Zainab Garba-Sani

Bio

Ms. Garba-Sani is a 2022-23 UK Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Policy and Practice, based at Stanford University and Lighthouse Silicon Valley (a justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion think tank). Her research seeks to explore how a person’s demographic characteristics (especially ethnicity) influences their perception of the use of AI in health and care. In particular, she is interested in understanding and tackling negative perceptions of AI within certain communities to maximize engagement in the development, use and evaluation of AI in health and care from diverse populations. The intention is to mitigate the risk of AI amplifying health inequities through algorithmic biases and systems missing out on the potential of AI to reduce disparities.

Back in the UK, Garba-Sani was a clinical innovation manager at NHS England, where she was responsible for a range of programs that aim to transform health care through supporting the ideation, development, and adoption of innovation. In addition, she cochaired the NHS Muslim Network, acted as Partnerships Lead for TEDxNHS, and volunteered with the Muslim Scouts Fellowship. Garba-Sani is a passionate advocate for equity and justice. In July 2018, she was honored with a UK Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award for her work with the international charity DKMS (We Delete Blood Cancer) in increasing the number of people of color registered as potential blood stem cell donors. Garba-Sani is also a patient advocate, trustee of the UK's Sickle Cell Society and chairs NHS England's sickle cell disorder patient advisory group. She works with charities, communities, health care professionals, industry, governments, and policymakers globally to improve care for sickle cell disorder. Additionally, Garba-Sani is an alumna of the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme and holds an M.Sc. in health policy from Imperial College London. Upon completing her B. Sc. in clinical sciences at the University of Bradford, Garba-Sani was introduced into the policy world through her elected role as Academic Affairs Officer in which she was responsible for representing and upholding students’ interests at a senior management level.