Sarah Skyrme
Sarah is in the third year of a PhD funded by the ESRC and TREAT-NMD and supervised by Janice and Simon. She is researching the approach taken by young men aged 12-21 with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) when thinking of taking part in medical research, considering factors such as parental attitude, social and cultural factors and how these impact decision making. Sarah is commencing the analysis of data from the semi-structured interviews she conducted and her findings will inform understandings of young people’s agency and autonomy in the process of giving informed consent. She has been assisted in recruitment by two charities, Action Duchenne and the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, who have given advice and support and she attended their annual conferences to promote her project and to keep informed on medical research activity and best practice in the care of DMD. Sarah is also working with Newcastle Muscle Centre, who have aided with recruitment and expert knowledge on muscle disease.