This event is hybrid. If you would prefer to watch online, please click here to register to attend virtually.

Registration and refreshments: 17:30
Lecture: 18:00
Wine reception: 19:00 - 19:30

Ineligible or ignored: Making inclusive research cultures everyone's business

Professor Shivani Sharma shares her journey through Higher Education leadership and research- a trajectory defined by a sharp focus on disrupting practices to better serve equity, diversity, and inclusion agendas. These terms are in vogue now more than ever. But what does it really take against the backdrop of ever evolving sociopolitical narrative to drive purposive change? Shivani’s research has a strong emphasis on health inequalities, challenging the status quo that health prevention, intervention and self-management endeavours fail to reach those with the most potential to benefit. In the UK alone, the combined direct and indirect cost of health inequalities is close to £65 billion per annum. Yet mapping funded research to areas of greatest need shows a stark misalignment. The lecture showcases impactful inclusion interventions that have supported the health and social care research ecosystem to engage with patients and the public, co-creating research priorities and methods. This is fundamental to science narrowing rather than perpetuating health gaps. With mounting pressures, she argues that a step change from small, under resourced pilots to scalable solutions is necessary for individual, social, and economic advancement.

An inaugural lecture - Professor Shivani Sharma