Below we highlight some of our previous and current EDI work and how it fits into the four goals of our EDI strategy 2023-26.
Goal #1 – Diversifying our Fellowship
Our 10-year strategy published in 2023 set the ambition to evolve our Fellowship to be more reflective of the society we serve. In July 2025, we published our Diversity report 2020-2024 which showed positive progress in the gender and racial diversity of new Fellows elected in the past five years. However, challenges remain within the wider Fellowship where there are also age and geographic disparities, and an under representation of the emerging sectors, disciplines and diverse career pathways that are vital to the Academy addressing the health challenges we face as a society.
In 2024, the Academy’s Council committed to a bold new approach to the existing yearly election review process by approving a series of three “Fellowship Sprint Groups” to seek new ways to identify candidates and to reform the nomination and election process. These sprints are designed to deliver focused, Fellow-led improvements that will culminate in a more diverse and dynamic Fellowship, whilst not compromising on excellence, in time for the Academy’s 30th anniversary in December 2028.
We also work with our Regional Champions to increase the diversity of candidates being nominated for election to the Fellowship. Working with our regional champions, in 2022 and 2023 we held our first nominations masterclasses to shine a spotlight on the election process and identify ways Fellows can support nominations from a broader diversity of expertise and backgrounds.
Goal #2 – Supporting a biomedical and health research culture that promotes and values equity, diversity and inclusion
For an overview of our policy work to create a fairer research system, please see our page 'Addressing health challenges'. Our project on Long-term sustainability of health research in the UK launched in 2023 and includes information and recommendations to support a divers and inclusive research culture.
We offer targeted career support for early- and mid-career researchers including:
- grants
- mentoring
- leadership training
- and free events both online and around the UK
We aim to better support Black researchers through collaboration with existing networks. In Summer 2020, we supported three workshops by BBSTEM on mental health and imposter syndrome. In Spring 2021 we hosted events with Ladders4Action on allyship and inequalities. In Winter 2022 we hosted an event curated by the Black Women in Science Network on mental health, mentoring and leadership (pictured above).
We aim to better support female researchers through our flagship programme to help female researchers to thrive in their independent careers, SUSTAIN. This one-year cohort-based programme of mentorship and bespoke career support has supported 100+ women.
Read why SUSTAIN is described by participants as "invaluable"
We will use the data we collect via our new EDI monitoring forms, and apply our EDI principle of ‘collaborating to develop schemes that respond to needs defined by marginalised communities, for marginalised communities’ to understand how we better support researchers with disabilities and/or from the LGBTQ+ community.
Goal #3 - Reviewing and diversify our governance process across the organisation
Up to two members of our Council serve as Diversity Champions. Along with their duties as trustees, they are called upon to ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of the Council’s discussions and decision making. Professor Franklin Aigbirhio FMedSci, Professor of Molecular Imaging Chemistry, University of Cambridge, is our current Diversity Champion.
We are in the process of setting up an EDI Advisory Committee. Please do get in touch if you would like to hear more about this committee, to recommend members or to express you interest in being involved.
Goal #4 – Growing the diversity of our staff
Our staff culture is shaped by the message of our MedSciLife campaign which states that a life outside work is not an extra, but an integral part of who we are. We encourage different working styles and practices to enable passions and achievements outside work to support individuals’ careers.
Our staff participate in regular EDI learning sessions as well as formal EDI training and development sessions. Our internal cross organisation staff EDI Forum has leads for Disability and Neurodiversity, gender equality, the LGBTQ+ and racial diversity. We pay our EDI forum staff leads an additional bonus and provide them with an EDI training budget for the work they do in recognition of the personal investment and lived experiences they bring to the roles.