Race and Health Matters

Guddi’s work explores how structural inequality shapes health and what it would take to change that. Working clinically on the frontline and academically at King’s College London, she brings a distinctive perspective spanning medicine, public health, philosophy, policy and media.

She is a co-founder of WHAM (the Wellbeing and Health Action Movement), which supports health professionals to act on the social determinants of health, and she leads Powering Up, a Health Service Journal Patient Safety Award finalist project focused on youth co-production, creativity and systems transformation. She was also named a Global Top 30 Improver by the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, recognising her work to advance more relational, equitable and accountable approaches to change. She also serves on the Board of the National Centre for Creative Health.

As a broadcaster, Guddi has presented for the BBC, Channel 4 and Al Jazeera, including the award-winning documentary Why Is Covid Killing People of Colour? and the paradigm-shifting BBC Radio 4 series, Three Ages of Child. Bringing depth, warmth and intellectual rigour to complex public conversations, she draws together the perspectives of clinician, researcher, philosopher, presenter and changemaker to make discussions on health, equity and systems change accessible, searching and useful to leaders, practitioners and the public.

David R. Williams is a St Lucian and American social scientist who has specialised in the study of social influences on health. His research has enhanced our understanding of the complex ways in which race, socioeconomic status, racism, stress, health behaviors and religious involvement can affect physical and mental health. He has been invited to keynote scientific conferences in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, South America and across the United States.

He is the author of more than 600 scholarly papers in scientific journals and edited collections and his research has appeared in leading journals in sociology, psychology, medicine, public health and epidemiology. The Everyday Discrimination scale that he developed is currently the most widely used measure to assess perceived discrimination in health studies. He has served on the editorial board of 16 scientific journals and as a reviewer for over 70 journals. According to ISI Essential Science Indicators, he was one of the Top 10 Most Cited Researchers in the Social Sciences during the decade 1995 to 2005. The Journal of Black Issues in Higher Education ranked him as the Most Cited Black Scholar in the Social Sciences in 2008. And Thomson Reuters ranked him, in 2014, as one of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds, based on his scientific articles published between 2002 and 2012. In 2023, ScholarGPS ranked him number one in citations in African and African American Studies worldwide.

Naabil Khan is a final-year medical student at the University of Exeter and a passionate advocate for diversity, representation, and equity in healthcare and medical education. Raised in South London, Naabil is already making a significant impact on the future of medicine through a number of pioneering initiatives and platforms she has founded and led. She is the founder of Skin For All, an educational platform and social impact project that addresses the underrepresentation of skin conditions on darker skin tones in traditional medical resources.

Felicia has been an associate director of nursing since 2017 at King’s College Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust and holds a national position as the chair of the chief nursing officer and chief midwifery officer’s Black Minority Ethnic Strategic Advisory Group, NHS England. Felicia has always had a passion for clinical practice ensuring that patients as well as staff are at the centre of our care. She believes that if the workforce is not highly valued then this is reflected in poor care delivery. Felicia still performs clinical duties and is highly visible both in and out of uniform.

Ras.I Martin is a strategist, entrepreneur and health leader focused on equity, leadership and systems change. A PPE graduate from University of Oxford and the first in his family to attend university, he has worked across healthcare governance, public policy and digital
transformation.

He is one of the youngest governors in the history of the NHS, serving at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where he advocates on issues of health inequality, representation and leadership at board level. He also previously worked within the Trust’s digital operations
team as a Project Manager on the national Federated Data Platform programme. Ras.I was recognised by Powerful Media as one of the UK’s Top 10 Future Leaders and was the sole British delegate to the Commonwealth Youth Parliament.

Alongside his work in health and policy, he is the co-founder and CEO of Fireside, a sales intelligence platform building tools to help businesses better understand buyer engagement and decision-making.

Malone is an award-winning medical doctor and co-author of ‘Mind the Gap’, a clinical handbook on signs and symptoms in Black and Brown skin, reaching over 500,000 people in 170 countries. His work has been featured in Forbes, TIME, ELLE, Good Morning America, The Washington Post, and the House of Lords. He is the founder of BlackandBrownSkin, empowering and educating Black and Brown communities in healthcare. He has created safe spaces for global health discussions and driven systemic changes, including updates to NHS 111 to make guidance more inclusive.

At the RHO, Habib is accountable for organisation-wide strategic planning, performance, oversight and delivery. He directs the successful implementation of a far-reaching multi-year, multi-million pound work programme with measurable outcomes. He leads national health policy and is responsible for strategic global partnerships that address systemic health inequalities affecting patients, communities and the healthcare workforce.

Sim’s commitment to fostering inclusive leadership is further demonstrated by her role as Chair of the Seacole Group, a membership body dedicated
to supporting ethnic minority leaders across the NHS.

Her impact on healthcare governance is underscored by her recent fouryear tenure as Deputy Chair and Acting Chair for the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) Integrated Care Board (ICB).Most recently, she oversaw the transition from the BOB ICB to the newly established Thames Valley ICB, ensuring stability and strategic alignment during a period of significant structural change.

