Workshop Providers
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Dr. Bernard Koomson
Bernard Koomson is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies, University of Warwick, UK. His current research explores the future of human rights and youth participation in the digital age, through transnational collaborative approaches with researchers and civil society groups. He is particularly interested in how power, social and economic inequalities shape access and governance within the digital community for marginalised young adults, and the extent to which these inequalities affect the uptake of their fundamental human rights, particularly the right to health. Through a rights-based epistemological lens, he employs a participatory approach to the study of communities and grassroot organizations that promote human rights initiatives. As a development sociologist, he employs a multiplicity of techniques within a largely qualitative tradition to the study of his research interests. His research interests include youth culture and human rights, politics of child and youth economic migration, NGOs and community development, and emerging digital communities.
Javier Garcia Martinez
Javier García Martínez is a research assistant with the Digital Health and Rights Project (DHRP) and a joint PhD candidate at the University of Warwick and Monash University. His research focuses on the interdisciplinary intersections between Medical Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies (STS), with a particular emphasis on digital modes of inquiry. His work is developed collaboratively with multiple communities, including partners in the DHRP, harm reduction communities, and online grassroots mental health peer-support networks.
Emily Ahmed
Emily Ahmed is a qualitative researcher, co-production facilitator and trainer with over 25 years’ experience specialising in community engagement, creative and participatory approaches. She works across the NHS, local authorities, public health, voluntary sector and academia, supporting inclusive research, co-production and engagement with communities.
Currently completing a PhD at Warwick Medical School, exploring power in co-produced research. She regularly teaches on participatory research and public involvement at institutions including University College London, Imperial College London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Nottingham University, University of East London, Royal Holloway and Warwick University.
Alongside this, she works as a freelance researcher and group facilitator; is an associate trainer with the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement; Peer Research Programme Manager for Newham Public Health; and a qualified Action Learning Set facilitator and train-the-trainer. Her background in community development, youth work and visual arts shapes her commitment to inclusion and creativity in research.
Emily is an ethics reviewer for the Biomedical and Scientific Research Ethics Committee (BSREC) at the University of Warwick, a reviewer and steering group member of IREC, the Independent Research Ethics Committee, and the lead for the Arts-Based Methods Working Group of ICPHR, the International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research.
To find out more connect with Emily on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyahmed/
Dr Emma Heywood
Dr Emma Heywood is the founder of The 80:20 Pathway, a leading and widely recognised programme that equips researchers and innovators with the skills, confidence, and frameworks they need to engage meaningfully with communities. The 80:20 Pathway promotes genuine two-way communication, ensuring that community voices are not just heard but actively shape the very projects intended to serve them.
Emma is also a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, where her research explores the role and impact of communication on marginalised communities in conflict- and crisis-affected areas. She has published extensively on these issues, including her fifth book, Radio and Women’s Empowerment in Francophone West Africa, recently published by Palgrave.
Dr Angela Collins
Dr Angela Collins is an award-winning social researcher and participatory practitioner with over 20 years’ experience working across the public, voluntary and private sectors. Her ESRC-funded PhD involved extended ethnographic fieldwork with criminalised women, using creative and participatory methods to explore lived experiences of the criminal justice system. Angela specialises in engaging people with multiple and complex needs and translating insights into meaningful action. She recently worked with the Youth Justice Board and Youth Endowment Fund, interviewing children and young people and co-producing a video capturing their experiences of arrest, diversion and referral. Angela is also an experienced trainer, facilitator and mentor.