On 12th-13th Sept we held the UK Symposium on Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology in Nottingham, sponsored jointly by the EPSRC NeuroMod+ and CloseNIT networks. As well as fantastic plenary talks from Abby Russo, PhD (from CTRL-Labs, META) and Daisy Thompson-Lake PhD (West Virginia University), there were a great set of academic talks and “Neurotech bites” from up and coming researchers, as well as discussion sessions on the growing Neurotechnology industry in the UK, and Public Involvement in Neurotechnology. The full line-up can be found in our programme here. Thanks to everyone involved in making the event a great success!

With talks by:
• Rebecca Woodcock I NIHR MindTech MedTech Co-Operative
• Michael Hart I St George’s University of London
• Chris Gibbs I CNTW NHS Foudation Trust, Newcastle
• Muki Haklay I University College London

This workshop will be a satellite event of a Network+ meeting. For more information and registration visit:
https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/eventsfundingcalls/networkmeetingseptember2023/

Join the webinar at: newcastleuniversity.:z:oom.us/j/89053178446

Are you a researcher, clinician, company or regulator with experience in PPI activities for the development of neurotechnology in the UK? We would love to hear you!

We are a group of researchers and clinicians from different Universities in the UK (Kings College London, University of Cambridge, New Castle University) and we have been recently funded by the Neuromod+ network, with additional support from CloseNIT network (https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/), to establish a structured approach to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in the development and use of neurotechnologies in the UK. Active PPI is crucial to co-develop user-centred, ethically sound and sustainable neurotechnologies, whilst promoting transparency, accountability and inclusivity. However, it could be daunting to set up, and we want to create the infrastructure for gold-standard PPI activities for UK neurotechnologies.

As a first step, we will host a hybrid workshop on 12 September 2023, from 13:30 to 16:00, at Newcastle University, to discuss what “success” in PPI looks like and where to find the best examples to learn from. We want to hear from patients, clinicians, researchers, and regulators about their effective PPI implementation methods. This will be followed by a discussion of the case studies for the definition of core principles, which will inform subsequent work. 

We are now looking for speakers and moderators to share their expertise and experiences. There will be 3-4 short talks and another 3-4 moderators who will shape the discussion session from diverse backgrounds. We would like you to focus on your previous PPI experiences, telling us about what went well and where we should be doing better. The more focused the better. We are also interested in the digital tools you’ve been using to make your PPI engagement successful. 

This is an opportunity to have an early influence on the development of PPI strategies for neurotechnologies in the UK. Our aim is to deliver another workshop next year and to produce a white paper, consolidating the best existing guidelines, policies, and online resources to support effective PPI strategies in neurotechnologies.

We can support your travel expenses (and accommodation, if required) to Newcastle. Alternatively, as we will be hosting a hybrid event, you could also participate remotely.  The CloseNIT network will be hosting a meeting earlier the same day in Newcastle, which you would of course be very welcome to attend – we will provide details later in the month.

Please, contact Dr Amparo Guemes at ag2239@cam.ac.uk expressing your interested in participating no later than Friday 21^st July 2023 and do get in touch if you want to discuss this further. Also, please feel free to share this with your colleagues as we believe this is in the interest of the whole community.

Thank you in advance and looking forward to meeting you in Newcastle.

The organising committee (Dr Antonio Valentin, Dr Tamar Makin, Dr Tiago da Silva Costa and Dr Amparo Guemes)