Beyond her healthcare roles, Sim holds a portfolio career as Chair of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), the student ombudsman for higher education in England and Wales. Her governance expertise is rooted in a 30-year commercial history in fashion clothing retail. She has held management roles for iconic brands, including serving as an Executive Brand Director for Miss Selfridge, part of the Arcadia Group with management positions at Next PLC and River Island. A Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA), Sim is a passionate advocate for values-led leadership and people-centric cultures. Her broader contributions to education and the arts included serving as a Governor and Deputy Chair for the University of the Arts London (UAL) and she is a currently a Trustee for the National Saturday Club and the Royal Female School of Art Foundation. Dedicated to professional empowerment and well-being, she is a registered mental health first aider and a Trustee of Smart Works, a charity which supports women navigate their return to the workforce.

Heidi is a Health Equity and Patient Involvement Specialist, with a decade of experience spanning academia, pharma, CRO, and charity organisations. She started her career in clinical trials methodology focusing on recruitment to trials, and quickly found that recruitment to trials lacked inclusivity and diverity. Since then, she’s built a roster of clients pushing for inclusive and accessible research, with the end goal of making health equitable for all. Heidi is neurodivergent, and is a rare disease patient herself, and alongside her consultancy work she offers training on how to support neurodivergent people and people living with rare and/or chronic illnesses in the workplace.

Nabeela is a medical doctor, health equity researcher, and global health practitioner whose career spans clinical practice, academic research, and system-level health innovation. She works at the intersection of healthcare delivery and evidence-based reform, with particular expertise in context responsive approaches to care in several settings. Drawing on a deep understanding of structural health inequities, Nabeela advances practice informed research that supports workforce sustainability and inclusivity.

Professor Doyin Atewologun (Professor (Hon.) at the University of Exeter is a psychologist, scholar practitioner, a regular media contributor and multi-award winner in recognition of her innovative methodologies and pioneering work in promoting inclusion and excellence in organisations. She is CEO and Founder of Delta, a niche leadership and inclusion consultancy that serves global clients and was previously Dean of the Rhodes Scholarships, at the University of Oxford and Director of the Gender, Leadership and Inclusion Centre at Cranfield School of Management and Reader. Doyin has addressed global audiences and has been invited to industry judging panels to amplify underrepresented talent and help identify and evaluate outstanding work in academic publications with practical evidence-based impact.

Nandi joined the NHS Race and Health Observatory (RHO), as Director of Implementation, in 2023 to develop the organisations implementation function. In this role, she leads on developing and embedding processes that facilitate the translation of recommendations into actions that enhance race equity in the NHS. She is also the Observatory’s lead on the maternal and neonatal racial health inequalities Learning and Action Network, delivered in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Health Foundation. Nandi has a background in research and extensive experience of developing and implementing strategies to enhance and embed evidence-based practice in the NHS. Nandi is Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the RHO.

Ashok Patnaik is an experienced qualitative researcher dedicated to reducing inequalities in experience of healthcare staff. He has strong topic expertise, having recently worked on a project about how ethnic minority doctors in the UK experience the medical workplace and career progression in medicine.

Professor Carol Woodhams is a distinguished HR scholar whose rigorous research into pay inequalities, particularly within the NHS, has earned her national recognition and impacted policy and institutional practice. From 2018 – 2020 she led the research for the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine Review, funded by DHSC. A noted leader and influencer, her blend of academic excellence and practical advocacy continues to shape fairer workplace practices.

Justin has significant qualitative and realist research experience, including delivering prior research relating to unprofessional behaviour between healthcare staff. Co-applicant on £2m in grant funding from NIHR. Experience delivering projects on time for funders including NIHR, European Commission, and others.

Ngozi Kalu is a pharmacist and a public health professional with over fourteen years of experience within the NHS and private health sectors, academia, and development programme settings in the UK and internationally.

Ngozi is passionate about improving health and addressing the impact of discriminatory laws and policies on the health outcomes of marginalised populations. Prior to joining the Observatory, Ngozi was at Terrence Higgins Trust, where she led the policy campaign aimed at reducing inequalities in access to the HIV prevention drug Pre-exposure prophylaxis by calling for its availability beyond sexual and reproductive health services. She also contributes to the educational sector by tutoring distance learning MSc students at LSHTM.

Ngozi has a Doctor of Public Health degree, master’s degrees in pharmacy and international Public Health.

John joined the Nuffield Trust as Director of Research and Chief Economist in 2016 following his position at the King’s Fund as Chief Economist, and senior lectureships in health economics at the Universities of East Anglia and Birmingham. After his masters in health economics at the University of York in 1980, he worked in the NHS for seven years in Birmingham and London. John has published widely on a range of health care finance and economic issues in books, academic journals, reports, magazines, and newspapers.

He is a regular columnist for the British Medical Journal. As well as his former post at the Nuffield Trust, John is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Economics, City University, London, and at the Institute of Global Innovations at Imperial College London.