During the summer of 2025, Dr Matt Cooper and Dr Charlotte Richardson hosted four undergraduate and postgraduate students at Newcastle University to complete a research internship. Three of the interns have reflected on this experience.
Imogen Tate (BSc Hons Psychology with Professional Placement)
I am currently a BSc Psychology with Professional Placement student going into my 4th year (stage 3), and this summer I completed a month internship working on the scoping review ‘Caring for the Carer: What are the active ingredients of interventions supporting informal carers’ wellbeing and welfare needs?’ under the supervision of Dr Matt Cooper.
I was supported to title and abstract screen using Rayyan, full-text screen and data extract, and conduct a promise analysis of the included papers. This experience has significantly developed my research skills for scoping/systematic review. Notably, I have enhanced my problem-solving skills for refining a research question throughout this process, as a high volume of papers were initially included; I enjoyed the collaborative nature of evaluating the project’s direction when problems arose. I am looking forward to seeing the meaningful impact on carer wellbeing that the project will have.
I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to attend the 2nd annual NIHR Newcastle PSRC and School of Pharmacy Conference 2025 in my first week, as it gave me great understanding of the scope of the work that is conducted within the department and provided insight into where my psychology background is advantageous.
I particularly valued working in such a welcoming and supportive environment surrounded by fellow interns and PhD students with such a wide range of research interests. This experience has reaffirmed that I would love to pursue a PhD one day and eventually a career that has a platform for both clinical and academic practice!
Neave Woollam (BSc Hons Psychology with Professional Placement)
I am currently an undergraduate psychology with professional placement year student at Newcastle University, and this summer I completed a four-week long internship supervised by Dr Matthew Cooper. The project was a scoping review looking at interventions to support carers’ wellbeing and welfare needs.
This created a great opportunity for me to develop my research and professional skills. Including learning to use a new software (Rayaan) to screen papers, doing data extraction and a promise analysis. When our original search returned an overwhelming number of papers, it was really interesting to see how the search was refined to deal with this. This gave me insight into how to tailor search strategies when conducting a scoping review.
I enjoyed working in an office alongside other interns and PhD students. I loved hearing about the different topics being researched and the range of methodologies being used to do so. It really opened my eyes up to the possibilities within pharmacy research and made me realise it’s not all lab based. I especially enjoyed hearing about the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) work that informed this review. Seeing the coproduced artwork really inspired me and made me think about PPI in research more creatively.
Overall, I hope to continue using the skills, knowledge and experience I have gained over this internship in my final year of university and in my career.
Tom Collis (MSc in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence)
Hi, my name is Tom, I am currently studying an MSc in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Newcastle University. Prior to this I studied Medicine at Newcastle University, and I subsequently completed my Foundation Years, and a Clinical Teaching Fellow Year. In June and July 2025 I undertook this fascinating research internship with the School of Pharmacy, under the supervision of Dr Richardson and Dr Cooper.
The internship project involved a systematic review exploring the roles and experience of caregivers in virtual wards. With the NHS aiming to move more care from inpatient hospitals into the community, virtual wards, with the support of caregivers, will be fundamental to facilitating this shift in the location of patient care. The role and experiences of caregivers within virtual wards is an under-researched area, and this systematic review aimed to provide an overview of the existing literature, and a guide for future research projects.
This internship was greatly rewarding, educational, and enjoyable. Working within a team of driven academics was inspiring and has further fuelled my passion for working within academia. Being based in the Newcastle Patient Safety Research Collaboration office gave me an insight into the valuable work being undertaken at Newcastle University, aimed towards improving patient safety and care. The skills and knowledge I have gained from the internship, in particular how to conduct a systematic review, have been invaluable, and have given me a strong foundation to build upon in my future training. Additionally, being involved in the design of the systematic review, and all stages of its undertaking, meant I developed an insight into the complex nature of carrying out research, and how obstacles can be overcome through teamwork, communication, and lateral thinking. I have no doubt that this experience has developed my research skills and will underlie all future work in academia that I hope to undertake. Thank you very much Dr Richardson and Dr Cooper for this opportunity, and your support!
I am not a medic, nor an academic. For over 34 years, I observed and lived with someone who was constantly taking medication as he had had a transplant, then for around 20 years his health gradually changed, more conditions developed, and the number and levels of medication were a daily matter of existence. For around seven years I became a regular attendee at hospital visits, meeting consultants and learning about changes to his health, the consequences of these and the potential for enabling a good quality of life to continue. So, gradually my interest in the respective roles of patient, carer and medical practitioner grew.
Oliva Grant, Patient and Public Involvement and Engegement Lay Co-Theme Lead
“At the heart of it all, I think, RESPECT is fundamental.”
The one thing I observed was the need for listening, of all of us. My husband was the person needing the medial support but in later years I needed to be part of discussions and to understand, so that I could support him.
At the heart of it all, I think, RESPECT is fundamental. Patients know themselves and their circumstances best, academic understanding may lie with medics but each needs to listen to and consult with one another. It is not a one-way street.
During those years I did not know there was such a thing as PPIE. Learning about that came several years after his death.
In the early months of 2020, when alone at home in lockdown I was slightly ‘at a loose end’ and was approached by a senior medic at Newcastle who had spotted and cut out several cancers from my husband. He told me about the potential for joining, as a lay person, a bid for funding into the potential role for Artificial Intelligence in aiding the diagnosis of medication for people with multiple conditions. I am fascinated by the potential for AI (for good and ill) and multiple medications had been part of my life for years. So, I said yes.
There was though one condition from me to be part of this research. That the role of PPIE must be at the heart of the dialogue, researchers are not just doing this fascinating research for themselves, it has purpose. At the heart research is FOR patients, therefore patients must be integral to, listened to and heard. For that to work the researchers must be enabled to speak directly with patients, so training and enabling researchers to get this skill and ability to listen is a fundamental part of the work of PPIE. It is about being respectfully and mutually informed.
So, I would urge researchers to take up every opportunity to listen, meet and ‘hear’ what is said by PPIE members. Use lateral thought as well as deep interrogation type thinking and try to hear effectively is being said. People you are meeting are those for whom this research is directed. Essentially listen and learn, this is true both for PPIE members and researchers.