Kanta Kumar

Clinical speciality: Rheumatology

Research: Behavioural medicine and impact of ethnicity on rheumatological diseases

Dr Kanta Kumar - Hon Visiting Professor, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India 

Dr Kanta Kumar held a post at the University of Manchester as a Lecturer until 2017. Dr Kanta Kumar completed her NIHR awarded Clinical Doctoral PhD at the University of Birmingham in 2015. The PhD work focused on the issues related to medication adherence and the influence of ethnicity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Her research uses psychological theory to develop effective behaviour change interventions and to understand psychological reactions to health/illness. Her areas of research include: behavioural medicine and impact of ethnicity of musculoskeletal disease. She has published extensively  in these areas and has developed a national reputation for the work in ethnicity in rheumatology. Dr Kumar has won five national awards to date for her outstanding work. The impact of her research on patient care is bringing together all major stakeholders  including British Society of Rheumatology (BSR), patient charities, industry, and the NHS.  With her continued commitment to improving care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis she has developed a timely innovation with National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) and the wider rheumatology teams across the UK and abroad to make a greater impact. An example of this is: to help engage South Asian patients in disease management she have developed a collaborative project with NRAS named “Apni Jung” our fight against rheumatoid arthritis” (www.nras.org.uk/apnijung). Dr Kumar’s’ future research will contribute towards gapping the health inequalities in rheumatology practice.   

National and International collaborations: 

University of Southampton

University of Sheffield

University of Nottingham 

University of Manchester

Australia 

India