Dr Sarah Hughes BSc, MHSc, PhD, MRCSLT

Department of Applied Health Sciences
Research Fellow

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 3354
Email: s.e.hughes@bham.ac.uk
Twitter: @SarahHughesSLT

Address: Centre for Patient Reported Outcomes Research (CPROR)
Murray Learning Centre
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Sarah is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Patient Reported Outcomes Research (CPROR), Department of Applied Health Sciences. Her research interests focus on the development and validation of patient reported outcomes and their implementation within the evolving landscapes of health and social care. She has methodological expertise in qualitative and mixed-methods research, evidence syntheses, and psychometrics.

Qualifications

PhD in patient reported outcomes, Swansea University, 2021
MHSc in Speech Pathology, University of Toronto, 1996
BSc, Biology with Psychology, Acadia University, 1994

Biography

Sarah studied at Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada for a BSc in Biology and Psychology (1990-1994) and at The University of Toronto for a MHSc in Speech-Language Pathology (1994-1996). She completed her PhD in patient reported outcomes (2014-2021) at Swansea University under the supervision of Professor Hayley Hutchings. During her PhD, Sarah was a visiting scholar at the Australian Hearing Hub and the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney (2016-2020). Sarah was awarded the prestigious James Callaghan Scholarship from Swansea University in 2017.

Sarah joined The University of Birmingham as a Research Fellow in 2020. Prior to taking up her post at the University, Sarah practiced as a speech and language therapist in Canada and the United Kingdom’s NHS, specialising in hearing impairment and cochlear implantation (1996-2020).

Since joining the Centre for Patient Reported Outcome Research at The University of Birmingham, Sarah has undertaken evidence syntheses and mixed-methods research focussing on the development and implementation of patient reported outcomes (PROs) across a range of contexts and health conditions.

Teaching

Teaching activity:

MSc Clinical Trials
MPH
MBChB

Postgraduate supervision

If you are interested in undertaking a PhD which aligns with Sarah’s research interests then please get in touch.

Research

Sarah’s research focusses on the use of PROs in routine care and in trials. Her current interests include the development and validation of PROs measuring symptom burden in hearing loss, long covid and precision therapeutics.

She is also interested in understanding patient perspectives relating to PRO implementation, digital healthcare innovation, and regulatory science.

Recent and Current projects:

TLC Study (Funder: NIHCR)
PROs in Social Care (Funder: NIHCR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) West Midlands)
Patient-reported outcomes assessment to support accelerated access to advanced cell and gene therapies: PROmics (Funder: INNOVATE)

Other activities

Member, Research Committee, Institute of Applied Health Research (2022- current)
Member, H2020 EC Marie-Curie ITN project “Innovative Hearing Aid Research – Ecological Conditions and Outcome Measures” (HEAR-ECO) Final Workshop Expert Panel (2022)
Member, Scientific Committee, UK PROMs Conference 2022
Member, Deaf Awareness Working Group (BSA, ENT UK, SignHealth, and RNID) (2021-current)
Member, Steering Committee. Both EARS training package (BEARS) to maximise hearing abilities in teenage bilateral cochlear implant users, University of Cambridge (2021-current)
Member, Trials Outcomes Methodology Research Partnership, PRO Theme Working Group (2020- current)
Member, ISOQOL Data Visualisation SIG (2021-current)

Publications

Recent publications

Article

NIHR MLTC Cross-NIHR Collaboration Methodologies workstream, Dambha-Miller, H, Simpson, G, Smith, L, Finney, J, Zghebi, SS, Hughes, SE, Keevil, VL, Yu, G, MacRae, C, Khunti, K & McCowan, C 2025, 'Addressing methodological challenges in multiple long-term conditions research: A stakeholder workshop using a nominal group technique method', Journal of multimorbidity and comorbidity, vol. 15. https://doi.org/10.1177/26335565251372222

Parmar, B, Henshaw, H, Howe, S, Dickinson, AM, Rolfe, C, Le Mere, P, Blondiaux-Ding, E, Musker, Z, Stevenson, R, Hughes, SE, Calvert, S, Stapleton, E & Turton, L 2025, '“I always feel like I’m the first deaf person they have ever met:” Deaf Awareness, Accessibility and Communication in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS): How can we do better?', PLOS ONE, vol. 20, no. 5, e0322850. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322850

Hughes, SE, Khatsuria, F, McMullan, C, Shaw, KL, Walker, A, Kinsella, F, Burns, D, Aiyegbusi, OL, Davies, EH, Ansell, J, Chakera, E, Craddock, C, Denniston, A, Lloyd, R, Ferguson, P, Chakraverty, R & Calvert, M 2025, 'Measure selection for an electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) system for CAR T-cell therapy patients: a modified Delphi consensus study', EClinicalMedicine, vol. 84, 103256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103256

McMullan, C, Haroon, S, Turner, G, Aiyegbusi, OL, Hughes, SE, Flanagan, S, Subramanian, A, Nirantharakumar, K, Davies, EH, Frost, C, Jackson, L, Guan, N, Alder, Y, Chong, A, Buckland, L, Jeyes, F, Stanton, DE & Calvert, M 2025, 'Mixed methods study of views and experience of non-hospitalised individuals with long COVID of using pacing interventions', Scientific Reports, vol. 15, 14467. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-96319-6

