Richard Stephens

Richard Stephens is a survivor of two cancers and a heart emergency. He has participated in four clinical trials and six other research studies, and currently serves on two trial management groups. Mr Stephens’ professional career has included work in education and local government.

As a patient advocate and representative in health and medical research, Mr Stephens formal roles including chairing NCRI’s Consumer Forum (formerly CLG) and leading for NCRI on consumer involvement. He also sits on several other national and regional committees and bodies, including CRUK’s CTAAC, NCC-C’s Management Board, NETSCC’s PPI Reference Group, and HTA and RfPB advisory committees.

Mr Stephens is joint Editor-In-Chief of BioMed Central’s new online open access Journal of Research Involvement and Engagement. He is co-author of several conference abstracts and posters, two academic papers, and 2012’s Action On Access, an influential consumer-led report recommending organizational and cultural changes to encourage and support more patients to participate in research