Speakers
Dr Preethi Premkumar
Dr Melanie Etti
Ashleigh Scott
Symposia Session
Please ensure you are seated promptly at 10:15 to maintain the schedule and allow each speaker their full presentation time.
10:15 – 10:30 Preethi Premkumar (London South Bank University)
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Disabled Researchers’ Career Progression
10:30 – 10:45 Dr Elizabeth Kiilu (University of Bradford)
Vaccination Hesitancy Among Ethnic Minority Women
11:00 – 11:15 Ashleigh Scott (Cardiff University)
Strategies to Enhance Racial & Ethnic Diversity in Breast Cancer Clinical Trials
Dr Preethi Premkumar is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at London Southbank University. As School Lead for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity and Chair of the EquiNet staff race equality network, she focuses on the intersection of neuroscience and family relationships. Her research explores how perceptions of criticism and rejection in family settings impact mental health and include innovative approaches like virtual reality therapies for psychological disorders.
Dr Melanie Etti is a Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Oxford within the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine. She is involved in the design and execution of clinical trials primarily focused on malaria vaccine development, playing a critical role in advancing vaccine research targeted at the Black community.
Ashleigh Scott is a Foundation Trainee Pharmacist at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust. A Cardiff University graduate, Ashleigh has a strong interest in addressing health inequalities. She actively participates in community outreach events, providing health checks and lifestyle advice, and is involved in regional initiatives to enhance patient care.
Dr. Elizabeth Kiilu is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing, Public Health and Healthcare Leadership. She is a module leader in the undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Public Health. She supervises postgraduate students and is involved with various research groups across the faculty.
Dr. Elizabeth Kiilu is a Health Systems consultant and Public Health specialist with over 10 years of experience in Health Systems Strengthening and Public Health interventions.
She holds a Ph.D. in Public Health from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), a Master of Science in Public Health (MPH) from University of South Wales (UK), and a Master of Science in Health Systems Management from Kenya Methodist University (KEMU).
Prior to joining the University of Bradford, Dr. Kiilu was a Lecturer at JKUAT, in the School of Public Health where she taught and supervised masters and PhD students in their thesis dissertations.
Currently, Dr. Kiilu is a Principal Investigator in a UKRI/MRC £150,000 grant to help reduce vaccine hesitancy among ethnic minority women and their young children. She is leading a team of researchers from the University of Bradford, the University of Leeds, Bradford Council, and the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR), to co-create and co-produce a digital animation tool to that will help in reducing vaccine hesitancy. She is also a Co-investigator in an ongoing 2-year research EUR 741,851grant that is funded by European Union and CDC to train epidemiology and biostatistics to public health fellows selected from 8 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The research grant aims to ensure capacity development for disease outbreaks and epidemic responses in sub-Saharan Africa.