About Karan

In 2015, she joined the School of Nursing and Midwifery at De Montfort University in Leicester to further develop cultural competency training and dementia care in education and research. In 2016, she was appointed the Dementia Lead for the School of Nursing and Midwifery at De Montfort University which involved ensuring the nursing curriculum and research agenda are reflective of local and regional challenges in dementia care.

In 2018, Karan was offered an opportunity to become a Senior Research Associate by the charity, Compton Care, on a 12 month project which investigated the views and experiences of the South Asian community in Wolverhampton when living with and caring for someone, with a complex and incurable condition. Passionate about improving the experience of services for the South Asian community, she accepted this offer.

She was appointed the Dementia Lead for the University of Wolverhampton in 2019. Her specialist role is designed to provide leadership for the development and delivery of dementia care curricula and research, promoting the development of a culturally competent healthcare workforce skilled in dementia care. In January 2023, she was appointed Head of the Health Research Centre for the Faculty of Education, Health and Well-being. 

As a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Karan has extensive experience of developing and delivering bespoke education and training programmes to support healthcare professionals and services to be culturally competent via a person-centred approach. Part of her education and training also involves understanding neurological impairment in dementia and how cognitive ability can be supported for such people. Karan is a strong believer that ‘dementia is not the death that leaves the body behind’ and that people with dementia can be supported to live well via creativity. Karan is also a professional dancer and is the co-founder of Eclectic Dancers. Her passion for dance and appreciation of the arts allows her to both combine and support creativity for improved mental health and wellbeing. Karan continues to develop the research agenda to not only support people to live well with dementia but to also do this in a culturally inclusive way.

Karan has also volunteered a lot of her time to supporting families living with issues that are considered taboo in the community, such as domestic violence and alcoholism. As a British born Asian woman, she understands the cultural expectations placed on women and does a lot of work to develop their confidence and assertiveness skills. Due to the lack of culturally appropriate services, she often voluntarily provides training and education with family members/carers of a person with dementia to help them better support their loved one.