Research Policies

We ensure that the research we fund has the greatest possible impact through efficient research management and the adoption of industry good practice.  

Transforming the lives of people with a lived experience of scarring is at the heart of everything we do. This means our research must be original and relevant to them and the clinicians who treat them. 

To achieve this, we work closely with individuals who have experienced scarring, involving them in every stage of the research process—planning, designing, managing, evaluating, and communicating the findings.  

We ask our researchers to demonstrate that their research represents value for money and make the results of their research available to everyone through ‘gold standard’ Open Access publications. 

PATIENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) means conducting research ‘with’ or ‘by’ the public, not ‘to’, ‘about’, or ‘for’ them. This includes: 

• Collaborating with research funders to prioritise studies 

• Offering advice as project steering group members 

• Developing and commenting on research materials 

• Conducting interviews with participants 

We take our definition of Patient and Public Involvement from the National Institute of Health and Care Research. You can learn more here: NIHR: Notes for Research Involved in PPI  

We are committed to PPI principles. We have individuals with lived experiences of scarring (sometimes referred to as experts by experience) as well as our Scar Free Foundation Ambassadors, actively participating in all our activities, advisory panels, research councils, and Board of Trustees.  

AMRC Positions 

The Scar Free Foundation is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC). As such, we fully support the AMRC’s position statement on the use of animals in medical research. 

We also support the AMRC position statement on research in universities. 

You can read these position statements in full on their website: AMRC Positions and Briefings   

ENSURING VALUE IN RESEARCH 

The Ensuring Value in Research Funders’ Forum (EViR) is made up for research organisations from eight countries who work together to develop new approaches to increase value in research. We adhere to the EViR Consensus Statement and ask that all Scar Free Foundation-funded researchers ensure that the EViR Guiding Principles are embedded in the study design, management and dissemination of their research.  

Find out more about EViR here: EViR  

OPEN DATA / AMRC OPEN RESEARCH 

It is important to us as funders that everyone can access our research. We require our researchers put as much information as possible into the public domain for the general benefit of the scar free research community.   

We ask that researchers make summary results of clinical trials publicly available in a timely manner following primary study completion and make datasets developed as part of Scar Free Foundation-funded research available in appropriate registries. 

The Foundation is also a member of the AMRC Open Research platform. Research platforms give researchers with a place they can rapidly publish research results. Publications are immediately put into the public domain and transparently reviewed.