Dying to be seen

Andrea is a dedicated single mother to two children and a resilient bowel cancer survivor. Despite facing life's many challenges, along with 4 gruelling surgeries, she continued to live a life aligned with her values and aspirations, earning a post-graduate degree in counselling and coaching. With a strong passion for diversity and inclusion, her personal experience with cancer opened her eyes to the systemic biases within the medical industry, especially towards marginalised communities. This has fueled her advocacy work, as she is committed to creating meaningful change and raising awareness for those who are often overlooked. 

Unheard: Listening to the Voices of the Medically Silenced!

Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan is a doctor, researcher and writer. She qualified in 2004 from Kings College London and is a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust. She is Deputy Director of the SHARE Collaborative for Health Equity, Queen Mary University of London. She has held numerous national charity and policy positions and regularly works with patient organisations.  She is an inaugural Wellcome Collection x Spread the Word awardee 2022 where she was supported to write her debut non-fiction book Unheard: The Medical Practice of Silencing, published by Trapeze in 2024.

George Kalibala

Prostate Cancer: Risk, Race, and Health Outcomes 

George is a medical student at King's College London, with a strong interest in understanding the social determinants of health, particularly within Afro-Caribbean and refugee communities in the UK. He is keen to explore racial disparities in healthcare, hidden history of racial biases in medicine, and their ongoing impact on ethnic minority communities. In addition to his studies, George is a lead practitioner at Refugee Education UK, where he supports young refugees and asylum seekers interested in pursuing health science degrees at university, helping them navigate the challenges of accessing education in the UK.