Apni Jung Advisory Board “With Dr. Kumar’s enthusiastic support, and input from our Advisory Board, we continue to develop our Apni Jung web area in Hindi and other common Asian languages to support the South Asian communities in the UK. Over time, we wish to extend our work to support other global majority communities in the UK who, for reasons of culture and/or language, are less likely to seek support from organisations like NRAS and may also be disadvantaged in accessing healthcare as a consequence.” Ailsa Bosworth, NRAS National Patient Champion Dr. Afshan Salim works as a GP at the Bellevue Medical Centre, Birmingham. She has a special interest in diabetes and is very keen on community education about chronic medical conditions and improving care. Dr. Salim said, “I am delighted to be joining this NRAS Advisory Board.” Dr. Kanta Kumar is a lecturer at the University of Birmingham and Honorary Visiting Professor at PGI Hospital, Chandigarh, India. She was the founder of the Apni Jung project with NRAS. Dr. Kumar has been awarded five national awards for her work in ethnicity in rheumatology. She is a member of a number of national bodies: BSR, South Asian Health Foundation. Dr. Arumugam Moorthy is a Consultant Rheumatologist at The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and Honorary Senior Lecturer at The University of Leicester. Dr. Moorthy is also a visiting professor of rheumatology at one of the prestigious medical universities in Chennai, India. Dr. Moorthy is actively involved in clinical research in rheumatology and medical education. He has presented his work in national and international conferences including the British Society for Rheumatology congress, EULAR and Indian Rheumatology Association meetings, and published in peer reviewed journals. Dr. Monica Gupta is a Consultant Rheumatologist and physician at Gartnavel General and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospitals in Glasgow. Her MD was on the clinical and laboratory features of septic arthritis and she has co-authored The Textbook of Rheumatology chapter. She runs early RA clinics and a tertiary Sjogren’s Clinic and sits on the British Sjogren’s Syndrome Association’s medical council. Dr. Shirish Dubey has been a Consultant Rheumatologist for 13 years, initially in West Midlands and now in Oxford (Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust). His interests include vasculitis and connective tissue disorders, alongside ethnicity. He has previously helped improve resources for patients through videos which helped launch the Apni Jung website and has been contributing to research into influences of ethnicity on outcomes. He has presented a number of oral presentations at international meetings and continues to actively publish papers. Dr. Vibhu Paudyal is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Birmingham. His areas of research interests are community pharmacy service development, social and behavioural aspects of medicines’ use and health inequality. Mrs. Joti Rehal is an NRAS patient Volunteer who has lived with RA for 21 years and worked with NRAS on a number of projects including appearing in a video with Dr. Dubey and Dr. Kumar about transitioning from DMARDs to Biologics on the Apni Jung web area. Since moving onto Biologics, her RA is under control and she is living now with fewer flares and less pain than used to be the case. Her RA started after the birth of her first son when she had a really difficult time. It subsequently caused her to leave her full-time job. She says it affected her not only physically, but in every way; emotionally, mentally, and financially. She didn’t give up hope though and went on to have another baby nine and a half years later and is successfully running two businesses. Prof. Ade Adebajo is a Consultant Rheumatologist at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and a Professor of Rheumatology and Health Services Research at the University of Sheffield. He is a member of the NIHR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group and a Board member of the NIHR Centre for Engagement and Dissemination. Dr. Dyna Arhin is a researcher and practitioner in public health medicine and health economics. She worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard, and as an NHS Consultant she has held Deputy Director of public health posts. She is now a freelance consultant. Her research focus has been on issues of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), including improving access among disadvantaged patient groups. Following her diagnosis of a connective tissue disorder she gained particular insight into the access needs of ethnic minority patients with rheumatological conditions. NRAS in 2023 0 Helpline enquiries 0 Publications sent out 0 People reached
“With Dr. Kumar’s enthusiastic support, and input from our Advisory Board, we continue to develop our Apni Jung web area in Hindi and other common Asian languages to support the South Asian communities in the UK. Over time, we wish to extend our work to support other global majority communities in the UK who, for reasons of culture and/or language, are less likely to seek support from organisations like NRAS and may also be disadvantaged in accessing healthcare as a consequence.” Ailsa Bosworth, NRAS National Patient Champion
Dr. Afshan Salim works as a GP at the Bellevue Medical Centre, Birmingham. She has a special interest in diabetes and is very keen on community education about chronic medical conditions and improving care. Dr. Salim said, “I am delighted to be joining this NRAS Advisory Board.”
Dr. Kanta Kumar is a lecturer at the University of Birmingham and Honorary Visiting Professor at PGI Hospital, Chandigarh, India. She was the founder of the Apni Jung project with NRAS. Dr. Kumar has been awarded five national awards for her work in ethnicity in rheumatology. She is a member of a number of national bodies: BSR, South Asian Health Foundation.
Dr. Arumugam Moorthy is a Consultant Rheumatologist at The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and Honorary Senior Lecturer at The University of Leicester. Dr. Moorthy is also a visiting professor of rheumatology at one of the prestigious medical universities in Chennai, India. Dr. Moorthy is actively involved in clinical research in rheumatology and medical education. He has presented his work in national and international conferences including the British Society for Rheumatology congress, EULAR and Indian Rheumatology Association meetings, and published in peer reviewed journals.
Dr. Monica Gupta is a Consultant Rheumatologist and physician at Gartnavel General and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospitals in Glasgow. Her MD was on the clinical and laboratory features of septic arthritis and she has co-authored The Textbook of Rheumatology chapter. She runs early RA clinics and a tertiary Sjogren’s Clinic and sits on the British Sjogren’s Syndrome Association’s medical council.
Dr. Shirish Dubey has been a Consultant Rheumatologist for 13 years, initially in West Midlands and now in Oxford (Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust). His interests include vasculitis and connective tissue disorders, alongside ethnicity. He has previously helped improve resources for patients through videos which helped launch the Apni Jung website and has been contributing to research into influences of ethnicity on outcomes. He has presented a number of oral presentations at international meetings and continues to actively publish papers.
Dr. Vibhu Paudyal is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Birmingham. His areas of research interests are community pharmacy service development, social and behavioural aspects of medicines’ use and health inequality.
Mrs. Joti Rehal is an NRAS patient Volunteer who has lived with RA for 21 years and worked with NRAS on a number of projects including appearing in a video with Dr. Dubey and Dr. Kumar about transitioning from DMARDs to Biologics on the Apni Jung web area. Since moving onto Biologics, her RA is under control and she is living now with fewer flares and less pain than used to be the case. Her RA started after the birth of her first son when she had a really difficult time. It subsequently caused her to leave her full-time job. She says it affected her not only physically, but in every way; emotionally, mentally, and financially. She didn’t give up hope though and went on to have another baby nine and a half years later and is successfully running two businesses.
Prof. Ade Adebajo is a Consultant Rheumatologist at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and a Professor of Rheumatology and Health Services Research at the University of Sheffield. He is a member of the NIHR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group and a Board member of the NIHR Centre for Engagement and Dissemination.
Dr. Dyna Arhin is a researcher and practitioner in public health medicine and health economics. She worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard, and as an NHS Consultant she has held Deputy Director of public health posts. She is now a freelance consultant. Her research focus has been on issues of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), including improving access among disadvantaged patient groups. Following her diagnosis of a connective tissue disorder she gained particular insight into the access needs of ethnic minority patients with rheumatological conditions.