Patient & Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE)
About Patient & Public Involvement and Engagement
Patient & Public Involvement and Engagement, or PPIE for short, is all about researchers working together with patients, families, and the public to shape and influence research. This includes deciding what conditions and treatments to study, how research methods could be improved, and what changes should be made as a result of research findings. The main goal of PPIE is to ensure that research is acceptable, relevant, and beneficial to patients and the public.
The PPIE approach is internationally-recognized and increasingly used to improve the quality of research in all areas of health. Our group, based at the Critical Care Research Group, is bringing PPIE to Pakistan to improve the way we conduct clinical trials because we strongly believe in the power of working together with patients.
Our involvement and engagement in clinical trials align with internationally accepted standards, and the core six standards we follow have been adapted from the ‘UK Standards for Public Involvement’ created by the National Institute for Care and Health Research (NIHR) and partner organizations in the United Kingdom.
Welcome Message from the Coordinator Team
“Welcome to Pakistan’s first ever Patient & Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) group! We hope you join us in our effort to work together with patients, families, and the public to make our health research more relevant and useful here at Ziauddin University”
Messages from our Collaborators
“Being part of a Patient & Public Involvement and Engagement Group is not only personally fulfilling, but it also plays a crucial role in transforming healthcare for the better. Through active participation, we can drive positive change, amplify the voices of those directly impacted, and create a more patient-centered, equitable, and responsive healthcare system.”
Mr. Zahyd Shuja
PPIE Member
“Health research is all about patients, so it makes perfect sense to me that we meaningfully involve patients in all aspects of the clinical trial process. I feel very honoured to get to work with patients as partners and find out from them what diseases we should research and how research should be done.”
Dr. Arishay Hussaini
Co-lead for the PPIE group
Professor Dr. Nikhat Ahmed Siddiqui (Coordinator)
Professor Nikhat is a neuroscientist, biochemist, and former Dean of Research at Ziauddin University. Her research career spans over 38 years and crosses the entire research spectrum, from laboratory experiments to clinical studies on diseases such as diabetes, dementia, and blindness. She also meaningfully contributes to research ethics, training, policy development, and strategic planning. Beyond conducting scientific research, Prof. Nikhat is passionate about building capacity to enable high-quality and patient-centered research in Pakistan.
Dr. Arishay Hussaini (Coordinator)
Dr. Arishay is a clinical research associate in the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Ziauddin University. She has actively participated in the implementation and conduct of various research projects, including international randomised controlled trials, qualitative and observational studies. Her interests lie in exploring and improving the experiences of study participants. She aims to work with the local population in Karachi to set research priorities and make research findings relevant to Pakistan.
Dr. Timo Tolppa (Coordinator)
Dr. Timo is a Ph.D. candidate based at the University of British Columbia in Canada and has worked as a regional clinical trial coordinator for several international intensive care trials across South Asia, including Malaysia, Nepal, and Pakistan. He is working collaboratively with researchers at Ziauddin University on making clinical trials more relevant for low-resource settings. Dr. Timo is focused on patient engagement, qualitative research, and health equity, and has a personal interest in the use of film to promote health and justice.
Professor Dr. Madiha Hashmi (Senior Project Lead)
Dr. Hashmi is Professor & Chair of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Dr. Ziauddin Group of Hospitals and Ziauddin University. She is a physician researcher with extensive experience in all aspects of critical care research; she has acted as the principal investigator for international trials and set up a national intensive care registry in Pakistan (PRICE) to enable data driven quality improvement projects, observational studies, and clinical trials. Dr. Hashmi is focused on building critical care research capacity in Pakistan, which includes establishing and leading this patient and public involvement and engagement group.
What is a clinical trial?
Want to learn about clinical trials? Watch this short, animated video in Urdu detailing the purpose of a clinical trial, all the steps involved in a trial journey and the relevance of clinical trials to you, your family and all members of the public. Feel free to send us feedback or questions via email: [email protected]. Conceptualized and created by the team at Azadkhayal and Final Act Animations.
Introduction to our Patient & Public Involvement group.
Watch our Patient & Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) group coordinator, Dr Arishay Hussaini, explain the aim and purpose of the group cased at the Clinical Trials Unit of Ziauddin University.
14-Jan-2025
Dr. Arishay Hussaini wrote a lovely piece for the Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning (PILL), and we’re excited to see it published on their website!
In her article, she talks about the evolving role of Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) in research, and how it’s shifting from passive participation to active collaboration. She highlights the partnership between Ziauddin University and PILL, where shared learning and real community voices are leading to meaningful and inclusive research. Dr. Arishay also reflects on the value of learning from both international experts and local field workers and shows how global and local perspectives can strengthen research in low- and middle-income countries.
