Building confidence and skills for patient advocates
Join a residential course with Independent Cancer Patients' Voices and find out more about research, and build your confidence as a patient advocate.
What's the course about?
The Independent Cancer Patients' Voice is a patient advocacy group that supports people affected by cancer to get involved in research. They also educate researchers and clinicians on the importance of patient involvement.
Every Autumn, they run a 5 day residential course at Barts Cancer Institute in London for patient advocates. The course gives people an understanding of how research is conducted, including practical lab experience and talks on research methods.
It’s a chance for patients to connect with each other and learn more about research and the role of patient advocates. And it gives researchers a chance to work with people affected by cancer which they may not otherwise have.
Who's organising it?
Name of project lead: Dave Chuter
Job title: Chair
Organisation: Independent Cancer Patients' Voice
Email address: davec@icpv.org.uk
Who can take part?
The course is open to anyone who is, or wants to be, a patient advocate. This can be someone with a personal diagnosis of cancer, or a family member or friend.
Why do do you want me to be involved?
By taking part in the course, you’ll gain a greater understanding of research and feel more confident in being a patient advocate in studies. This will help you feel equipped and confident to have an impact in research.
What will you ask me to do?
The course runs during the first week of September each year at Bart’s Cancer Institute.
In the mornings there’s an interactive classroom learning, with talk on the biology of cancer, the methods behind research and writing academic papers. In the afternoons, there are interactive lab sessions which cover skills such as pipetting, pcr testing, biopsies and growing cancer cell lines.
During the week, you’ll have the chance to get to know other attendees and researchers.
How do I get involved?
You can find out more about the course on the ICPV website.
This year’s course runs from 6 to 11 September. It’s currently full, however if you’d like to join the waiting list, you can email davec@icpv.org.uk.
If you have any questions, or you’d like to hear about when you can sign up for future courses, please email David.
When's the deadline?
30 June 2026
Get invovled
Join a course gain skills and confidence to make an impact as a patient advocate in research.