Research Participant Spotlight: UC RPAC Member Victoria Straughn

Victoria Straughn - UC RPAC Member

Victoria Straughn is a member of the UC Research Participant Advisory Council (UC RPAC) and was asked to share her experience and thoughts about her research journey, the importance of research and joining the UC RPAC. In her professional life, Victoria is a Clinical Research Coordinator, and she has personal experience participating in research. We value Victoria’s practical feedback during UC RPAC meetings, her love of research, and her wonderful personality. We hope you enjoy meeting her too!

Tell us a little about you.

I am a very outgoing and fun-loving person. I'm 1 of 8 siblings - always the peace maker and civil rights activist, and research helps me explore health and medicine.

Share a little about your health journey with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, including your research experiences.

I always liked health subjects. I started out working as a lab tech, but it lacked patient contact. I then went to phlebotomy, then a new research team needed a phlebotomist, recruited me and I never left. I started taking classes in CRP (clinical research professional), a field that few AA (African Americans) were represented and lack of recruiting populations often absent in research.

What has been your favorite aspect of the RPAG and/or any research project that has come to our group?

Learning about the fantastic research that is taking place and their efforts to recruit a broader range of populations. The one that has impacted me most was the Radiation studies.

What has been surprising to you about being a member?

How this concept has caught on and researchers being open to presenting before us.

What would you say to researchers about the RPAG, possibly about why they should come?

You should come if you want an honest review – not peer-to-peer but community-based approach – to see how people you’re potentially recruiting would view what you’re presenting.

About the Research Participant Advisory Group (RPAG). The RPAG includes the UC RPAC, the Cincinnati Children’s RPAC, and the West End Community Research Advisory Board. These are resources available to anyone at Cincinnati Children’s or the University of Cincinnati who are interested in learning the research participant or community perspective and improving how research is conducted at the hospital or out in the community. If you are interested in seeking feedback from one of these groups at one of our meetings, or through electronic survey, please contact Julie Wijesooriya: Julie.Wijesooriya@cchmc.org.