Doctoral students celebrated for healthcare diversity work

Business students at Middlesex have been recognised for their exceptional efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion in healthcare

Students on the Doctor in Business Administration (DBA) in Healthcare Leadership have been nominated for prestigious industry awards.

Karen Chummun, Deputy Director of People, Talent and Leadership at the NHS South East England Leadership Academy, recently won the Trailblazer in Inclusion Excellence Award at the National B.A.M.E Health and Care Awards. These awards celebrate Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) professionals who have helped shape and innovate health and care.

Karen praised the DBA in Healthcare Leadership for connecting “academic thinking with the real challenges” facing healthcare organisations and said it could lead to chief executive roles.

“Undertaking the DBA in Executive Healthcare Leadership at Middlesex University has been a truly rewarding experience, both personally and professionally,” said Karen. "After many years working in senior NHS talent and leadership, I wanted a programme that would challenge me and to develop my ability to look beyond the immediate challenges of practice and critically explore the evidence and thinking to help shape the complex issues facing the future of healthcare leadership.

“The DBA has ultimately helped me develop as both a practitioner and a researcher, strengthening my confidence to use evidence, research and action to contribute to a more diverse, effective and inclusive future NHS leadership community.”

Karen was also shortlisted for an Excellence in People Award at the Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA). DBA student Funmi Onamusi, a Chief People Officer at the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, was shortlisted at the same event for a People Leadership Award.

Sutopa Sen, also studying on the DBA program, who is Head of Freedom from Racism/Anti-Discrimination at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, was shortlisted for Health and Social Care Speaker of the Year at the 2026 PDG (Personal Development Grant) Awards. This nomination recognised her work championing anti-racism, inclusion and cultural change.

Sutopa said: “The course has been an incredibly rewarding experience. It has helped me think more deeply about how we create meaningful, measurable and sustainable cultural transformation, rather than just delivering programmes.

"Our recently launched reciprocal mentoring programme which brings together senior leaders and junior colleagues with lived experience of racism, has been particularly exciting and has become the focal point of my research project, as I am keen to understand how far it will enable wider anti-racist cultural change through participants and the wider organisation.

“I’m beginning to feel a very direct connection between this doctoral research project, my lived experience, culture and values, and my personal leadership journey. I can also see how the work is benefitting others too, potentially bringing about practical, cultural change across a major NHS organisation where it is so very needed.”

Another student, Wisdom Musabaike, the Assistant Director of Red Cell Immunohaematology at NHS Blood and Transplant, was appointed Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee at the British Blood Transfusion Society, where he will help advance representation and inclusive professional practice.

Wisdom, who has more than 20 years of experience in transfusion science, praised staff including Dr Julie Haddock-Millar and Dr Mary Hartog for their “exceptional guidance”.

He said: “The DBA has encouraged me to step back from the day-to-day demands of leading a national service and critically reflect on my leadership practice. It has challenged me to question assumptions, consider different perspectives and examine how my decisions influence colleagues and the services we provide.
“For me, the DBA is about more than achieving a qualification. It is about becoming a better leader, using research and reflection to improve my practice, and making a meaningful difference with the people I lead and the services we deliver.”

Dr Mary Hartog, Director of Leadership Practice and Organisation at Middlesex University Business School, who co-leads the DBA, said: “It is heartening to see how the doctoral process is enabling our students to think critically and as practitioner researchers link theory and practice to achieve excellent outcomes.”

Find out more about studying the Doctor in Business Administration (DBA) in Healthcare Leadership at Middlesex.