On World Health Day, congratulations to Darwin PhD student Zeshan Qureshi on the upcoming publication of his book, Anti-Racist Medicine: An Essential Guide to Advancing Equity in Medical Education, Research, Technology, Policy and Practice, edited alongside Dr Mehrunisha Suleman and Professor Joseph L. Graves Jr.
A paediatrician by training and background, Zeshan pressed pause on his medical career to return to academia, leaving his role at London’s University College Hospital to pursue an MPhil in Health, Medicine and Society, followed by a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science.
“I’d always been interested in doing a PhD, because it’s one of the few times that you can really dedicate your life to thinking through a complex issue,” he explains.
“I thought a PhD would give me the opportunity to carefully think through what anti-racism means, specifically in the context of the NHS and healthcare.”
Zeshan’s thinking draws on both the personal, such as the overt racism experienced by his father, who immigrated to the UK from Pakistan, while working as a doctor; and more theoretical debates around how best to address racism and to interpret population level differences across ethnic groups.
“I was getting involved in debates which were very emotive and intense, and I thought actually I want to more deeply understand a series of complex questions such as how we divide up populations in medicine, what justice is, what the fundamental principles are on which we base healthcare, and then turn that into a vision for what anti-racism is.”
While Zeshan’s PhD research takes an abstract approach, exploring theories around how race and ethnicity can be considered in the context of healthcare, the book offers a more practical stance.
“What most people wanted in the context of anti-racist medicine was a blueprint for how to go forwards. So I’m influenced by the theoretical underpinnings of what I’ve done. But within the book we’ve tried to set out a vision for anti-racist medicine that looks at leadership, medical education, clinical care, research and technology, in a way that is implementable immediately to support people working in healthcare. We’ve explored some of the history of race and ethnicity in medicine and wider society, but the heart of it is helping people to know what they can do now to move towards a more equitable future.”
The book will be published by Elsevier in June 2026.