Read the full piece now on the PILL website!
5 April 2025. Our recent team meeting was a productive and energizing session. We finalised current projects (results to be announced soon) planned future projects, and organised details for our upcoming event in Lahore. There was a real sense of unity and teamwork which made the session impactful and motivating. We wrapped up the day with a lovely lunch—an opportunity to connect further and celebrate the progress we’ve made together. We’re excited about what’s ahead and look forward to sharing more updates soon!
27 March 2025. We were thrilled to be part of a webinar hosted by the MESH Community Engagement Program, which spotlighted how research teams in India, Pakistan, and Vietnam are successfully establishing research advisory groups. Our team was invited to talk about how establishing and maintaining Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) groups can meaningfully include local perspectives—ultimately leading to better-designed and more impactful research. Dr Timo Tolppa expertly chaired the seminar, and Dr Arishay Hussaini delivered a talk on effective strategies for meaningful involvement and engagement. We were also proud to be joined by Zahyd Shuja, a member of our own PPIE group, who offered his reflections and experiences as part of our group. We’re excited to share that the event was a huge success, with over 400 people registering and tuning in live on Zoom! If you missed it, we’d love for you to watch the recording and tell us what you think!
14 January 2025. We’re so excited to welcome Dr. Maham Jawaid Ahmed to our PPIE team as our newest coordinator! Dr. Maham is a clinical research assistant and study coordinator in the Critical Care Research Group, with experience in conducting a variety of research projects. With an interest in psychiatry and a commitment to making research accessible and meaningful, she’s eager to dive into this role, working on creating materials that connect with diverse communities and help bridge the gap between research and the real world.
When she’s not busy making strides in research, you’ll probably find Dr. Maham exploring new coffee spots, trying out the trendiest restaurants, or obsessively curating her Spotify playlists. She’s also known for her love of pop culture and a knack for discovering the next big binge-worthy show.
We can’t wait to see Dr. Maham’s ideas and creativity in action as she joins the PPIE group—welcome aboard!
14 December 2024. Our PPIE group had their first-ever meeting with Dr Madiha Hashmi, our senior project lead. This meeting was an excellent introduction and built upon prior group meetings regarding effective strategies for communicating and disseminating the results of the critical care trial, REMAP-CAP. The global trial saw significant participation from Pakistan, including Ziauddin Hospital, with numerous enrollments during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Ziauddin Hospital. The PPIE group is eager to explore ways to generate awareness and excitement around the dissemination of the trial results and share the lessons learned with the wider community. As ISARIC senior lead and REMAP-CAP’s Principal Investigator in Pakistan, Dr Madiha provided much insight and supported our group’s ideas.
As a next step, the team is focused on tailoring communication materials to resonate with the public target population, ensuring the messaging is clear, engaging, and impactful. It’s an exciting opportunity to bridge research and public engagement, and the group is ready to get to work!
1 October 2024. We are excited to announce a significant step forward in the growth of our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement group! Under the visionary leadership of Dr. Madiha Hashmi, our PPIE initiative has officially become part of the Critical Care Research Group (CCRG) at Ziauddin University. Being under the umbrella of the CCRG opens up incredible opportunities for us to expand our work. This means we’re no longer limited to clinical trials but can take a broader, more inclusive approach to critical care research while continuing to work with the Clinical Trials Unit.
What does this mean? It means:
- More collaboration: We’ll connect with even more researchers, patients, and community members to make sure every voice is heard.
- Wider focus: We can tackle bigger questions in different research fields.
- Stronger impact: Our work will continue to prioritize what matters most to patients and their families.
This is an exciting new chapter for us, and we can’t wait to share more as we grow and learn together. We’re just starting!
are extremely grateful to Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit for providing us with funding and for Ziauddin University for enabling us to carry out this work. In attendance at the contract signing ceremony were Dr. Timo Tolppa (co-lead of the project from the University of British Columbia), Dr. Madiha Hashmi (Head of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Ziauddin University), Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Umrani (Director of the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization), Prof. Dr. Syed Irfan Hyder (Vice-Chancellor of Ziauddin University) and Prof. Dr. Abbas Zafar (Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ziauddin University).
We would love to hear from you!
Join us to learn more about research, help improve healthcare for our patients, and work collaboratively with us to make a difference in how research is conducted at Ziauddin University. Feel free to contact us via phone or email so we can keep you updated on our events, workshops, and opportunities to be involved. We also welcome any suggestions or feedback about our PPIE project.
Email. [email protected]
Phone. +92-3213660201
