🎉 Celebrating Innovation in Digital Health Research with Megan Hanrahan’s Award-Winning Paper

Written By Rachael Lawson

We want to shine a spotlight on Megan Hanrahan, clinical PhD student at NIHR Newcastle BRC and part of the Brain and Movement Research Group at Newcastle University, whose paper — “How Can Patients Shape Digital Medicine? A Rapid Review of PPIE in Digital Health for Neurological Conditions” — has just earned the prestigious International Publication of the Year Award from ISTAART’s PIA group. Notably co-authored with PPIE contributor Sandra Barker, this award recognizes excellence in patient-led and inclusive research.

“Megan involved me fully, inviting me to co-present and honouring my experience. This recognition reflects how PPIE should be done.”

Sandra Barker, person with lived experience and PPIE Contributor

🙋 What is PPIE and Why Does It Matter?

PPIE stands for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement. In research, it means working with people who have lived experience of a condition (and their families/carers), rather than just studying or testing things on them.

  • Involvement: shaping the research itself—asking the right questions, helping design studies, co-authoring papers.

  • Engagement: making sure research findings are shared openly, in ways that are understandable and useful.

For Parkinson’s research, PPIE is especially important. People living with the condition know better than anyone what daily challenges matter most, and how digital tools or treatments might actually fit into real life. Without their voices, research risks missing what really counts.

🧠 What Her Paper Reveals About Parkinson’s and Digital Health

  • The review looked at over 2,100 articles, narrowing to 28 studies that considered PPIE in digital tools for neurological health—including Parkinson’s.

  • Most patient involvement was limited to one-off consultations during development, with very little engagement during implementation, and minimal reporting on the real-world impact of their contributions.

  • This finding is a crucial call to action: PPIE must evolve from tokenistic input to meaningful, sustained partnerships, especially as digital tools become more central to Parkinson’s care.

🤝 Why This Matters for NEC-RIG and Our Community

  • Digital health tools are rapidly expanding in neurology—especially in Parkinson’s research, where wearable devices, connected sensors, and speech/motor tracking are already in use.

  • Yet, without robust involvement from people living with Parkinson’s, these tools risk missing the mark in usability, accessibility, and real-life relevance.

  • Megan’s work underscores our own mission at NEC-RIG: to ensure research is shaped by people with Parkinson’s from start to finish—not just as participants, but as partners.

🚀 What This Means Going Forward

Thanks to this paper and Megan’s award, we have a powerful evidence base to advocate for:

  • Clearer guidance and best-practice models for PPIE in digital health.

  • Involvement at every stage—from design and testing to real-world roll-out.

  • Inclusive practices that recognize people with Parkinson’s as co-creators of the tools

Megan Hanrahan, PhD Student, Newcastle University

“We’re honoured to receive this award. It reflects the value of real collaboration between researchers and those with lived experience. Together, we can make digital health research truly meaningful and inclusive.”

🌟 Be Part of the Change

If you’d like to help shape digital health research for Parkinson’s, there are lots of ways to get involved:

Read Megan's paper here
Rachael Lawson
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