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Dr Rich Gorman

Photo of Rich Gorman carrying out research

Dr Rich Gorman (BSc, PhD, FRGS)

Research Fellow B
E: R.Gorman@bsms.ac.uk
Location: Medical Teaching Building, BSMS, University of Sussex, BN1 9PX

Areas of expertise: Health geography; creative methods; arts-based research; patient involvement; disability studies;

Research areas: Lived experience of rare disease; shared decision making in gene therapies; nature and animal-based therapeutic interventions; human-animal relations

Other relevant positions: Honorary Research Fellow, University of Exeter

Biography

Rich completed his PhD in human geography at Cardiff University in 2017, investigating the social and ethical implications of incorporating animals within various caring and health-promoting practices. Following this, Rich moved to the University of Exeter, as a postdoctoral research fellow working with Professor Gail Davies on the Wellcome Trust Animal Research Nexus project. This work involved exploring practices of patient involvement around animal research, particularly working with patients and carers to explore their lived experiences of health and illness, and what it means to be ‘involved’ in research that they may find ethically challenging. Rich joined Brighton and Sussex Medical School in 2020, working with Professor Bobbie Farsides on the Wellcome Trust Ethical Preparedness in Genomic Medicine project to understand how the promise and challenge of genomic medicine is understood and experienced by those providing and engaging with the service. As part of this, Rich and Bobbie have focussed on exploring different ways of creating representations, stories, and conversations about the patient experience of genomic medicine. Rich has previously served as chair of the Royal Geographical Society’s Geographies of Health and Wellbeing Group from 2020-2023.

Research

Rich is an interdisciplinary social scientist academic interested in the social and ethical implications of different healthcare practices. His work uses critical social science research and creative participatory approaches to understand practices of health, care, and medicine. Rich focusses on placing lived experiences at the centre of conceptually and theoretically robust scholarship, developing new methodological approaches, responding to stakeholder interests, and engaging the public through successful partnership working. His research has explored a range of different contexts to reflect on how different forms of knowledge, expertise, and experience interact to enable quality care – ranging from the worlds of rare disease to nature-based therapies. Rich has a particular interest in developing creative and participatory approaches for conducting research that focus on placing lived experiences at the centre of scholarship, and enabling people to share sensitive and emotive stories which may be resistant to more conventional social-scientific registers.

Selected publications

Gorman, R. (2024). Disabilities and Geography. In B. Warf (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25900-5_278-1

Davies, G., Gorman, R., & King, G. (2024) ‘Knowledge is power, and I do want to know more’: Exploring assumptions around patient perspectives on animal research. Chapter in Researching Animal Research. Davies, G. et al. (eds). Manchester University Press. pp. 265-289.

Cacciatore, J., Gorman, R., Sullivan, M. & Thieleman, K. (2024) “I feel accepted. I don't feel judged. I just feel love”: Perceptions of animals as social support for grievers. Society and Animals. DOI: 10.1163/15685306-bja10178

Gorman, R., Farsides, B. & Bonner, M. (2023) Crafting representations of rare disease: collage as qualitative inquiry. Arts & Health. DOI: 10.1080/17533015.2023.2254328

Gorman, R., Farsides, B., Gammidge, T. (2022) Stop-motion storytelling: Exploring methods for animating the worlds of rare genetic disease. Qualitative Research. DOI: 10.1177/14687941221110168

Gorman, R. & Farsides, B. (2022) Writing the worlds of genomic medicine: experiences of using participatory-writing to understand life with rare conditions. BMJ Medical Humanities. DOI: 10.1136/medhum-2021-012346

Woollard, L., Gorman, R. & Rosenfelt, DJ. (2021) Improving patient informed consent for haemophilia gene therapy: the case for change. Therapeutic Advances in Rare Disease. 2. pp. 1-16.

Gorman, R. (2020). Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs and Endotoxin Testing: Perspectives on Alternatives, Sustainable Methods, & the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement). Frontiers in Marine Science 7:582132

Gorman, R. (2017). Thinking critically about health and human-animal relations: Therapeutic affect within spaces of care farming. Social Science and Medicine. 231 pp. 6-12.

Gorman, R. (2017). Therapeutic landscapes and non-human animals: the roles and contested positions of animals within care farming assemblages. Social & Cultural Geography 18(3) pp. 315-335.

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