Riya Gosrani

Fulbright-Sir Cyril Taylor Memorial Postgraduate Award for Changemakers - Harvard University

Riya is a London-based physician with a longstanding commitment to improving health equity. She holds an MBBS and a BSc in Global Health (First Class Honours) from University College London and a Master’s in Medical Anthropology from the University of Oxford, bringing an interdisciplinary approach that bridges clinical practice with critical social theory. She is particularly interested in how social, structural and cultural forces influence health outcomes. Riya’s work focuses on exposing and dismantling structural violence within healthcare systems that perpetuate inequities. By interrogating the epistemological foundations of medical knowledge and examining the modalities through which dominant discourses acquire legitimacy, she has conducted extensive research on algorithmic bias in clinical settings. She also works alongside individuals who have attempted suicide, using participatory methods to co-create culturally informed therapeutic resources and promote more equitable standards of care. Riya is excited to pursue the Master of Public Health at Harvard, where she will develop rigorous policy analysis and implementation skills to advance social justice at the interface of clinical practice and health policy. Outside academia, Riya is an avid runner who plans to add the Boston Marathon to her list of World Majors and explore ultramarathon trails in the surrounding national parks.