‘As a student doctor, Our Future Health makes me feel optimistic about the future’
Born and raised in South London, Naabil Khan started medical school at the University of Exeter in 2021. Now in her fourth year of study, her passion for healthcare is already earning her a reputation around the world.
“Before going to university, I’d done work experience at a hospital,” says Naabil. “There were also some health complications in my family, so I’d been around for appointments and ambulance calls, things like that,” says Naabil.
“Seeing the paramedics, doctors, and nurses working together in those settings was very inspiring. It showed me that I wanted to be a part of that world and help people too.”
And help, she most certainly is.
Skin For All
Like many people in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic, Naabil watched Chris Whitty’s updates at the end of each day. She was struck by the health disparity that emerged. For example, people from ethnic minorities in the UK were more likely to die from the disease than people from white British backgrounds.
“I remember thinking ‘this isn’t good enough’. Our health system in the UK is founded on the idea of equal access to medicine and care for everyone.
“That’s when I first had the idea for Skin For All (SFA),” she says.
SFA is a website Naabil designed to help medical students and the public better understand skin conditions, such as psoriasis and melanomas. Crucially, she wanted to convey how these conditions appear on different skin colours and tones.
“Skin conditions are an area of health where inequality is quite visible. For example, rashes are often described in medical textbooks as being ‘pink’ or ‘red’. However, for someone with darker skin, this would often not be the case and could result in missed diagnoses.”
Her work has already had an impact on a global scale. In June 2024, Naabil was awarded the Racial Justice in Medicine Award by the American Medical Student Association. The award recognised her for supporting medical students and tackling inequality in teaching materials.
“Being the first British student to receive this award was such a huge honour,” she says. “It made me feel even more motivated in my work.”
More reliable, more precise, and more effective healthcare – for everyone
There are important similarities between Our Future Health’s mission and her vision for SFA, says Naabil.
“Our Future Health is building a diverse community of volunteers that reflects the UK’s population, so that researchers can identify differences in how diseases begin and progress in people from different backgrounds – for example, heart disease in South Asians.
“This has huge synergies with my dream for SFA. We’re both working towards a future of healthcare where the system is more reliable, more precise, and more effective for everyone.
“Better representation equals lives being saved. I want to help make this change not only in the NHS, but globally. Wouldn’t that be an amazing thing?”
‘Young people can help build a culture of trust’
Naabil believes it’s important for young people to take part in Our Future Health and be involved in advocacy for more diversity in healthcare.
“Young people should be aware of the health trajectory they’re on sooner rather than later,” she says. “That would help not only them, but the NHS as well.
“I also think younger generations have the power to build a culture of trust between medical professionals and the public, which hasn’t always been present in older generations.
“Especially in minority ethnic communities, where people may have experienced things like biased research, or have just lived their lives in a system that’s not properly representating of them.
“As Gen Z and Generation Alpha grow up, I hope we can acknowledge past narratives of discrimination in healthcare and change things for the better.”
‘We can work together to improve things’
Naabil is hopeful that Our Future Health could help improve communication between medical professionals and the public.
“The programme is very much about what’s best for humanity and working together to get there. It feels like a reminder that we’re all on the same team – we all want to live healthier lives for longer.
“As a student doctor, Our Future Health makes me feel optimistic about the future. It shows that millions of people – from volunteers to researchers, health charities and life sciences – are working towards making things better for everyone.
“It shows that change is underway.”
About Volunteer Voices
Volunteer Voices tell the stories of people who take part in our research programme. Often, they have experienced the devastating effects of a disease.
Joining Our Future Health does not help our volunteers in their battle with disease. They take part because they want to help improve healthcare for others in the future.
Let’s prevent disease together
By volunteering for Our Future Health, you can help health researchers discover new ways to prevent, detect and treat common conditions such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s.