Dr Kiran Rai

• PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Birmingham, 2016
• MSc in Research Methods in Health Sciences, University of Warwick, 2010
• BSc Nursing Studies, King’s College London, 2008

Kiran graduated in nursing at King’s College London in 2008, and went on to work in a few specialities in primary and secondary care within the West Midlands.  Her interest in research led to her completing her Masters in Research Methods in Health Sciences at the University of Warwick in 2010.

In 2011 she joined the BLISS programme as a PhD student to investigate the effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on employment, absenteeism and presenteeism under the supervision of Professor Peymane Adab and Dr Rachel Jordan.

Kiran has worked in a range of research areas, including clinical trials, health service research and public health and epidemiological research. Her main research interests focus on respiratory disease, public health and improving working outcomes in those with chronic disease.

• MBChB years 1 & 3

• COPE-West Midlands (£441,309; 2020-2021)

Kiran is the research fellow and project manager for COPE-WM. This study aims to examine the relative contribution of occupational, sociodemographic and clinical risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCW in University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (BWCH) and the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS), and how to minimise these risks.

• eTHOS (£701,136; 2018-2020)

Kiran is the research fellow for eTHOS - A randomised controlled pilot trial of an employee health screening clinic for NHS staff, and manages the process evaluation element of the study.

• Breathe Well programme (£2M; 2017-2020)

Researchers at the University of Birmingham are working with four low and middle income countries – Brazil, China, Georgia and Macedonia. The aim is to co-develop the capability, networks & platform to deliver targeted and effective research and healthcare outcomes in COPD, specifically to:

• strengthen local research capacity in the partner countries in community-based COPD research & generic population research methods
• develop and test community-based & culturally-appropriate approaches for identifying undiagnosed COPD in low resource countries
• adapt evidence-based behavioural approaches for management of COPD according to cultural needs and the local healthcare infrastructure, and assess the feasibility of their implementation
• build a robust platform for future collaborative research within the partner countries and other similar settings

• Birmingham Lung Improvement Studies (BLISS)

The BLISS programme is a series of studies about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which aims new ways of better identifying and managing patients with COPD in the community.

Kiran’s work has mainly related to the Birmingham COPD Cohort study – examining the factors associated with employment and work productivity (absenteeism and presenteeism) among those with COPD and evaluating the effectiveness of a novel occupational health intervention on these working outcomes.

Further information about the Birmingham Lung Improvement Studies is available at www.birmingham.ac.uk/bliss 

• Using Islamic religious setting to prevent obesity in South Asian children

Working alongside the ‘Born in Bradford’ research team on an NIHR-funded programme development grant, investigating how Islamic religious settings could be used to deliver an obesity prevention programme in South Asian children aged 5 to 11 years. The programme of work consists of a number of studies, which includes a review of the existing literature in this area, identification of obesity prevention behaviours in South Asians and qualitative research to determine the acceptability (in parents), receptiveness and capacity (in Islamic leaders and teachers) of Islamic religious settings to deliver a childhood obesity prevention intervention.

• Health service research

Kiran has been involved in the evaluation of a few NHS health service initiatives for example a hospital-based service which aimed to provide a comprehensive geriatric assessment for vulnerable or frail older people, and a community-based initiative aiming to improve safety within care homes.