Dr Shoba Dawson
BA, MSc, PhD
Current positions
Associate Professor in Inclusive Research and Healthcare Practice
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I am a methodologist with expertise in inclusive research, evidence synthesis, and patient and public involvement and engagement. My work focuses on designing, conducting and evaluating inclusive research to address health inequities in primary care, clinical trials and applied health research.
I lead the Trial Forge Inclusive Research Centre, which aims to strengthen the evidence base for methodological approaches to improve inclusivity in trials, thereby enhancing decision-making, relevance and generalisability. I co-lead the GPs at the Deep End Network, Bristol, which aims to reduce health inequalities through peer support, advocacy, training and research for primary care clinicians working in disadvantaged areas.
My current work includes a World Health Organisation-funded project developing policy guidance to improve access for under-represented populations to clinical trials and research. Internationally, I contributed to the RECONSIDER advisory group (2022–2024), supporting the development of methodological and reporting guidance to improve ethnic diversity in trials globally. I am also a member of the Milken Institute FasterCures Health Equity Advisory Council.
In 2025, I was elected to the Society for Academic Primary Care Executive Committee as the EDI Lead. I am also the Inclusive Research Lead for the NIHR Multiple Long-Term Conditions Cross-NIHR Collaboration Methodology Workstream.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Remembering everyday healthcare c.1940-1970: Testing a novel interdisciplinary methodology
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
A project to test how to collect of older people's memories of healthcare from 1940-1970. This builds on previous work of using historical images of items and places to…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
12/05/2023 to 31/07/2023
Prevalence and risk factors for prescription medication sharing in the UK general population
Role
Co-Principal Investigator
Description
What do we know about this topic area?
Prescription medication sharing means lending medication prescribed for you to someone else or borrowing medication that has been prescribed for someone else. Studies…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/06/2022 to 31/05/2024
Systematic reviews to inform the design of usual care comparator arms in primary care trials: methodological approaches and profiling of current research practice.
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/09/2021 to 31/01/2023
Supporting equity and tackling inequality: how can NIHR promote Inclusivity in public partnerships?
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/08/2021 to 31/03/2022
Can the past inform the present? Exploring attitudes and approaches to the management of common infections
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/03/2020 to 31/07/2021
Publications
Recent publications
09/02/2026Are equity, diversity and inclusion considered in early phase studies evaluating innovative and developing surgical procedures?
BMJ Open
Delivering inclusive cultural offers for social prescribing: a realist evaluation involving older people from global majority backgrounds and cultural sector providers in the UK.
Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy
Equality, diversity and inclusion strategies of NIHR biomedical research centres and clinical research facilities across England: a qualitative content analysis
BMJ Open
Existing Research Guidelines for Inclusive Trial Methodology. Working toward the integration of Qualitative Research, Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and Trial Methodology: a focused mapping review
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Guilt, Shame and Self-Perceived Burden among Older Adults with Multiple Long-Term Conditions: A Scoping Review
Journal of Health Psychology

