For members of the Pain Management Collaboratory (PMC) Patient Resource Group (PRG), and anyone with lived experience who is asked to write one.
This is an example. The researcher, the study, and every detail in it are invented. Use it to see what a finished letter looks like, then replace every detail with your own.
November 5, 2026
Dr. Dana Whitfield
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
[University name]
Dear Dr. Whitfield,
I am writing to support your application, “Walking Back: A Trial of Group Walking Programs for Veterans with Chronic Low Back Pain,” to [funder and program].
I am a Veteran, and I have lived with chronic low back pain for eighteen years. I know what it takes to stay with an exercise program when one bad week can undo a good month. That is the question your study asks, and it is one I live with.
I have worked with your team since 2024 as a member of your community advisory group. When you drafted the first version of this study, I pointed out that a 7:00 AM class would shut out many of us who work, or who need the morning for stiffness to ease. You added an evening option. That change came from the people the study is meant to help.
If the project is funded, I agree to serve on the study’s advisory board for its four years. I expect to give about four hours a month. That includes a monthly video meeting, reviewing recruitment materials and surveys, and helping share the results with Veterans when the study ends. I understand I will be paid for my time at the rate the study has set for advisory board members.
This question matters because many Veterans with back pain are told to exercise and then left to figure it out alone. A program people can keep doing would change daily life, not just a number on a pain scale.
I look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[City, state] · [email] · [phone]
Why this letter works
- It says who the writer is in two sentences. The condition and how long they have lived with it are the qualification.
- It shows one real change. The evening class proves the partnership already works. One specific example beats a paragraph of praise.
- It spells out the commitment. Role, hours, length of the project, and pay are all in writing.
- It ends with why the question matters, in plain words a reviewer will remember.
- It fits on one page.
Before you write yours
Ask the research team for the deadline, the funder, the project title, and a plain-language summary. Ask what role they have in mind for you.
Don’t agree to more than you can do.
Keep a copy. If the study is funded, it is your record of what was promised.
The short form
Some funders ask for a brief letter of collaboration instead, sometimes about a hundred words. The same example, short:
I agree to serve on the advisory board for “Walking Back” if it is funded. As a Veteran who has lived with chronic low back pain for eighteen years, I will review study materials and help share the results, for about four hours a month, with compensation.
— [Your name]