Mehrunisha Suleman

Mehrunisha is a medically trained bioethicist and public health researcher, whose research experience spans healthcare systems analysis to empirical ethics evaluation. Her research interests lie at the intersection of global health research ethics and clinical ethics, particularly where religious, cultural, and social values of patients, clinicians, and researchers are pertinent. She has extensive outreach and engagement experience, including working with minoritised groups and diverse sectors across the UK and globally.

Teaching

Mehrunisha directs teaching in medical ethics and law, and contributes to postgraduate and undergraduate programmes in bioethics, public health, and medical education. She supervises doctoral and master’s students and is committed to mentoring early career researchers.

Research

Her research portfolio includes leading and collaborating on projects examining the ethical dimensions of health inequalities, race and ethnicity in medicine, and the governance of emerging health technologies. She has conducted empirical and conceptual research at the intersections of race, ethnicity, religion, and culture—particularly within Islam and bioethics—addressing issues such as pandemic ethics, end-of-life care, research ethics, and equitable access to innovation.

Past projects include empirical ethics studies on end-of-life decision-making in multicultural contexts, analyses of equitable pandemic responses, and contributions to policy frameworks for inclusive health research. She is the author of Islam and Biomedical Research Ethics (Routledge, 2020), a monograph that examines Islamic perspectives on contemporary biomedical research challenges.

She is currently co-Principal Investigator and co-leads Work Packages 4 and 5 on the NIHR-funded Increasing Retention of Healthcare Staff from Ethnic Minority Groups (I-CARE) study (NIHR157268). This national mixed-methods programme aims to understand why staff from ethnic minority and migrant backgrounds are more likely to leave—or remain in—the NHS workforce post-pandemic, and to co-design effective, context-sensitive policy interventions to improve retention. Her work focuses on qualitative analysis with NHS staff and managers, and the co-production of theory-informed, acceptable policy solutions in partnership with diverse healthcare workers, patients, and stakeholders.

Service & Policy Engagement

Mehrunisha is active in NHS clinical ethics, mentoring, and equity initiatives. She advises organisations such as UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and serves on the Ethics Advisory Group for the UK Government’s COVID-19 Inquiry and the British Medical Association’s Medical Ethics Committee. Her work helps shape policy on ethical innovation, culturally sensitive practice, and equitable health systems.

Public Engagement

She brings diverse voices into ethical debates by working with policy makers, healthcare professionals, and community groups. Her outreach extends to media commentary and interdisciplinary collaborations that ground her work in lived experience.

Alongside her teaching and research Mehrunisha enjoys exploring Oxford’s libraries and cafes and is working on her first crime novel!