The St Mary’s School of Medicine has appointed Prof Samira Ben Omar as Professor of Inclusive Practice and Lead for Inclusion and Communities.
The School of Medicine opens in September 2026, breaking new ground with its approach to social accountability and community engagement. This new role is pivotal to the School’s commitment in working closely with its local community, health partners and voluntary sector organisations.
Prof Ben Omar brings to St Mary’s over 30 years’ experience in health management, policy development, and grassroots community programme leadership. She has been recognised by the Health Service Journal as one of the Top 50 most influential Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic leaders in health from 2022 to 2024. She also worked with the Grenfell community as an advocate for those affected by the disaster
Having previously served as a social accountability advisor at St Mary’s, she will be responsible for delivering the School’s Social Accountability mission, working alongside the Executive Dean of the School of Medicine, Prof Sonia Kumar. Through her role, she will ensure that principles of equity and inclusion, social accountability, and community engagement are reflected in all aspects of the School of Medicine’s work.
Professor’s Ben Omar and Kumar will be leading a roundtable event later this month with community, academic and health partners to progress the work that has already begun on co-creating a shared social accountability framework.
Speaking of her appointment, Prof Sonia Kumar said: “We are extremely honoured that Prof Ben Omar will be formally joining the School at this exciting time in our journey. Social accountability is our guiding principle in the School, and Samira brings a unique combination of academic and practitioner skills and experience ensuring we deliver on our mandate to serve local people.”
Prof Ben Omar said, “I am deeply honoured to be joining St Mary’s at this early stage of the School of Medicine’s journey. Our work so far has been grounded in conversations with people and diverse communities. For me, this is a moment to not only imagine ‘what if’, but to act on it, by humanising healthcare and educating future doctors and leaders to lead with curiosity, humility, trust, and a strong sense of purpose and belonging”
Alongside her work with St Mary’s, Prof Ben Omar is also a trustee of the Nuffield Trust and New Local, a member of The King’s Fund General Advisory Council, and an advisor to National Health Service and National Institute for Health and Care Research programmes.