EHU Profiles

Professor Mala Rao CBE

Professor Mala Rao CBE, OBE, MBBS, MSc, PhD, FFPH, Hon FFSRH, Hon FSoPHE, Hon FRCPCH is Director of the Ethnicity and Health Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London. She is also chair of WHO South East Asia Region’s Expert Group on the Environmental Determinants of Climate Change and Health, Clinical Adviser to the UK General Medical Council on equality, diversity and inclusion and Vice Chair of WaterAid UK. Her career has spanned public health practice, policy, research and training and her most impactful achievements have been in workforce development, strengthening health systems and environmental health in the UK and overseas. Her research and advice to governments and global institutions have improved health care for millions in some of the poorest states in India and elsewhere. She has been included among the most influential people in India-UK relations. 

In 2014, a review that she led, influenced parliamentarians to establish the NHS Workforce Race Equality Strategic Advisory Group of which she was Vice-Chair during 2016 - 2018. She co-guest edited the February 2020 British Medical Journal’s special issue on Racism in Medicine which won a prestigious UK Professional Publishers Award (PPA) in 2021 and influenced the launch of the NHS Race and Health Observatory. In 2021, she led the development of the Medical Workforce Race Equality Standard, a ‘world first’ in monitoring racism and discrimination across the medical workforce. In 2022, she launched the first comprehensive guide to Induction for International Medical Graduates recruited to the NHS. 

 Mala is a recognised champion of climate action, safe water and sanitation and gender equity and is also globally respected for her advocacy of race equality and research on the intersection between race, health and climate. She has published several papers and book chapters and contributed to Government reports on climate and health. She instigated and co-edited the 2009 ‘Health Practitioner’s Guide to Climate Change’ described as a ‘wake-up call for health professions’ by the President of the RCP, and guest-edited the 2022 issue of the International Review of Psychiatry focusing on the climate crisis and mental health.  

 She has been included among the most influential ethnic minority people in the English health world and is the recipient of awards, including a CBE 2024, OBE 2013, the Faculty of Public Health’s Alwyn Smith prize in 2021 and Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in 2022.  

Areas of Interest 

Climate and Health ¦ Race Equality ¦ Global Health Equity ¦ Health Systems ¦ Workforce Development for Health

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Ganesh Sathyamoorthy

Ganesh Sathyamoorthy is the Deputy Director of the Ethnicity & Health Unit at Imperial College London and holds the position of Assistant Director for Partnerships and Business Development for the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Northwest London (NWL). With a passion for addressing health inequalities faced by ethnic minority communities, Ganesh is dedicated to making a positive impact in the realm of healthcare and community engagement. 

 In collaboration with Professor Mala Rao, Ganesh established the Ethnicity & Health Unit, initially as a response to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Ethnic Minority Communities. His commitment to addressing this issue extended to delivering virtual presentations, reaching over 250 individuals, and encouraging both NHS staff and communities at large to embrace the COVID-19 vaccine. 

The Ethnicity Health Unit has evolved to tackle a spectrum of research issues, including examining ethnic minority groups' hesitancy to participate in clinical research trials. Notably, the unit secured £400k in funding from NHS England’s Research Engagement Network (REN) program, focusing on the boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Hounslow, and Hillingdon. The initiative, marked by 10 community engagement roadshows attended by 1,200 people, included health checks and surveys to gauge public views on research.  

 Ganesh played a pivotal role in the development of a partnership between CLAHRC NWL, the Sickle Cell Society and the Picker Institute, orchestrating the first nationwide survey of patient experiences of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) care in the UK. His efforts led to the creation of the first Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM) for SCD, gathering over 700 responses nationwide and disseminating key findings through an award-winning infographic. 

 Throughout his career, Ganesh has consistently demonstrated a commitment to community service. His roles as a mentor for at-risk primary school boys in Brent, Vice Chair of Cancer Black Care, and a member of the MIND Policy Committee, advising on issues impacting ethnic minority communities, showcase his dedication to addressing broader social and mental health concerns.  

 In the early years of Ganesh's career, from 1994 to 2001, he served as a Research Associate for the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. His contributions included leading the development of research projects evaluating the mental health needs of ethnic minority communities and creating a Culturally Sensitive Audit Tool. 

Ganesh Sathyamoorthy's journey is marked by a relentless pursuit of equitable healthcare solutions, collaborative research, and community engagement, solidifying his position as a visionary leader in the field of health disparities. 

 Areas of Interest

Increasing diversity in clinical research trials ¦ Sickle Cell Disease ¦ Impact of health inequalities on ethnic minority communities 

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Keivan is an overseas registered clinical pharmacist, an Advanced Research Fellow at Imperial College London and Guest Professor at UCSI University. He has worked in low income, middle income, high middle income and high-income countries as both academic and practitioner. He is a member of the core team at the NIHR ARC NWL as well as the Innovation & Evaluation Theme, and the Ethnicity Health Unit (EHU). 

Keivan's research mainly focuses on the quantifiable measures that contribute to our understanding of Global Burden of Disease (GBD) with a focus on clinical conditions such as diabetes, infectious disease, and lung diseases. Since 2017, he has been a GBD Collaborator with the Institute for Health Metrics Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, U.S. Currently, he is the evaluation lead for the Integrated Care System Research Engagement Network (ICS REN) development programme. 

Keivan has conducted a randomised controlled trial of complex educational interventions with a focus on evolving roles of clinical pharmacists. Antimicrobial resistance and the involvement of community pharmacists is another area of his research. Keivan actively seeks to understand the effects of vaping as a smoking cessation strategy amongst children, pregnant women and ethnic minority groups/ marginalised population using innovative methods. Health education including pharmacy and medical education, Interprofessional education, Health and Equality remain the main agendas of his research. 

