Month: March 2025

The REDiC team have attended and supported a number of events aimed at engaging students in research careers. You can read reports from the NIHR Student engagement event “Is a career in research for me?”, held in Nottingham and the Birmingham Widening Access to Medical Sciences, Research Rodeo below.

We continue our collaboration with the MRC ‘Black in Biomedical Research Advisory Group’ (MRC-BBRAG) and REDiC will be attending the ‘Minoritised Life Sciences Future Forum’ conference at the end of March. The ‘James Lind Alliance – MRC-BBRAG Priority Setting Partnership’ will also be launched at the conference, the focus of which will be chronic respiratory diseases in Black children and adults in the UK. Further details of the conference are included in this edition.

Professor Bhuvaneswari Krishnamoorthy, REDiC Steering Group member based at the University of Salford is leading on the delivery of a workshop to increase the diversity of the health and care research community. This interactive day aims to EMPOWER and will include hearing the lived experience of leading ethnic minority researchers and a ‘Meet the experts’ speed dating style session – one not to be missed. For details on how to sign up, keep reading…

Report by Sangamithra Ravi
Intercalating Medical Student (BSc Urgent and Emergency Care), University of Plymouth
Co-Chair, SIMBA-CoMICs, DEVI Collaboration
Project Lead, EMPOWEReD initiative

At the recent NIHR Student Conference “Is a Career in Research for me?”, I had the opportunity to collaborate with the NIHR-Supported Race Equity and Diversity in Careers (REDiC) Incubator to promote the EMPOWEReD project (Empowering Medical Professionals through Peer-led, Work-based Education for Real-world Development). Engaging with students and graduates at the event provided a valuable platform to explore how inclusive, sustainable education can bridge learning gaps and support career development in healthcare.

A key takeaway from the conference was the vital role of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research and education. Attending the PPI in Research workshop reinforced how integrating patient perspectives enhances both academic projects and clinical practice, making education and healthcare delivery more impactful.

Overall, the conference served as a powerful reminder of the importance of mentorship, diversity, and interdisciplinary learning in shaping the future of medical education and professional development.

“Mahendra Patel is a pioneering pharmacist dedicated to reducing health inequalities and addressing research disparities in ethnic minority and underserved communities, driving improvements in population health.

He is the founding director of the Centre for Research Equity at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, a culmination of his leadership in the Principle and Panoramic covid-19 treatment trials, to drive forward inclusive research across the UK.

Professor Patel has held national leadership roles, including as an elected board member and treasurer for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. At NICE, he founded the NICE Student Champions initiative, which became a national programme across more than 40 university healthcare faculties.

His efforts to advance health equity led to the ministerial launch of a landmark collaboration between the Centre for Research Equity and the Health and Social Care Research and Development Division in Northern Ireland, with support from the Department of Health Northern Ireland and key agencies.

This partnership marked a significant step toward improving health outcomes, reducing disparities, and ensuring that research benefits reach all communities.”

Professor Patel was extremely delighted to find out he had been recognised, acknowledging that this “… is a testament to the progress we are all making and working together in raising the profile across the wider healthcare landscape.”

You can view the full top 50 list on the HSJ website.

On Saturday 25th January, Birmingham Widening Access to Medical Sciences (BWAMS) society hosted such an event at the University of Birmingham Medical School. With support from NIHR’s Incubator in Race Equality and Diversity in Careers (REDiC), healthcare students were educated on entering research and the potential challenges they may encounter. The day included oral presentation competitions, poster displays of student research, and workshops introducing research methodologies and essential skills, such as creating a research question and statistics.

The event was a resounding success and could not have been achieved without the support from REDiC (Prof Yemisi Takwoingi and Tamara Freeman) and the BWAMS committee (Sam Sherratt-Mayhew, Andeep Ghataure, Alicia De Vidal, and Zahirah Shahnawaz).