Celebratory Event for the CognoSpeak Community Research Champions

In February 2025, we celebrated the successful completion of a truly special participatory research project with an event held at the Israac Centre, the heart of Sheffield’s Somali community. 

The event, which was attended by over 100 people, brought together groups from Sheffield’s Israac Somali community, ShipShape and Meri Yaadain South Asian Communities and Sheffield Chinese Community, together with academic and clinical researchers from the University of Sheffield, NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC), NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The Community Research Champions have been working in partnership with the researchers of the CognoSpeak project funded by an NIHR i4i award. This project is led by Dr Dan Blackburn, (Clinical Lead of CognoSpeak and Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Neurologist at the University of Sheffield), and Professor Heidi Christensen, (Computer Science Lead of CognoSpeak and Professor in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield). The CognoSpeak project is supported and has received funding from the NIHR Sheffield BRC. 

Community Involvement and Engagement work with these communities is led by Dr Blackburn and Lise Sproson (Patient and Public Involvement Lead, NIHR HealthTech Research Centre for Long Term Conditions, Devices for Dignity), supported by Dorota Braun, Sarah Goodwin and Caitlin Illingworth. Our development of partnerships with the four Community Groups has been developing over three years and we have all learned much from each other.

The CognoSpeak project uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and language analysis to detect dementia, in order to reduce the time people who are concerned about their memory need to wait to be linked with appropriate treatment and support. 

This project has worked in partnership with all of these communities in order to make sure that the AI is built without bias for people whose first language is not English. Presentations during the evening were live translated by the Community Research Champions into Somali, Urdu and Mandarin. 

The community groups told us that working in partnership on this project has given them individual skills in research and health improvement and also increased their confidence in public speaking, co-hosting workshops and co-designing health research. They have also started teaching other researchers in engaging diverse communities. Workshops and reimbursement for participation has led to a significant increase in involvement from their communities in health research and an appetite to do more to have their voices heard.

Recognising that these impacts were just as important as the scientific ones, we sought additional funding from the University of Sheffield to explore how these changes could be measured. We co-developed a set of tools to capture the direct and indirect impacts at individual, project team, and community levels. This led to the creation of ‘Impact Workshops’ where participants reflected on their experiences with the project and how their perspectives on research had evolved over time. 

We created a film together to tell the story of our journey; what the community learned about research and what the researchers learned about working together in partnership. Watch the video below:

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A highlight of the evening was the presentation of certificates of achievement by Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Safiya Saeed to each of the champions and their organisation leads for their support in making this work possible.

The event also featured a panel discussion, chaired by Professor Ade Adebajo, (Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Sheffield, NIHR HRC PPIE and EDI Co-Chair, NIHR BRC EDI Co-Lead and patient representative) which explored partnership working and the next steps for this research, as well as the future direction of CognoSpeak. The discussion highlighted the importance of continued collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and community groups to ensure that projects like these remain meaningful and impactful.

While CognoSpeak was the foundation of this project, the community’s involvement has led to a legacy of sustained engagement that goes far beyond the initial research aims. As part of our participatory approach, we co-designed several additional health-focused workshops on brain, heart, and diabetes health. These workshops, created with input from the community, brought clinicians and researchers into the centre where they answered questions and provided valuable information.

The event at the Israac Centre wasn’t just about showcasing the finished film but also about celebrating the strong partnerships that have emerged. The evening concluded with a multicultural buffet, featuring food from all the communities involved, reinforcing the spirit of unity and shared learning that has defined this project.