Connect Immune Research Support Volunteer

Breakthrough T1D is a founding member of Connect Immune Research, a partnership of 17 charities and organisations with a shared interest in autoimmunity and autoimmune conditions. As the partnership’s secretariat, Breakthrough T1D coordinates meetings, supports partnership activities, and facilitates communication between member organisations to ensure effective collaboration.

The Breakthrough T1D Research Partnerships Team is seeking a volunteer to support the coordination of monthly communications across the Connect Immune Research partnership. This role will help keep partners informed, engaged, and connected by contributing to the development and distribution of regular partnership updates.

What will I be doing?

• Identifying and gathering recent online research news, blog posts, events, and webinars from across the Connect Immune Research partnership for inclusion in a monthly partner update.
• Monitoring developments in autoimmunity research more widely, and highlighting relevant news, publications, and articles that may be of interest to partner organisations.
• Summarising information clearly and concisely for a broad audience. This will typically be a couple of sentences for each news item; please see the examples at the end of this role description.
• Supporting the Research Partnerships Manager to compile, draft, and distribute the monthly email update.

What skills and experience do I need?

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage information from multiple sources.
• An eye for detail and a willingness to ensure information is accurate and relevant.
• Comfortable finding and summarising information, or keen to develop these skills through the role.
• Able to work independently while feeling comfortable reaching out for support when needed.
• Basic IT skills, including a familiarity with Microsoft Office applications such as Outlook, Word and Teams
• An understanding of, or interest in, medical research, healthcare and/or autoimmunity and autoimmune conditions

When do you need me?

We ask for a commitment of at least one hour per week, with the role starting as soon as possible. The exact time commitment can be discussed during the application process, and we’re flexible in recognising that volunteering needs to fit around your existing commitments.

This is an ongoing opportunity to support the Connect Immune Research partnership by helping to identify and share relevant research news, publications, events, and other updates on a rolling monthly basis.

Where will I be based?

Remotely, with the option to work in Breakthrough T1D’s head office in central London.

What training and support will I receive?

• When you sign up to become a volunteer, we’ll send you a copy of our Volunteer Handbook and any relevant policies you’ll need to know about, such as Breakthrough T1D’s Data Protection Policy.
• You will receive training in any role-specific systems (excluding those listed in requirements), and you’ll have the name and contact details of a staff member who’ll support you in this role, meet with you regularly and answer any questions you have.
• We’ll also reimburse all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in line with Breakthrough T1D volunteering policies.

How do I apply?

Please email your CV and cover letter, briefly explaining why you wish to fill this role, to Sarah Berry (Research Partnerships Manager) on connect@breakthrought1d.org.uk.

Please note: For this role, you must be based in the UK. You will also need access to your own laptop and the internet.

What is Connect Immune Research?

Connect Immune Research is a partnership between 17 UK-based charities and organisations who want to understand how immune conditions are linked. We want the scientific community to work together across autoimmunity specialisms to tackle multiple conditions at once. Understanding similarities and using existing knowledge of different conditions could help transform lives much faster than small groups of specialists working on separate conditions.

Monthly email updates for member charities help keep partners informed about developments both within and beyond the partnership. They provide updates on emerging trends, relevant publications, and key activities, fostering a well-informed, connected, and collaborative partnership community.

Examples of Content

The BSI journal of ‘Clinical & Experimental Immunology‘ has launched a new Immunometabolism section, which welcomes submissions spanning fundamental, translational and clinical research, with a focus on studies that deepen our understanding of the complex interactions between metabolism and immunity. Read the article to find out more

Alopecia UK has published a Summer Research Update, which provides an overview of research activity in alopecia. Updates include the role of the microbiota in alopecia, and latest developments in immune-targeting therapies, including dupilumab (targeting IL‑4 and IL‑13), HCW9302 (an IL‑2-containing therapy), bempikibart (targeting IL‑7), and amlitelimab (which blocks OX40L, a molecule involved in T-cell activation).

The British Thyroid Foundation are leading a JLA PSP for thyroid disease, including autoimmune thyroid disease, to help shape the future of thyroid research in the UK. As part of this process, they are inviting people to complete an online survey to highlight what areas they want thyroid research to focus on. More information is available on the BTF and JLA webpages.