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Disability equity
Meet our Disability Equity Lead: Indie Beedie
“I am the Executive Officer of the Deafness, Cognition, and Language Research Centre (DCAL). I joined UCL in 2011 and have had a variety of roles in both academia and professional services.
Also, I am a British Sign Language user who also uses speech and it’s my intersectional experiences of disability and identity as an ethnic minority woman which shape everything I do and my commitment to inclusivity.
I am really looking forward to working with the Faculty Equity Leadership team and creating an equitable and inclusive environment“.
The Faculty of Brain Sciences Disability Equity Group
The Faculty of Brain Sciences Disability Equity Group has a number of aims:
To raise awareness of disability issues in the Faculty of Brain Sciences, including environmental, behavioural and institutional barriers experienced by Disabled and Neurodivergent people with a range of physical, cognitive and mental health conditions and impairments.
To represent the views of Disabled and Neurodivergent staff and students, and those closely associated with them, and act as a body of expertise on disability and neurodivergence issues in the Faculty.
To advise senior management in the Faculty of Brain Sciences and Faculty EDI/Inclusion Leads on how to promote a culture which includes Disabled and Neurodivergent people and celebrates diversity and acceptance.
To deepen the knowledge of the many facets of disability and neurodivergence equity and inclusion issues experienced by Faculty staff and students.
To take proactive measures to challenge and redress historic patterns of inequality faced by Disabled and Neurodivergent people with multiple protected characteristics e.g. LGBTQ+ Disabled people, older Disabled People, BAME Disabled people, etc.
To provide opportunities for social and professional networking among group members.
To identify positive environmental, behavioural and institutional good practice to be shared, preserved, celebrated and amplified.
Membership
The group meets at least once a term and is open to staff and students in the Faculty who identify as Disabled or Neurodivergent or have a significant interest/experience in inclusion issues. To apply to join the group, please contact Manjula Patrick (m.patrick@ucl.ac.uk).
Meet the team
Dr Elise Crayton
Elise is also a champion for equality, diversity and inclusion and is involved in EDI committees at UCL and within the Division of Health Psychology at the British Psychological Society.
The Disability Equity sub-committee at UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences is a particular passion project for Elise who herself s registered blind. This committee specifically focuses on support for those with disabilities, where accessibility and inclusion has become even more pertinent since the increased use of remote learning and working.
Nicola Ridgway
With a background in Psychology, Nicola joined UCL’s Ear Institute as a Translational Research Manager. She works closely with colleagues across the Ear Institute, the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre and the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals to help expand the portfolio of translational research, as well as advancing translational projects towards clinical, commercial and societal impact.
Nicola is proud to give our staff with disabilities a voice by sitting on the Faculty of Brain Sciences Disability Equity Group.
Dr Amanda Almacellas Barbanoj
Dr Amanda Almacellas Barbanoj is a Research Fellow in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy based in the Queen Square Institute of Neurology. She works towards developing gene therapies for drug-resistant infantile epilepsies and has always worked towards inclusion of Neurodivergence.
She is proud to represent the IoN in the Faculty of Brain Sciences Disability Equity Group for improving the working environment in the Institute and ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard.
Amali De Silva
With a HR career spanning a decade across multiple industries and sectors, Amali joined the Institute of Prion Diseases as HR Manager in 2019. Amali is also the Inclusion Lead for the Institute and works closely with colleagues to champion EDI interventions.
