NCMD Research Seminar Series 23rd January 2026

NCMD Research Seminar Series 23rd January 2026

Speaker: Cissie Tsang, Training, Education, EDI Manager and Judith McGuinness, BRC PPIE Manager.

Presentation details:

Evolution from EDI to RI (Research Inclusion)
• Introduction to NIHR Research Inclusion agenda
• EDI priorities at NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)
• Research Inclusion as a condition of funding

Judith McGuiness, PPIE Manager
Judith has worked for over twenty years in Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement and Communications both in the public and private sector 
before joining Newcastle University. She holds a dual role as PPIE manager for both the Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and Newcastle Clinical Research Facility (CRF). Judith leads the BRC Public Partnerships Advisory Group, the CRF Health Research Action Group and the BRC Support and Learning Network. She has also set up an Inclusion Group for the CRF and is a lead in the regional Research Inclusion Network. 

Her experience and love of PPIE comes from years of patient engagement, working with a wide range of partners, building relationships with patient and community groups. Working in health research is hugely rewarding with many opportunities to shape health research and one of my key 
challenges is building relationships with local groups representing underserved communities, as the lived experience of all patients should be at the centre of research studies.

Cissie Tsang, Training, Education and EDI Manager
Cissie is the Training, Education and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Manager at the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). She is 
responsible for delivering on the research capacity development strategy, including developing opportunities for underrepresented professions to 
engage in research. Cissie also leads on the EDI strategy with a focus on students and the workforce. Cissie is passionate about developing the next 
generation of research leaders and supporting diverse career paths, aligned to EDI principles.

Cissie has over 10 years of experience in the Higher Education sector working in a number of roles including enterprise, communications and is particularly interested in regional engagement and impact. She is also the Vice-Chair (Careers & Professional Development) of the Newcastle University Race Equality Network (NUREN) for staff and postgraduate researchers.

This interactive session will outline NIHR’s Research Inclusion agenda and why inclusion should be embedded in everything that we do in order to reduce health inequalities, thereby improving the health and wealth of the nation.

The session will also focus on Research Inclusion as a condition of funding, with an interactive activity encouraging participants to consider how inclusion can be embedded throughout the research life cycle.