Tackling health inequalities is the target of a bold new £11.6 million programme of research from Queen Mary University of London and City, University of London, which will train 32 healthcare PhDs over eight years.
Programme partners include ELFT and Barts NHS Trust, who are providing participants with funding for up to a year after completion of their PhD so as to encourage them to remain academically active. This support will also allow people to confinue benefitting from mentoring support from the HARP Faculty for a total of two years.
The Health Advances in Underrepresented Populations and Diseases (HARP) PhD Programme focuses research towards people and diseases that have traditionally been underrepresented in healthcare studies.
Commenting on ELFT's role in supporting the HARP programme, Professor Frank Röhricht, ELFT's Medical Director for Research/Innovation and Medical Education said:
"This is an incredibly important area of research, the outcomes of which we hope to be of value to communities across east London and also nationwide".
"The HARP programme actively encourages clinicians who have experience of living and working alongside under-represented populations to get involved - often just the people who have the kind of crucial expertise and knowledge that leads to groundbreaking and important progress in healthcare studies."
The programme directors are looking for enthusiastic fellows who would be interested in projects addressing research topics related to underrepresented populations and diseases due to:
- Social inequalities (demographic and protected characteristics)
- Marginalisation (socioeconomics, education, lifestyle choices, legal/housing status)
- Health status (mental health or rare diseases)
Applicants can be of any health profession, such as medical graduates, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, clinical psychologists, and many others