Making clinical trials more inclusive by using behavioural science to improve communication (COMMCLUSIVE)
About the Project
This funded PhD studentship will be based in the Department of Public Health, Policy & Systems at The University of Liverpool and is linked to Dr Frances Sherratt’s NIHR Advanced Fellowship (COMMCLUSIVE). The PhD will focus on making clinical trials more inclusive for patients from ethnic minority backgrounds, by using behavioural science to improve communication.
About this opportunity
Clinical trials need to be inclusive to make research findings generalisable, minimise health and social care inequalities, increase trust in research, and avoid research waste. Patients from ethnic minority groups are persistently underserved in trials and poor communication is a key barrier to their inclusion. Trial recruiters can increase patient understanding and recruitment by making changes to the content and presentation of information they provide patients about trials. Interactions about trials can unfold in different ways depending on a patient’s social, economic and cultural background, which can create disparities in patient understanding and trial participation.
Dr Frances Sherratt has been awarded an NIHR Advanced Fellowship, working on the COMMCLUSIVE project, which aims to make clinical trials more inclusive by using behavioural science to improve communication. The project focuses on improving inclusion for patients experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, but alongside it, The University of Liverpool are funding a PhD studentship. The studentship will also focus on making trials more inclusive by using behavioural science to improve communication, but the focus of this work will be on improving access to trials for patients from ethnic minority groups.
This funded PhD studentship is based in the Department of Public Health, Policy & Systems at The University of Liverpool, where you will have access to health and methodology-related research groups and internationally renowned experts in trials methodology and health inequalities. You will benefit from involvement in an ambitious research programme, working in partnership with patients from underserved communities, and collaborating with researchers and health professionals across the UK.
Public involvement will be a key component of this PhD studentship – you’ll be working regularly with public advisors from underserved communities, who will help to shape the project. Behavioural science will form a core element of the PhD, particularly the
Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). The TDF will be incorporated in the project methods, applying the Framework at key time points to better understand trial communication behaviour and effectively develop resources to support trial recruiters to communicate effectively and inclusively.
Aims
- To establish the extent to which patients from persistently underserved groups have been represented in previous qualitative studies that focus on identifying and addressing barriers to trial recruitment.
- To understand the trial communication needs and preferences of patients from ethnic minority groups and the trial communication goals and intentions of health professionals involved in trial recruitment.
- To develop online resources to support trial recruiters to communicate with patients from ethnic minority groups in effective and inclusive ways.
Possible methods
- An evidence synthesis to consider how patients from persistently underserved communities have been included/reported in qualitative studies that explore barriers to trial recruitment and develop strategies to overcome such barriers.
- Qualitative interviews with: (1) patients from ethnic minority groups who have been approached about a trial, and; (2) health professionals involved in trial recruitment.
- Workshops and/or user testing to iteratively co-develop online resources to support trial recruiters to communicate in effective and inclusive ways.
The PhD would be available to start summer 2026, but the specific start date is flexible around the successful candidate’s and project’s needs.
Please submit:
- CV
- Brief cover letter outlining your interest and relevant experience
To Dr Frances Sherratt sherratt@liverpool.ac.uk
Funding Notes
This University of Liverpool funded studentship will cover full tuition fees (for 2026-27 this is £5,020pa.) and pay a stipend for 3 years (for 2026-27 this is £21,804 pa.). Stipend increases each year of study.
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