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Leicestershire Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Doctoral Training Programme

A female doctor speaking with a male patient

This prestigious PhD programme will look to address the unique health issues faced by Leicester and Leicestershire’s ethnically and culturally diverse population, recently amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to funding from the Wellcome Trust, the programme is offering funding opportunities for 25 Research Fellows over five years, which will provide nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and doctors with the chance to pursue academic research.  

Funding provided by the PhD Programme for Healthcare Professionals (HCP’s) will cover three years’ salary for each Fellow, as well as experimental research costs and training, delivered in partnership with the University of Leicester, Loughborough University, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester City Council’s Public Health team, and Leicester City CCG.

The Fellows will also benefit from well-established partnerships across the regional and national healthcare system, local government, industry and community groups in addition to the expertise at Leicester with the aim of developing a generation of innovative world-leading researchers in under-represented groups of health care professionals addressing important areas of health inequalities.

Applications are now open for a 1 October 2022 start. The programme will offer:

  • Various projects to support nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and doctors
  • Funding will cover three years’ salary for each Fellow, as well as experimental research costs and training
  • Total of 25 awards over 5 years (may be taken on a part-time basis – can be discussed at interview)

Projects for October 2022

SupervisorProject title
Professor Nicolette Bishop The influence of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and pulmonary rehabilitation on systemic chronic inflammation, physical function and quality of life in South Asian and White European patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Dr Enya DaynesBreathlessness perceptions of under-represented groups to develop a culturally tailored symptom-management intervention
Dr Rachael Evans The impact of Long Covid in the multi-morbid individual – integration into a multi-morbid exercise based rehabilitation programme
Dr Neil Greening The effects of pulmonary tuberculosis and response to therapy on skeletal muscle dysfunction and recovery
Dr Joseph Henson Exercise in younger adults with type 2 diabetes: optimising the response using a personalised approach
Dr Linzy Houchen-Wolloff Adaptation and testing of Your Covid Recovery© to address ethnicity, language and digital divide health inequalities.
Professor Kamlesh Khunti  Promoting health outcome prioritisation in primary care consultations with patients with multi-morbidity, in a multi-ethnic population: A mixed-methods intervention study
Dr Claire LawsonSymptom, multi-morbidity and frailty burden in heart failure; perceptions, misconceptions and impacts on self-care behaviour – global ethno-economic insights using Real World Data.
Professor Gerry McCann Impact of a low-energy meal replacement plan on symptoms, exercise capacity and skeletal myopathy in a multi-ethnic cohort with obesity and HFpEF
Dr Mark OrmeExploring the relativism of physical activity and exercise capacity in the context of health inequalities
Professor Sally SinghUnderstanding and addressing health inequalities in cardiac rehabilitation understanding barriers and increasing access
Professor Alice Smith Understanding the presentation of sarcopenia in those living with frailty and multiple long-term conditions
Dr David WebbObesity and long-COVID: From epidemiology to intervention
Professor Tom Yates Optimising weight loss in South Asian populations with cardiometabolic disease: a focus on exercise, lean mass preservation and metabolic health