Collaboration, Co-Production, and Data Access Take Centre Stage at Swansea I&I Meeting

Professor Gwyn Davies welcomed attendees and set the tone for a packed agenda. Co-Leads Professors Jenni Quint and Sir Aziz Sheikh followed with sessions that revisited the I&I Driver Programme’s overarching aims: to improve health outcomes through innovative, data-enabled research on inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. They also provide updates on programme deliverables, establishing context for the day’s conversations.

A recurring theme throughout the meeting was the value of collaboration across Driver Programmes. Speakers emphasised the potential of working more closely with other HDR UK initiatives, identifying shared challenges such as comorbidity, treatment clustering, and data harmonisation. 

Jack Palmer, HDR UK Co-Production Officer, Swansea University, led an engaging and forward-looking session on co-production and public involvement, underscoring the need to embed patient voices in the research process from the outset. Jack said: “I think the I&I driver programme has shown a real commitment to public involvement and I'm keen to help with any future plans!”

Dr Tracy Jackson, Patient & Public Involvement (PPI) Lead, said: “It was a great opportunity to come together face to face in Swansea to reflect on our achievements and plan how to move forward. The meeting provided the opportunity to have lots of informal short conversations that are incredibly valuable but not always possible over online meetings. I’m looking forward to what we can achieve together over the next 3 years.”

PPI Lay Lead Anna Grosse added: “The meeting was very useful in emphasising the successes of the programme and determining our next steps. One highlight was the great session led by Jack Palmer, emphasising the importance of PPIE, particularly co-production, in research.”

Data quality, accessibility, and standardisation were also front and centre. Professor Jenni Quint shared updates on the NHSE Respiratory Data Strategy and the HDR UK Respiratory Data Catalyst, while Chris Orton, Technical Lead for I&I, offered a landscape view of current data challenges. 

Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh provided the team with an update on the Centre for Applied Respiratory Research, Innovation and Implementation (CARRii). Discussions highlighted the urgency of making better use of linked electronic health records (EHRs), particularly in under-researched populations and conditions.

Participants also tackled the growing need for consistent standards—in definitions, methods, and analytical approaches. As the I&I programme looks to increase its impact, aligning across diseases, datasets, and institutions will be key to producing findings that are replicable, scalable, and policy-relevant.

A dynamic flash talk session gave early career researchers and PhD students the chance to present their work, drawing attention to the breadth and depth of activity happening across I&I workstreams. Dr Mohammad Al Sallakh, Dr Daniel Tzu-Hsuan Chen, Dr Hannah Whittaker, and PhD students Daira Trusinska and Amy Shackleford shared updates on their work.

Afternoon sessions focused on cross-initiative collaboration. Presentations from Dr Marcos del Pozo Baños (FAIR Curated Data Lead for DATAMIND), Professor Rich Fry (Co-Director of HDR Wales and Associate Director of the Social and Environmental Determinants of Health Driver Programme), Dr Rachel Denholm (Associated Researcher with the Medicines Driver Programme), Professor Rhiannon Owen (Professor of Statistics, Clustering of treatments across multiple inflammatory diseases), and Andy Boyd (Director of the UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration) explored how diverse data sources, ranging from air quality in schools to longitudinal medicines use, can be brought together to deepen understanding of inflammatory conditions.

A standout session came when Dr Stuart Faulkner (Senior Project Manager) facilitated an open and constructive team-wide SWOT analysis. This gave the I&I team space to reflect on the year’s strengths and challenges, consider its evolving place within the HDR UK landscape, and begin identifying opportunities for growth.

The meeting wrapped up with a renewed focus on co-production, as Stuart returned to guide a final session on shaping future ideas for collaboration.

Sir Professor Aziz Sheikh summed up the day: “It was great to have the opportunity to meet with and hear about the wonderful work being done by our I&I PhD students and ECRs using data assets from across the UK. I found it very encouraging that we have an emerging pipeline of future research leaders in respiratory health data science.”