Suman Prinjha
Senior Research Fellow (Associate Professor)
Profile
Biography
Suman joined York Trials Unit in January 2024 as a Senior Research Fellow / Associate Professor. She is a qualitative researcher with over 20 years’ postdoctoral experience, and a BACP-registered psychotherapist. She leads research into health inequalities, ethnic minority health, and patients’ experiences of illness and healthcare.
Suman is Co-Investigator and EDI theme lead on a 5-year NIHR-funded programme grant, leading work on the inclusion of Bangladeshi, Black African and Caribbean communities in a clinical trial on COPD.
She is also Co-investigator on an NIHR-funded feasibility study to design and test a smart digital tool to help GPs detect heart failure earlier, and decrease the frequency of hospital diagnoses. At the NIHR Research Support Service delivered by the University of York and partners, she advises on research inclusion.
From 2022-23, Suman was a Senior Research Advisor with NIHR Research Design Service East Midlands (RDS-EM) and Centre for Ethnic Health Research (CEHR), University of Leicester. Prior to that, from 2001-2021, she worked at University of Oxford. She has conducted 11 studies published on the award-winning www.healthtalk.org, a health website that presents academic research findings to the general public. Her work included conducting around 450 face-to-face interviews across the UK, analysing the data, and writing lay summaries and academic papers on patients' experiences of:
- Cancer and cancer screening (breast screening; breast cancer; DCIS; CIN3 and CGIN
- Intensive care (patients’ and relatives’ experiences; organ donation
- Long-term conditions (epilepsy; living with an indwelling urinary catheter
- Orthopaedic surgery (partial knee replacement; keyhole shoulder surgery)
- Young people’s use and experiences of primary care
X: @SumanPrinjha
Qualifications
- Postgraduate Diploma Counselling and Psychotherapy, University of East London
- PhD Social Anthropology, London School of Economics
- MSc Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh
- BSc Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Bradford
Departmental roles
Research Impact and Knowledge Exchange Lead, Department of Health Sciences
University roles
Advisory Board member, EDI Research Centre
Research
Overview
Suman’s research focuses on health inequalities, ethnic minority health, and long-term conditions. This includes research into South Asian experiences of type 2 diabetes and developing culturally appropriate health information.
Selected completed projects
- Exploring British South Asian experiences of type 2 diabetes and support from mobile health text messaging
- MOCHA (Models of Child Health Appraised)
- Seeing the GP: advice and tips for young people
- Living with a urinary catheter
- Organ donation
- Cervical abnormalities: CIN3 and CGIN
- Ductal carcinoma In Situ
- Intensive care: experiences of family and friends
- Intensive care: patients’ experiences
- Breast screening
- Adult experiences of epilepsy
Projects
- UPTURN Study - Co-design and evaluation of an intervention to increase UPTake of pUlmonary RehabilitatioN for people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- THINK-HF - Feasibility Trial of electronic Health record INtelligent tooling in primary care for quicKer diagnosis of HF
Research group(s)
Supervision
Suman would be interested in supervising PhD students working in the following areas: health inequalities, ethnic minority health, mental health, and patients’ experiences of long-term conditions.
Publications
Selected publications
- Prinjha, S., Miah, N., E, Ali., S, Bhavsar., G, Grewal-Santini., A, Barnett., K, Khunti., Farmer, A. (2021). Learning from COVID-19: British South Asian perspectives on developing culturally appropriate health information resources. https://dipexcharity.org/coproduction-and-health-information-for-british-south-asians/ https://rdcu.be/b4VCs
- Prinjha, S., Miah, N., Farmer, A. and Khunti, K. (2021). Learning from COVID-19 to improve health information for South Asian communities. BMJ Opinion. https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/09/15/learning-from-covid-19-to-improve-health-information-for-south-asian-communities/
- Prinjha S, Chapple A. Penile sheaths and types of catheter. Nursing and Residential Care 16(4): 185 (Apr 2014).
- Prinjha S, Chapple A. Patients’ experiences of living with an indwelling urinary catheter. British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing 10(2): 62 (Apr 2014).
Full publications list
External activities
Memberships
- Member of Diabetes UK Research Steering Group
- Member of NHS England National Healthcare Inequalities Network
- Registered member of British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
Invited talks and conferences
Selected invited talks
- 2024: Inclusive trials: ethics in action. University College Cork-CRF and the Health Research Board-Trials Methodology Research Network
- 2023: Cultural competence and inclusivity in research. Three NIHR Research Schools Mental Health Programme
- 2023: How to improve inclusivity in health research. NIHR Liver Partnerships launch, University of Nottingham
- 2021: Cancer Research UK Elusive Risks Project: Including ethnic minority views in health research. University of Cambridge
Media coverage
2022: Asian men seek ‘culturally sensitive’ accessible therapy
Media coverage on Suman’s Healthtalk studies:
Living with a urinary catheter study
- Spinal Column: I don’t want to injure myself again: If addicts can give up heroin, then I can give up horses. Journalist: Melanie Reid. The Times Magazine 08/06/13 p.13
- Spinal Column: My hip has settled down, my nails have stopped rotting, but my hands are depressingly clawed. Journalist: Melanie Reid. The Times Magazine 25/05/13 p. 11
Contact details
@healthsciyork