Early-career health researcher

Her research interests centre on health inequalities and access to healthcare, with a particular interest in women's and reproductive health, maternal and child health, health literacy, community health and global public health. She is especially interested in the experiences of South Asian migrant mothers in the UK, including maternal health, postpartum depression, cultural displacement and the barriers that can affect access to appropriate care. Her interests also extend to simulation-based learning and healthcare education for medical and nursing students.

Sultana's interest in research has developed through a combination of academic, clinical and community experience. At Coventry University, she worked as a Learning Advisor in Research Skills, supporting students with research methods, literature searching and critical appraisal. She previously worked as a Nursing Lecturer in Bangladesh, supervising student research and supporting evidence-based clinical education. She has also worked on UNICEF-supported community health initiatives, coordinating health data collection, outreach and community engagement.

Her background as a registered nurse gives her a practical understanding of healthcare from both patient and practitioner perspectives. Alongside her academic and professional experience, she has developed skills in systematic reviews, cross-sectional and qualitative research, critical appraisal, literature searching, data collection and analysis, using SPSS, Excel and NVivo. She has also undertaken training in clinical trials management, Good Clinical Practice, research governance, research ethics and data protection in health research.

Sultana is now developing her research career with an interest in work that connects evidence with real experiences and contributes to better healthcare access and outcomes for women, families, migrants and underserved communities. Her longer-term ambition is to contribute to meaningful health and medical research while developing collaborations across medical research, public health, clinical practice and healthcare education.