In October, TORUS staff members from both Bristol and Newcastle came together for an in-person away day at The Catalyst in Newcastle. It was a great opportunity for staff from both institutions to meet and discuss their work face-to-face, aiding collaboration and reminding us of our shared goals for the project.
The day began with project Director and Principal Investigator Ian Craddock welcoming everyone, giving a summary of the progress that had been made so far. This was followed by a presentation of the timelines for the next 3 years by Mae (the Project Manager), including key milestones and deliverables for the coming months.
The first session involved staff members expanding on the project’s aims, discussing what key publications and other outputs are required by their respective teams to answer our research questions and what needs to be done to achieve these. These publications were added to our TORUS timeline (see team photo above), providing a visual representation of upcoming work over the next 3 years, and allowing other researchers to see what else is happening that they can be involved with.
Our Engagement Officer Lindsay presented on the project’s patient and public involvement and engagement work, outlining the project’s strategy for this and recapping the different types of engagement that had been done across the project so far. This was a good reminder of the essential role that patients and people with lived experience of Parkinson’s play in TORUS, giving invaluable input that helps steer the research to better reflect the needs and concerns of people with Parkinson’s
We had a ‘show and tell’ session with our researchers.. Duke (Work package 1 (WP1), wearable) presented the progress that had been made with the the wearable, giving a live demonstration of the data collection as it moved around the room..
Amir and Jingjing (Work package 2 (WP2), video) gave a real-time demonstration of the person identification software their work package has been developing for the cameras. It was impressive to see how much progress had been made on both fronts, and also interesting to see what work is still required for the technology to be ready for deployment.
This was followed by Ian presenting some of the options for video data capture, and potential mechanisms for video validation and the involvement of patients in this process. The team split into different groups to focus discussions based on their expertise and bring in their varied perspectives. This helped us inform future direction of this work, highlighting what needs to be done next from both a technological and patient engagement perspective.
Overall, it was a fruitful and enjoyable day, helping to inform the direction of the project going forward and also giving a rare opportunity for colleagues across both universities to meet with each other in-person, helping to strengthen the bonds between us for the benefit of the project.