Our Steering Group

Andy Gibson

Co-Lead

Andy is Associate Professor in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) at the University of the West of England. He is PPI Lead for the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (Bristol), NIHR Health Protection Unit in Evaluation and Behavioural Science, Bristol Health Partners and the South West Secure Data Environment.

Carmel McGrath

Co-Lead

Carmel is a Senior Research Fellow in Public Involvement and co-leads public involvement with the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation and Behavioural Science. She has experience of co-producing projects and training with public contributors who have a range of experiences and backgrounds.

Abby Sabey

Co-Lead

Abby is an Independent Research and Patient and Public Involvement Consultant with many years experience delivering PPI training and supporting researchers to develop their PPI methodologies. She has previously worked at the Universities of Bristol, Bath and the West of England (UWE Bristol).

Rachel Allbless

Member

Rachel is Joint Chief Operating Officer and Senior Project Manager at Bristol Health Partners (BHP). BHP is a collaboration of organisations that provide, commission and research health and care services in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Rhys Blake

Member

Rhys joined Health Innovation West of England in March 2025 as Director of Corporate and Development. He is a part of the senior leadership team and oversees delivery of corporate and organisational development functions.

Pete Carpenter

Member

Pete is Director of Programmes and Deputy CEO
of Health Innovation West of England. He has over 20 years’ experience working in transformation, innovation and operational delivery within health and social care systems.

Charlotte Hall

Member

Charlotte is the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (Bristol) Chief Operating Officer with overall responsibility for strategic development and operational management. Prior to joining the BRC she was the Head of Health Protection Research within the Department of Health and Social Care.

Zia Haque

Member

Zia serves as a Health Ambassador for Caafi Health. He has a wide range of engineering, management and business skills and ran his own business for 20 years. During this time, he became a Fellow of The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management.

Sayambrita Mukherjee

Member

Sayambrita is a mixed media community artist, workshop facilitator, and a Mental Health Peer Support Worker. She serves as a Health Ambassador for Caafi Health.

Margie Pavey

Member

A nurse by background, Margie has been working in clinical research for fifteen years. She is the Operations Manager for the NIHR Clinical Research Facility Bristol and is dedicated to developing early phase trial / experimental medicine portfolio and capability.

Kelly Spencer

Member

Kelly is Strategic Development Director for the NIHR Regional Research Delivery Network South West Central. The organisation gives researchers and delivery teams the practical support they need so that more research takes place and more people can take part.

Rachel Todd

Member

Rachel is the Programme Manager for the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation and Behavioural Science. As one of 13 HPRUs across the UK they focus on research to help reduce infectious diseases.

Olly Watson

Member

Olly is Joint Chief Operating Officer, Bristol Health Partners. His work in the partnership builds on his experience at the connection between health and academia, with previous roles at the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Medical Schools Council.

Kristin Liabo

Member

Kristin is Deputy Director of the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West and leads their PPI team. She has a background in childhood studies, systematic reviewing and co-design, and works collaboratively with service users, patients and members of the public.‌

Paul Roy

Member

Paul is the Associate Director for Research at the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board. The team has several joint roles across organisations, including the ICB and the Universities of Bristol and UWE to create a coherent support for research outside of hospital.

Jenny Oliver

Member

Jenny is the Research Programme Manager for the Bristol Vaccine Centre, the NIHR Health Protection Research Focus Award in Vaccines and Immunisations, and Manager of the Bristol BioBank.