Areas of Research Interest 

Electronic cigarettes/Vaping ¦ Developing measurement tools & Evaluation strategies ¦ Complex interventions and their evaluation 

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Employed by the university since July 2020, Richard has a social sciences background, with MA in Applied Population Research and MSc in HealthCare.  After an early research career in mental health in the UK, he spent the next 15 years in East Africa, working in palliative / end-of-life care, women’s health and sexual / reproductive health generally. Notable work explored social norms and attitudinal and behavioural change in female genital cutting practices in Somaliland.  

After seven years in senior management addressing learning and research at the African Palliative Care Association, based in Kampala, Uganda, he was the Deputy Director of Research at Healthcare Chaplaincy, New York, USA, before returning to Africa as the Deputy Chief of Party on a multi-million dollar five-year, USAID-funded project focussed on monitoring and learning, knowledge management and HIV research in Kenya.  

A referee for multiple academic journals, Richard was the founder and coordinator of the African Palliative Care Research Network, a member of the research committee of the International Children’s Palliative Care Network, a member of the steering committee of the International Palliative Care Family Carer Research Collaboration, and a co-chair of the European Association of Palliative Care’s Task Force on Palliative Care in Africa.  While a mixed methods researcher, Richard has focussed a great deal of work on qualitative research. 

Explore Richard’s peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

Areas of Interest 

Involving ethnic minority communities in health research ¦ Chronic and palliative care needs among elderly ethnic minorities ¦ Differential impact of climate change on health and wellbeing

Natasha is a Research Assistant at the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College London, within the Ethnicity and Health Unit, funded by the NIHR ARC NWL. Her research work focuses on understanding the impact of community-led initiatives on the health and well-being of the targeted communities, improving the quality of healthcare services, and understanding the views and ways to drive diversity in research.

 She is a medical doctor by training, has a postgraduate degree in Healthcare Management from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) certification from the National Association of Healthcare Quality, USA, and obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Health in 2021 from Imperial College London. Natasha has considerable prior experience in healthcare as a quality improvement manager, contributing to improved clinical effectiveness, patient-centred healthcare services, and implementing data-driven strategies and tools.

Areas of Interest 

Beneficial impact of community-led initiatives ¦ Improving quality of healthcare service  ¦ Focussing on ways to reduce health inequalities  ¦ Driving diversity in research  

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Ravi is the Director of MEdIC, the Medical Education Innovation & Research Centre founded in 2019. This centre is unique in bringing together community, education, and workforce needs into medical education innovations and research that have a positive and sustainable impact on our society. Ravi was awarded the prestigious Imperial College President's Medal for teaching innovation in June 2022. MEdIC has established itself with an international reputation of excellence in medical education, achieving several awards for research and funding, peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences. MEdIC has established collaborations nationally and internationally including with colleagues at Harvard University, Melbourne University, Fukushima University and the University of Cape Town.  

Ravi leads the outreach activities in MEdIC including the WATCCH programme (Widening Access to Careers in Community Healthcare) offering Year 12 students, from widening participation backgrounds interested in healthcare careers, with work experience, mentoring and workshops. He has expanded the programme by 50% in 2024. He also oversees the MEdIC masterclasses, providing free online webinars to UK medical students (particularly those from WP backgrounds) interested in a career in medical education.  

Ravis sits on the SPH Research Committee, Education Committee, Research & Impact Strategy working group and PCPH Senior Management team. He interviews regularly for ACF and AFP programs in London, is an Editorial Board Member of BMC Medical Education and is a Co-founder of the ASME Longitudinal Education Models Specialist Interest Group. Ravi studied medicine at the University of Bristol, before moving to North West London to complete his foundation and postgraduate training. He completed the Academic Foundation Program and Academic Clinical Fellowship in General Practice in North West Thames. He has completed in Masters in Education (with Distinction) at Imperial College, winning the M(Ed) prize and PG Dip prize. He holds Fellowship of the Higher Education Authority (FHEA). He currently works as a GP in Westminster alongside his educational role. 

Areas of Interest 

Widening Participation ¦ Experiences of students from WP backgrounds ¦ Differential awarding 

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Vimal is an Occupational Therapist and completed his undergraduate training and initial work experience in the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, India. He then read for his MSc in Evidence Based Healthcare and DPhil in Populational Health at the University of Oxford. His research focused on Carers experience of assistive technology use in dementia care.  

Vimal has been a NICE Fellow (2015-2018), is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and regularly lectures on translating health policy into practice and applied health research for MSc programmes. Vimal has experience in capacity building for quality improvement and has a keen interest in digital health, research using mixed-methods, eLearning, mentoring and developing future Allied Health Professionals. Vimal currently is researching and supporting the implementation of safe spaces and mentoring for career development for black and minoritised ethnic occupational therapists and other allied health professionals.  

Vimal is Director of Allied Health Professionals at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and Deputy Theme Lead for the Collaborative Learning and Capacity Building Theme at NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, Northwest London. Vimal is part of the BAME Occupational Therapists network, a Founding Innovation Fellow in Health Innovation Network, West of England, was a fitness to practice panel member for the Health and Care Professions Council (2015-2023), a member of the Research & innovation advisory group at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, reviewer for the WHO dementia knowledge exchange platform and a Trustee for the Community of Allied Health Professionals in Research Charity. 

Areas of Interest 

Assistive Technology for frailty and dementia care ¦ Mentoring for career development ¦ Workforce issues for minoritised health and care professionals

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