The WISH2 Public Advisory Group (PAG) is led by our PPI Lead and Lay Advisor. The PAG meet roughly every six months and provide input on the design, analysis, interpretation of the research as well as our dissemination strategy. Brief biographys of our current members are provided below.
Jennifer Bostock
Jennifer is the Public Patient Involvement (PPI) Lead for the WISH2 study and has a particular interest in mental health having worked as a mental wellbeing trainer for MIND, a visiting lecturer at KCL medical school trainee psychiatrist programme, and a mental health act legal appeals panel chair. She is a former winner of the Mental Health Research Network prize for ‘outstanding contribution to psychiatric research’ for setting up the service user fast track research review service. Jennifer’s interest in HS2 stems from her childhood love of the 1970’s Casey Jones tv show!
Mike Etkind
Mike Etkind is the chair of his GP surgery’s patient group, a befriender with Mind, and has four years’ experience of patient public involvement in research. He lives in Buckinghamshire within a mile of phase 1 of HS2 and is lay advisor to the WISH2 research project.
Karen Williams
Karen Williams CPsychol, AFBPsS is a Chartered Psychologist with a professional focus on mental health and young people. She lives in Greater Manchester and is interested in research which includes exploring opinions and perceptions of HS2 and its impact.
Margaret Ogden
Margaret Ogden is a public patient involvement representative from Co Durham. Her work spans both health and social care. She is interested in all things environmental and is a member on the PLANET project with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is very happy to have the opportunity to contribute to the WISH2 project, in particular regarding the potential effects on residents’ mental health and wellbeing.
Roger Oliver
Roger Oliver offers the project his experience in mental health and public patient involvement in research. He is a carer for someone with a diagnosis of severe mental illness and is/has been involved in mental health in various ways. This includes roles as a carer support worker for a nationwide mental health charity, a mental health trust governor, and a carer on various local and trust-wide groups.
Kamil Sterniczuk
Kamil Sterniczuk is a chronically ill patient and a public contributor to medical research in various capacities. He resides in Stafford, one of sites for HS2 development. He enjoys writing and collaborating with like-minded individuals to further research.
Kate Hawley
Kate is based in the Yorkshire and North East area and is really excited to be part of the WISH2 study. She has a wealth of patient and public involvement, including sitting as a PPIE assessor for NIHR for their competitive grants and fellowships, spending 10 days per year assessing and scoring research grant applications in the region of ~£15million. Since starting this reviewing work, she has also been recruited by Cancer Research UK (CD3 and Prevention, Early Detection and Diagnosis panels), NICE and Great Ormond Street Hospital to lead on public engagement and the patient voice. She also enjoys several non-executive and governor positions, both in the health sector (sitting as an elected governor of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS trust), and in education – as a primary school governor and a member of the General Council for the University of Edinburgh.
Araya Gautam
Araya is a passionate supporter of underrepresented communities in UK research and is presently studying palliative care. Her journey from Nepal to the UK hasn’t been simple, but she still has a passion for learning! Her interest in HS2 stems from the effect it has on locals’ mental health because she firmly thinks that research is the only way for the public to be heard.
