Dr Hamied Haroon

Chair & Co-Director, National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN)

Dr Hamied Haroon is a proud life-long Disabled Mancunian, a Muslim of Pakistani heritage, a husband and father of two. Hamied works at The University of Manchester where he gained his PhD in 2005. He is currently a Senior Technical Specialist and Research Fellow in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Physics and was recently appointed as the University’s new Academic Lead for EDI Disability. Apart from his “day jobs”, he is Founder, Chair & Co-Director of the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN), a collaborative super-network that connects and represents Disabled staff networks in universities and colleges, NHS Trusts, and other public sectors across the UK and beyond, building a dynamic intersectional community of impassioned Disabled people. Hamied has served on the Royal Society’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee since 2021 and on the Snowdon Trust’s MastersScholarships Selection Panel since 2023. He was also a Judge for the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 2021-2024 and the Nature Awards for Inclusive Health Research 2022-2024. In July 2025, Hamied was presented with The University of Manchester President’s first everGeneral Distinguished Achievement Award and Christabel Pankhurst Medal. Later in 2026, Hamied will feature in a new children’s book called “Scientists Making a Difference”!

Jennifer Leigh

Reader in Creative Practices for Social Justice in the School of Social Sciences , University of Kent

Jennifer Leigh is a Reader in Creative Practices for Social Justice in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Kent and an Honorary Professor in Chemistry at the University of Liverpool. She is a chemist turned sociologist, with a particular interest in using embodied, reflective, and creative practices for social justice. Her award-winning work includes addressing and highlighting experiences of marginalisation in science due to intersectional factors including disability, gender, race, socioeconomic background and caring responsibilities. Recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry through their Diversity & Inclusion Prize and named in the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100, she founded and led Kent’s Summer Vacation Research Competition for postdoctoral researchers and widening participation students which became a model of practice for the consortium ‘Catalysing Change' to help address systemic racism in chemistry. She Co-Leads NADSN’s STEMM Action Group and was lead author on their White Paper: Towards an Inclusive Environment in STEMM for disabled researchers. She is Vice Chair (Research) for the International Women & Inclusion in Supramolecular Chemistry network, a Co-Chair of Kent’s Staff Disability Network and sits on Vitae’s Policy Advisory Group and the Ghanian NGO Empowering Female Minds in STEMM Advisory Board.