Emily Wood Ahmed
Emily Ahmed is a specialist in creative, participatory research and co-production in health and social care. With over 25 years’ experience across the NHS, public health, local government, the VCSE sector, and academia, she bridges communities and institutions through applied research, training, and public involvement. Her work champions equity, lived and living experience, community work, the arts, and creative approaches to learning, research, and service improvement.
She is currently a PhD researcher at Warwick Medical School (#CoProPhD), Peer Researcher Programme Manager at Newham Public Health, and works freelance as a co-production facilitator and public engagement specialist. Emily is an associate trainer and facilitator for with the ALC Action Learning Centre, Co-production Collective, and the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE). She is a member of the BSREC ethics committee at Warwick University and the IREC Independent Research Ethics Committee .
Emily brings both learnt and lived experience of disability, chronic pain, neurodiversity, hypermobility, and navigating health and care systems as a family advocate.
When not co-producing and engaging with people about health and social care, Emily can be found swimming in wild waters or with a sketchbook and paintbrush in hand, creating her own artwork or facilitating arts workshops. Her paintings and sculptures have sold in the UK and internationally, inspired by landscapes, family, and her British, Mexican, and Native American Yoeme Yaqui culture and identity.