McMullan, C, Calvert, M, Hughes, S, Pyatt, L, Kern, B, Shaw, K, Asfaw, B, Besley, C, Buckingham, N, Ellis, H, Farrow, C, Mazza, M, Miller, R, Irvine, D, Jones, C, John, E, Sheikh, Y, Pugh, G, Yiallouridou, C & Aiyegbusi, OL 2025, 'Patient and caregiver experiences of CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancer in the UK: a qualitative study', The Patient - Patient-Centred Outcomes Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-025-00757-3

Anderson, N, Hughes, S, Aiyegbusi, OL, Collis, P, Miller, R & Calvert, M 2025, 'Patient-reported outcomes in integrated care: a frontier of opportunities and challenges', International Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 25, 23. https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.9828

Boisvert, I, Rivera, SC, Smith-Merry, J, Molony-Oates, B, Kecman, E & Hughes, SE 2024, 'A qualitative reflexive thematic analysis of innovation and regulation in hearing health care', BMC medicine, vol. 22, no. 1, 417. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03627-1

the PC-COS Children Study Group, Seylanova, N, Chernyavskaya, A, Degtyareva, N, Mursalova, A, Ajam, A, Xiao, L, Aktulaeva, K, Roshchin, P, Bobkova, P, Aiyegbusi, OL, Anbu, AT, Apfelbacher, C, Asadi-Pooya, AA, Ashkenazi-Hoffnung, L, Brackel, C, Buonsenso, D, De Groote, W, Diaz, JV, Dona, D, Galvin, AD, Genuneit, J, Goss, H, Hughes, SE, Jones, CJ, Kuppalli, K, Malone, LA, Mcfarland, S, Needham, DM, Nekliudov, N, Nicholson, TR, Oliveira, CR, Schiess, N, Segal, TY, Sigfrid, L, Thorne, C, Vijverberg, S, Warner, JO, Were, WM, Williamson, PR & Munblit, D 2024, 'Core Outcome Measurement Set for Research and Clinical Practice in Post COVID-19 Condition (Long COVID) in Children and Young People: An International Delphi Consensus Study “PC-COS Children”', European Respiratory Journal. https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01761-2023

McMullan, C, Haroon, S, Turner, G, Aiyegbusi, OL, Subramanian, A, Hughes, SE, Flanagan, S, Nirantharakumar, K, Davies, EH, Frost, C, Jackson, L, Guan, N, Alder, Y, Chong, A, Buckland, L, Jeyes, F, Stanton, D & Calvert, M 2024, 'Key considerations for digital decentralised clinical trials from a feasibility study assessing pacing interventions for Long COVID', Scientific Reports, vol. 14, 22083. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-61827-4

Hughes, SE, McMullan, C, Aiyegbusi, OL, Shaw, K, Kinsella, F, Ferguson, P, Khatsuria, F, Burns, D, Pyatt, L, Ansell, J, Chakera, E, Richardson-Abraham, J, Denniston, AK, Davies, EH, Craddock, C & Calvert, M 2024, 'Protocol for a mixed-methods study to develop and feasibility test a digital system for the capture of Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) in patients receiving Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies (The PRO-CAR-T Study)', BMJ open, vol. 14, no. 3, e085392. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085392

Comment/debate

Aiyegbusi, OL, McMullan, C, Hughes, SE, Turner, GM, Haroon, S, Hotham, R, Brown, K, Alder, Y, Agyen, L, Buckland, L, Camaradou, J, Chong, A, Jeyes, F, Matthews, KL, Moore, P, Ormerod, J, Price, G, Saint-Cricq, M, Stanton, D, Walker, A & Calvert, MJ 2024, 'Implementation of patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) for the therapies for long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals (TLC) project', Research Involvement & Engagement, vol. 10, no. 1, 120. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-024-00654-3

Shaw, KL, Calvert, MJ, Borrow, P, Chakera, E, Chakraverty, R, Hughes, SE, Khatsuria, F, Kinsella, FAM, McMullan, C, Richardson-Abraham, J, Yarosh, V & Aiyegbusi, OL 2024, 'Integrating Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in Translational Medicine', The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01552-6

Hughes, SE, Anderson, NE, Hathaway, E, McMullan, C, Hughes, BMA, Collis, P, Peipert, D, Haroon, S & Calvert, M 2024, 'Opportunities and challenges for patient reported outcome assessment in multimorbidity research and practice', Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03237-7

Review article

Khatsuria, F, McMullan, C, Aiyegbusi, OL, Shaw, KL, Iqbal, R, Kinsella, F, Wilson, K, Pyatt, L, Lewis, M, Weldon, SMR, Burns, D, Chakraverty, R, Calvert, M & Hughes, S 2024, 'Development of a conceptual framework for an electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) system measuring symptoms and impacts of CAR T-cell therapies in patients with haematological malignancies', The Lancet Oncology, vol. 25, no. 10, pp. e476-e488. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00256-0

Hughes, SE, Aiyegbusi, OL, McMullan, C, Turner, GM, Anderson, N, Cruz Rivera, S, Collis, P, Glasby, J, Lasserson, D & Calvert, M 2024, 'Patient-reported outcomes in integrated health and social care: A scoping review', JRSM Open, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/20542704241232866

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