (DIMES): protocol for a multicentre, observational study of multiple sclerosis diagnostic pathways in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1186/s12883-024-03598-z QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/95908 Thomson A, Stennett A, Metin C et al. (2024). Under & Over: A randomised controlled study to develop an upper limb rehabilitation tool for people with Multiple Sclerosis. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2024.105529 QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/95172 Thomson A (2023). Working with patient experience. nameOfConference DOI: 10.4324/9781003182443-32 QMRO: qmroHref Florio-Smith J, Ayer M, Colhoun S et al. (2023). The importance of the patient's perspective in decision-making in multiple sclerosis: Results of the OwnMS patient perspectives study. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2023.104757 QMRO: qmroHref Kuri A, Jacobs BM, Leddy S et al. (2022). 091 Evaluation of remote assessments for multiple sclerosis in a real-world setting. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2022-abn.416 QMRO: qmroHref Mah H, Dobson R, Giovannoni G et al. (2022). Experiences of post-traumatic stress disorder in people living with multiple sclerosis. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: qmroHref Mah H, Thomson A, Dobson R (2022). How people benefit from doing patient and public involvement: a scoping review. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: qmroHref Thomson A, Stennett A, Bestwick J et al. (2022). Under and Over: Findings from a remote upper limb rehabilitation study in people with MS. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/97921 Kuri A, Jacobs BM, Leddy S et al. (2021). Evaluation of remote assessments for multiple sclerosis in an in-home setting. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2021.103125 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/73142 Thomson A, Dobson R, Baker D et al. (2021). Digesting science: Developing educational activities about multiple sclerosis, prevention and treatment to increase the confidence of affected families. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2020.102624 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/70066 Reyes S, Suarez S, Allen‐Philbey K et al. (2020). The impact of social capital on patients with multiple sclerosis. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1111/ane.13244 QMRO: qmroHref Reyes S, Suarez S, Allen-Philbey K et al. (2019). The Impact of Social Capital on Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (P4.2-069). nameOfConference DOI: 10.1212/wnl.92.15_supplement.p4.2-069 QMRO: qmroHref DOBSON R (2019). Visibility and representation of women in multiple sclerosis research. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000007276 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/56468 Reyes S, Suarez S, Allen-Philbey K et al. (2019). The Impact of Social Capital on Patients with Multiple Sclerosis. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: qmroHref Reyes S, Giovannoni G, Thomson A (2019). Social capital: Implications for neurology. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1169 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/56231 Dubuisson N, Laws M, Paterson A et al. (2018). Self-monitoring visual function in Neurology (S16.008). nameOfConference DOI: 10.1212/wnl.90.15_supplement.s16.008 QMRO: qmroHref Thomson A, Aldam R, Giovannoni G et al. (2018). Making science digestible: the development of educational activities for children with a parent with MS, and the need to better engage families. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/65723 Dubuisson N, Bauer A, Marta M et al. (2017). PO124 Validation of an environmentally-friendly and affordable cardboard 9-hole peg test. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2017-abn.154 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/66228 Dubuisson N, Paterson A, Turner B et al. (2017). Self-monitoring visual function via a smartphone application. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2017.08.3559 QMRO: qmroHref Dubuisson N, Bauer A, Buckley M et al. (2017). Validation of an environmentally-friendly and affordable cardboard 9-hole peg test. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2017.08.002 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/29763 Thomson A, Raciborska D, Baker D et al. (2017). How to start a blog.. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1136/practneurol-2017-001597 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/56929 Dubuisson N, Paterson A, Turner B et al. (2017). Self-monitoring visual function via a smartphone application. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: qmroHref Thomson A, Giovannoni G, Marta M et al. (2016). Importance of upper limb function in advanced multiple sclerosis. MSLondon (ACTRIMS/ECTRIMS) 2016 DOI: doi QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/25226 Thomson A, Baker D, Giovannoni G (2016). Using social media to communicate with people affected by multiple sclerosis. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: qmroHref Thomson A, Davis A, Paterson A et al. (2015). DESIGNING AN INFORMATION RESOURCE TO EXPLAIN DIAGNOSTIC LUMBAR PUNCTURE AND PROMOTE BEST PRACTICE. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2015-312379.3 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/11116 Thomson A, Rivas C, Giovannoni G (2015). Multiple sclerosis outpatient future groups: improving the quality of participant interaction and ideation tools within service improvement activities. nameOfConference DOI: 10.1186/s12913-015-0773-8 QMRO: https://uat2-qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/33426 Thomson A, Davis A, Paterson A et al. (2015). Designing an information resource to explain diagnostic lumbar puncture and promote best practice. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: qmroHref Thomson A, Espasandin M, Denholm T et al. (2011). Analysing and redesigning the outpatient experience for people with multiple sclerosis. nameOfConference DOI: doi QMRO: qmroHref SupervisionHeather Mah: Using social capital to understand PPI in MS (Horne Family Foundation) Ninian Schmeising-Barnes: Barriers and facilitators to uptake of the capsule sponge test in people at elevated risk of oesophageal cancer (Cancer Research UK) Jessica Pawson: Enhancing Equity: A Co-designed Culturally Tailored Physiotherapy Intervention (HARP)