This national gender research oversight board has been established to ensure that research is embedded at the heart of NHS gender services, providing patients and clinicians with the opportunity to get involved in research in this important and developing area of healthcare, shaping the way in which services are delivered and supporting evidence-based care.

The board provides leadership and oversight of a gender incongruence / dysphoria focussed research programme developed and delivered in partnership between NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The programme recognises that there are currently material gaps in the evidence base for different support and treatment approaches, and that our understanding and knowledge of the experience and ‘natural history’ of gender incongruence in current generations is still growing. We are committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders to inform the ongoing development of evidence-based care for people of all ages. As such, the programme will continue to grow and develop in partnership with patients and their families, clinicians and other professionals, and currently includes:

• investment in research capacity – providing funding to enable NHS clinicians to build academic expertise and dedicate time to research and ongoing service evaluation alongside their clinical work  directly supporting patients
• living systematic evidence reviews – maintaining an up-to-date evidence synthesis of the latest international research, to inform national policy and front-line clinical practice
• a priority setting partnership (PSP) – independently led by the James Lind Alliance, providing the opportunity for children and young people (up to the age of 25), their parents, health, social care and education professionals across the UK to inform the direction of future research, designed to respond to their needs
• a puberty supressing hormone clinical trial – ‘PATHWAYS’ is a wider study which includes both an observational study and a separate clinical trial to help build a better understanding of the potential benefits or harms of ‘puberty blocking’ treatments in the management of gender incongruence or dysphoria
• learning through information – collecting comprehensive and consistent clinical information across all gender services, paired with a clear and open data consent process. This will enable anonymised data to be used to better understand the needs of pateints referred into NHS services, their experience and outcomes
• a data linkage study – as well as proactively engaging with patients currently accessing gender services, this separate study will analyse NHS healthcare data that has already been collected to help us to also learn from the healthcare experience of young adults who were referred to, or accessed, a previous model of NHS gender care

Membership of the Research Oversight Board

• Chair – Professor Sir Simon Wessely (NHS England Adviser)
• Alice Mortlock, Deputy Director (Research Commissioning), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
• Baroness Dr Hilary Cass, Independent Advisor on Gender, DHSC
• Professor Steve Turner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH)
• Dr Lade Smith, Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Dr Camilla Kingdon, Chair of the Children and Young People’s Gender Services Provider Collaborative
• Dr David Levy, Independent Chair of the National Adult Gender Services Provider Improvement Network
• Professor Peter Fonagy, National Clinical Advisor, Children’s Mental Health, NHS England
• Professor Emily Simonoff, Chief Investigator, PATHWAYS study
• Professor Michael Absoud, Consultant in Paediatric Neurodisability, Guy’s and St Thomas’
• Professor Indi Banerjee, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital
• Dr Lindsay Neil, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
• Dr Julie Alderson, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust 
• Stephen Tomlin, Consultant Pharmacist at Great Ormond Street Hospital
• Dr Anna Laws, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear
• Dr Jatinder Singh, GP in Manchester
• Dr Amy Dissanayake, Deputy Chief Medical Officer (Sussex) and NHS England National Specialty Advisor for Autism
• Professor Thomas Voit, Director of the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) Biomedical Research Centre and Professor of Paediatrics at GOSH
• Professor Stuart Logan, Director of South West Peninsula Applied Research Collaboration (PenARC)
• Professor James Palmer, National Medical Director (Specialised Services), NHS England
• Representation from individuals with lived experience (3)
• Representation from parents of individuals with lived experience (2)
• Representatives from devolved nations (as observers)