Dr Sanda Ismail
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Role:
Department staff:
Research staff:
- Dementia prevention
- Dementia inequalities
- Minority ethnic and faith communities
- Healthy ageing
- Psychosocial wellbeing
- Epidemiology and longitudinal research
- Systematic reviews and meta-analysis
- Community-based participatory research
- Experience-based co-design
- Quantitative health research methods
Teaching staff:
- Epidemiology
- Quantitative Health Research Methods
- Epidemiology of non-communicable diseases
- Systematic reviews and evidence synthesis
- Evidence-based public health
- Public health leadership
- Public health policy
- Global public health
- Dementia and healthy ageing
- Research methods
- Postgraduate dissertation supervision
- Transnational public health education
- Qualifications:
- PhD, MSc, BSc, FHEA
- Position:
- Associate Professor in Public Health
- Department:
- School of Health and Social Wellbeing
- Email:
- Sanda.Ismail@uwe.ac.uk
About me
Dr Sanda Ismail is Associate Professor in Public Health in the School of Health and Social Wellbeing at UWE Bristol. His work spans public health research, postgraduate education and academic leadership, with particular expertise in dementia prevention, health inequalities, psychosocial wellbeing and healthy ageing.
Sanda holds a PhD in Dementia Research and an MSc in Public Health with Distinction from UWE Bristol, as well as a First-Class BSc in Community Nutrition from the University for Development Studies, Ghana. His doctoral research investigated nostalgia as a psychological resource for people living with dementia. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Sanda is Programme Leader for the UWE–Hainan Medical University MSc Public Health, providing academic leadership across curriculum delivery, quality assurance and the development of teaching teams in the UK and China. He has led the development and redesign of postgraduate modules in epidemiology, quantitative research, evidence-based public health and public health leadership.
He is an Academic Supervisor and Specialty Tutor for the South West Public Health Specialty Training Programme, supporting registrars preparing for consultant-level practice. He is also an External Examiner for the MSc Public Health Health Services Management stream at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Sanda has extensive experience of supervising postgraduate and doctoral research. His supervision interests include dementia prevention and care, public health inequalities, epidemiology, evidence synthesis, community-based research and the psychosocial dimensions of health and ageing.
Area of expertise
Sanda’s research focuses on dementia prevention and inequalities, particularly among minority ethnic, faith and underserved communities. His work examines how social, psychological and structural factors—including meaning in life, social connection, depression, cognitive reserve and access to culturally appropriate support—influence cognitive health and experiences of dementia.
He is Principal Investigator of an NIHR Dementia Research Fellowship examining dementia risk and prevention among Black minority ethnic Muslim communities in England. This longitudinal programme uses data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to investigate inequalities in modifiable dementia risk and the relationships between faith, psychosocial wellbeing and cognitive health.
Sanda also leads the Alzheimer’s Society-funded Muslim Dementia Recovery College project, which works with people affected by dementia, community organisations, faith leaders and health and care professionals to co-design culturally responsive dementia education and support. He leads the ESRC-funded EQUADEM study, examining the experiences of male home-care workers supporting people living with dementia.
His methodological expertise includes longitudinal epidemiology, randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, mixed-methods research, qualitative research and experience-based co-design. He has led and contributed to funded research collaborations involving universities, NHS organisations, local authorities, care providers and community partners.
Sanda’s research has informed policy and clinical guidance in the UK and internationally. His work on psychosocial approaches to dementia has contributed to evidence reviews and recommendations in the United States and Norway, while his research on community support during the COVID-19 pandemic has been cited in UK Government, NHS and policy reports. His dementia research has also received international public attention through outlets including Science News, The Conversation, HuffPost UK and Harvard’s Bill of Health.
His overarching aim is to develop evidence that supports equitable dementia prevention, culturally responsive care and healthier ageing across diverse communities.
Publications
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