2025 Panel Discussion: Putting principles into practice
19/11/2025
The principles set out in our strategic framework are central to everything we fund and support. This session was designed to give the chance to hear from several of our awardees who are doing outstanding work in putting these principles into practice. Hear from Bibhusha Karki (University of Manchester) discuss engagement with underserved communities, advancing equity, diversity and inclusion, from Genna Abdullah (University of Liverpool talk about the work to strengthening patient, carer and public involvement, learn from Claire Hill (Queen’s University Belfast) how to embed environmental sustainability into research and how Helen Nutall (Lancaster University)promotes good research culture and communication.
Putting principles into practice
The principles set out in our strategic framework are central to everything we fund and support. Today’s session is designed to give us the chance to hear from several of our awardees who are doing outstanding work in putting these principles into practice — whether through engagement with underserved communities, advancing equity, diversity and inclusion, strengthening patient, carer and public involvement, embedding environmental sustainability into research, or improving research culture and communication. The panellists include:
- Bibhusha Karki (University of Manchester) to discuss engagement with underserved communities and issues related to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI);
- Genna Abdullah (University of Liverpool) to discuss patient, carer and public involvement and engagement;
- Claire Hill (Queen’s University Belfast) to discuss environmental sustainability in research;
- Helen Nuttall (Lancaster University) to discuss research culture and communication.
Watch the recording
If you cannot see the embedded video below, then you can watch the recording on YouTube at this link.
Meet the speakers
Bibhusha Karki
Bibhusha Karki is a public health and international development researcher with expertise in digital health innovation, co-production, and mixed-methods research. She holds a Master’s in Development Practice with a minor in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota and a BSc in International Development and Economics from Minnesota State University Moorhead, in the USA. Her professional experience spans health equity, programme evaluation, and capacity building across Nepal, the USA, and the UK. Currently, she is fully dedicated to her role as a PhD researcher at the University of Manchester, where her work focuses on co-developing culturally tailored digital physical activity interventions to promote healthy ageing and digital inclusion among older South Asian adults.
Genna Abdullah
Genna Abdullah is a previous Vivensa Foundation funded PhD student and current post-doctoral researcher in a Vivensa Foundation-funded grant. She is also a recipient of a Vivensa Foundation Ignition Fund award and please do see our website on how that scheme may help you too. Genna has learnt a lot about how to get her work out where people can find it and also about their hopes for future research.
Claire Hill
Claire Hill completed her degree in Biochemistry with Professional Studies in 2016 at Queen’s University Belfast, followed by an Interdisciplinary Bioscience PhD at the University of Oxford in 2021. She then returned to Queen’s, joining the Centre for Public Health, to investigate biomarkers of ageing in kidney disease and explore kidney health inequalities. In May 2025, Claire began a five-year proleptic Fellowship funded by the Vivensa Foundation. Her interest in laboratory sustainability started at Oxford as part of the Dunn School Green Group, where she contributed to establishing the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (known as LEAF) within the department. She harnessed this experience to then be part of one of the pilot teams that first implemented LEAF at Queen’s in 2021 and continues to champion sustainable lab practices, with aspirations to further integrate this perspective into big-data and computational research in the future.
Helen Nuttall
Helen is a Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, where she leads the Neuroscience of Speech and Action Lab, which investigates: how hearing and speech, action and cognition are represented in the brain; how these functions work in health and disease; and how they are affected by the ageing process.
As well as doing the science, Helen is a science communicator. Alongside Kate Slade, she co-hosts a podcast called ‘Drs Confess’, where they talk about science and research culture. Helen was also presented with the 2025 Mentorship Award at the Women in Neuroscience UK Awards.