Increase Diversity in Clinical Research by Understanding the Reality of Underrepresented Groups

Carol is the CLAHRC Manager, Centre for BME Health. Her background is in NHS operational management, project management, business intelligence, healthcare leadership including strategic and financial management within acute hospitals and primary care services.  After making the move to research in 2012, Carol has worked in the Applied Health Care arena in the UK.  She is currently the Programme Manager of the Leicester based Centre for BME Health working on research and community engagement to drive down the gap in health inequalities, promoting the inclusion of diverse and marginalised communities and making research more accessible. 

Trishna Bharadia lives with multiple chronic illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, and is a multi-award winning health advocate and patient engagement consultant with around ten years experience in this area.Highly experienced and well-known both in the UK and internationally, she works with multiple stakeholders (including patient associations/health charities, industry, clinicians and the NHS) and across disease areas to tackle some of the most pressing issues affecting the patient experience in various aspects of the healthcare journey and drugs lifecycle. This includes but is not limited to speaking at conferences and events, writing, co-producing services and information, consultancy, content review (including PILs, ICFs, lay summaries and patient information), facilitation, and giving interviews and comment in the media (radio, TV, podcasts, webinars, printed/online press) on health-related issues. She is also an Ambassador/Patron for several health-and-disability related charities, and sits on numerous steering groups and study committees.Key areas of interest include diversity issues and engaging with “hard to reach” communities, helping companies to do patient engagement in the right way, creating truly patient-focused strategies, events and campaigns, and improving awareness of invisible illnesses. Awards include: Points of Light Award (UK Prime Minister’s Office), Eyeforpharma Patient Advocate of the Year, University of Manchester Outstanding Alumni Award, Asian Achievers Award Woman of the Year, and Woman of Achievement (Women of the Year Foundation).

Dr Samira Hassan is a General practitioner with a specialist interest in Palliative care, Women’s health and Global Health. She is also a keen community activist who is impacting change in her community through servant leadership. She is passionate about youth mentorship and raising aspirations in the Somali community. This has led to the birth of the Somali Careers Fair initiative in Leicester but has since spread across several cities in the UK and abroad. She is also a public speaker, engaging with students and universities in career aspirations, inspiring community engagement and leadership in healthcare.She is also one of the founding members of the British Somali Medical Association and serves as a Vice president. In that role, she worked on developing the foundation of this young organisation whose mission includes widening access to medical training, peer support and mentorship, professional development, community engagement, health advocacy and health education. She held a series of community workshops designed at tackling mental health stigma in the Somali community in the UK. She has since launched a Youtube channel to educate, empower and tackle misinformation. Improving access to healthcare services for the Somali community and raising health awareness is one of her key priorities.

Sukhjeen Kaur is a disability advocate for the South Asian community and the founder of non-profit organisation ‘Chronically Brown’ which advocates for South Asians living with invisible and visible disabilities. She lives with multiple physical disabilities that motivate the work.

Daniel Newman has been living with type 1 diabetes for over 24 years. He has experienced the highs, lows, and in-betweens of living with the condition. In 2013, Daniel was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease and received a kidney transplant in 2018. Daniel now uses his voice as a patient advocate to provide help to others and recently won the WEGO Health Best in Show award for his Talking Type 1 Podcast. In his professional life, Daniel is a HR and Volunteer Manager at an international diabetes medical research charity. 

Currently, over 2.5 million people in the UK are living with cancer including Alfred. Just over nine years ago, a diagnosis of advanced metastatic prostate cancer stage 4 was handed down to him unexpectedly, untimely and unwontedly. For the voiceless Alfred Samuels is the voice that echoes hope, motivation and inspiration in the fight against the deadly disease of prostate cancer; a disease that disproportionately affects black men. Alfred is a Businessman, Entrepreneur, and Keynote/Public Speaker who is dedicated, ambitious, hardworking and passionate about life, business, success and the community. He thrives each day on seeking new opportunities and challenges with the desire to achieve. Alfred has written two books, “Invincibility in the Face of Prostate Cancer: Coming out the Other Side,” and “Motivated to Inspire,” with the intention to inspire, motivate, uplift and educate people about prostate cancer. Through his books, it is Alfred’s wish to influence people and make them realise the value of the information that he has recorded. Since being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2012, Alfred has dedicated himself to raising awareness of the importance of research. To that end, he has thrown himself into patient involvement, becoming a media volunteer, a cancer campaigns ambassador, and a member of both CRUK’s Patient Involvement Network and the Research & Strategy Sounding Board. In July 2019 Alfred was named Ambassador of the Year at the Cancer Research UK Flame of Hope awards which pay tribute to the extraordinary achievements of volunteers across The UK. Alfred sees this as not only an award for him but also, all other ambassadors and volunteers that relentlessly give their time in a bid to help others regardless of race or creed.