Speaker biographies

Keynote address: Equality and Equity: reflections on language, assumptions and actions

Professor Nisreen Alwan

Professor Nisreen Alwan is a Professor of Public Health at the University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant in Public Health at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. She leads public health research towards optimising the wellbeing of families, preventing future chronic disease and reducing health inequalities. During the pandemic, she focused on the recognition and prevention of Long Covid. Prof Alwan leads the AIMMS Mentoring initiative which is a national initiative across UK medical schools aiming to support the career development of minority women in academic medicine. She was awarded an MBE for services to Medicine and Public Health during the pandemic in the Queen’s New Year Honours 2021, and named among women leading change from across the world in the BBC 100 Women 2020 list. 

Panel Discussion: Working within the wider EDI landscape

Dr Ruth Gilligan

Dr Ruth Gilligan is Assistant Director for UK Equality Charters at Advance HE. She is responsible for the strategic leadership of the Athena Swan Charter for gender equality and the Race Equality Charter which operate in the UK and internationally. These impactful equality frameworks help organisations to identify and address their equality issues, with progress recognised with highly-esteemed Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. During her time working with the Equality Charters, she has been responsible for introducing the Athena Swan Charter to the Republic of Ireland, which was the first international expansion of the Charter, for the expansion of the Charter to all academic disciplines and professional areas, and for the recent reviews and development of both UK Charters. Ruth’s academic background is in organic chemistry, and after completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge, she worked at Science Foundation Ireland, the largest funder of competitive research in Ireland in the Policy and Pre-Award Divisions. Drawing on her background in research and professional expertise, Ruth acts as an equality, diversity and inclusion adviser nationally and internationally, and as a trustee for a number of charities. 

Dr Margot Turner

Lecturer in Diversity and Medical Education, St Georges University of London. I have been working for over 20 years to embed diversity into the medical education curriculum. I think that the most successful work I have done is co-creation projects with students to decolonise our curriculum and make our learning environment more welcoming to a diverse student body. I have presented and published my work both nationally and internationally and often with students. I am also Chair of DIMAH (Diversity in Medicine and Healthcare). I am Co- Chair of the new Medical Schools Council Equality and Diversity Board and will be sharing work we have done in this group.

Raymond Effah

Raymond Effah is a final year medical student doctor at the University of Southampton. He holds a master’s in medical science, with published research focused on medical student wellbeing. Currently, Raymond sits on the BMA Medical Schools Committee Exec as Co-Chair after previously working as the Deputy Chair leading the widening participation portfolio (2021-2022). Previously, he held positions such as president of the widening access to medicine Southampton society (WAMsoc) alongside vice-president of Southampton Medsoc. In these positions Raymond has spoken on a panel at the HLA conference discussing widening participation and assisted the faculty navigate the difficulties of COVID. 

Perspectives on disability 

Dr Jen Warren

Jen Warren is an ST8 in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care in the West Midlands and Co-Chair of the Disabled Doctors Network. She is a passionate advocate for greater inclusion and understanding of disability in Medicine. In 2008 she acquired her disability so has continued her training as a wheelchair user.

Dr Jessica Speller

Dr Jessica Speller is an FY1 doctor who has been working LTFT in Leicester since graduating last year. During university she developed severe asthma and an immune deficiency; and then osteoporosis because of the treatment for this, resulting in a lot more lived experience of healthcare and disabilities than she would have liked! Following her own experience navigating the system as a student she undertook an elective in final year in the pastoral support department looking into the support students with disabilities and long-term conditions accessed and how this could be developed going forwards. She is passionate about trying to improve access to medicine for those with disabilities so that having a good, well-supported experience becomes the norm, rather than the exception, as these individuals bring a unique and invaluable perspective to patient care.

Perspectives on Race

Professor Olanrewaju Sorinola

Professor Sorinola is Professor of Medical Education at University of Warwick Medical School and Consultant Urogynaecologist at Warwick hospital. He is Chair of Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA) Anti-Racism Pedagogy and Process in HE Learning Circle, Chair of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine (SEM) EDI Forum, Chair of the WMS Awarding Gap Group, Faculty representative University of Warwick Social Inclusion Committee, Staff Champion for ethnicity and Board member of the UK Medical Schools Council EDI Alliance. Professor Sorinola has a renowned reputation nationally in improving outcomes for ethnic minority medical students and reducing racial inequalities. He has a passion for equality, diversity and achieving excellence for all learners and has researched differential attainment between ethnic groups. His work is focused on inclusivity and achieving excellence for all.

Takunda Nhiwatiwa

My name is Takunda and I am a final year medical student and student co-chair of MedRACE, a student-staff working group at Leicester Medical School. I became interested in EDI following the BMA Racial Harassment Charter release, and used this as a way to channel how I felt at the many racial injustices both myself and the black community as a whole were facing at the time. Since being a founding member of MedRACE, I have worked to decolonise the way dermatology is taught at Leicester, as well as co-developing and co-delivering bystander training to medical students. Outside of MedRACE, I am a Newcastle Physiological Sciences graduate, and have been both on the local and National board for Sexpression UK, a sexual health charity. I also enjoy learning sign language and have recently achieved my Level 2 BSL qualification. I look forward to meeting others with similar interests at this event!

Wendy Tetteh

My name is Wendy, and I am currently a Final Year Leicester Medical Student and Student Co-Chair of MedRACE. I am a graduate entry medical student having previously studied Anatomy and Physiology at The University of Dundee. I became interested in EDI following on from events that happened in 2020, such as the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. There was widespread anger in the world and the work that the Black Lives Matter movement had been doing for years came to the forefront. The BMA Racial Harassment Charter was released, and Leicester Medical School made a commitment to sign up to it. I felt compelled to get involved in some capacity and got involved in the formation of what was then known as the BMA Charter Working Group. Now officially known as MedRACE, I have been a part of several different projects that have sought to address the commitments on the Charter. These projects include co-developing and co-delivering EDI lectures and active bystander training to both students and patient educators. Outside of MedRACE I have an interest in surgery and have been involved in research concerning this. I also enjoy sports and have played for the University Netball Team. I look forward to sharing my experiences and hearing about the inspiring works and achievements from others at this event.