It’s One Medicine Month 2026, and during this month we’re going to be sharing more about the Humanimal Trust Public and Guardian Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group.
Better medicine for both people and animals starts with doing research the right way – protecting every patient and learning from real illness, not lab models. We also know that research is better when it includes as many voices as possible – especially those it is meant to help.
In human healthcare, this process is is already part of the process. It’s called Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), where patients help shape the research that affects their lives. It makes research more relevant, more effective, and more impactful.
But in animal medicine, things are different. Animals can’t speak for themselves, but their guardians can provide vital insights into their needs, experiences, and care. Creating meaningful ways for them to contribute can help ensure that research is more relevant, practical, and impactful for real animal patients. That’s why we are developing Public and Guardian Involvement and Engagement (PGIE). This means involving animal guardians, alongside professionals, in shaping how research involving animal patients is designed and carried out.
Our PGIE group brings together veterinary and human healthcare professionals, scientists, and companion animal guardians. By combining different experiences and perspectives, we can better understand what animal patient research should look like, and how it can truly meet their needs.
This is about giving animals a voice in research.
It is also an important step towards aligning how research is done across human and animal health – so that knowledge can be shared more easily, and progress can benefit everyone.
The group’s first focus has been a crucial one: helping to shape the first steps towards a framework that supports consistent and meaningful patient involvement in animal patient research.
Together, they have developed an initial outline for what this framework could look like. It’s a small but important step towards aligning approaches across human and animal health research, so that animal patients can experience the same advantages that PPIE brought to human medicine.
We’re not there yet. But this work shows what a more collaborative future could look like. The next step is to listen to more voices – from both professionals and animal guardians – to build a framework that is practical, trusted, and widely used.
Because better research starts with listening. And every voice matters.