Mrs Meera Naran MBE

Job: Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy

Faculty: Health and Life Sciences

School/department: Leicester School of Pharmacy

Address: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: 0116 2078116

E: meera.naran@dmu.ac.uk

 

Personal profile

Meera is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy, a qualified Pharmacist and Independent Prescriber. She is the module leader for the Leadership and Change Management module within the postgraduate Clinical Pharmacy programme and is also a part of the core team teaching the Independent Prescribing course. Meera is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has previously been involved in Athena Swan charter from 2017- 2022, which achieved a bronze award in 2019.

Since 2022, Meera has been the programme leader for the Clinical, Leadership, Education and Research programme, where she works collaboratively with staff colleagues from the Business and Law School delivering the course to allied healthcare professionals.  Meera has developed, built and successfully run a unique cross- departmental approach to Clinical Leadership over the past years with consistent excellent feedback from the external examiner.

Externally, Meera is an independent road safety campaigner and works in a voluntary advisery capacity.  She is a board trustee for a national road safety charity and is also an independent adviser for several organisations in areas such as education, leadership, risk management and policy. Meera is a high-profile public speaker and has delivered several key note and leadership speeches across the UK.

In June 2021, Meera was awarded an MBE for services to road safety.  Through her campaign, she has successfully influenced the implementation of 18 national policy changes and a commitment to improve road safety secured with a funding of £900 million, including education campaigns and changes to the highway code. Meera has contributed as an expert witness to the Transport Select Committee and also sits on several national working groups which include key stakeholders including the automotive industry partners, police, NHS, charities, ambulance and fire services.

Meera is passionate about research, education, evidenced based public policy change, systems thinking approach, interdisciplinary collaboration, healthcare and road safety. Meera is bringing her expertise, experience and demonstrating her knowledge exchange across both sectors and is currently studying for a PhD in this area.

Publications and outputs

Outputs/publications DMU

  • www.dmu.ac.uk. (2021). MBE for DMU academic whose son. [online] Available at: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2021/june/mbe-for-dmu-academic-whose-sons-tragic-death-spurred-on-her-campaign-to-make-smart-motorways-safer.aspx  
  • www.dmu.ac.uk. (2021). Road safety campaigner whose eight-year-old son died on a smart motorway welcomes Government pledge to make them safer. [online] Available at: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2021/april/road-safety-campaigner-whose-eight-year-old-son-died-on-a-smart-motorway-welcomes-government-pledge-to-make-them-safer.aspx  
  • www.dmu.ac.uk. (2022). Lecturer whose young son died in smart motorway accident welcomes Government's £900 million spend to make roads safer. [online] Available at Lecturer whose young son died in smart motorway accident welcomes Government's £900 million spend to make roads safer (dmu.ac.uk)

Campaign and Government press release contribution (gov.uk): 

  • GOV.UK. (2021). Measures to boost safety on All Lane Running motorways accelerated. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/measures-to-boost-safety-on-all-lane-running-motorways-accelerated
  • GOV.UK. (2022). Smart motorway rollout to be paused as government responds to Transport Committee report. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/smart-motorway-rollout-to-be-paused-as-government-responds-to-transport-committee-report .
  • GOV.UK. (2023). Plans for new smart motorways cancelled. [online] Available at All new smart motorways scrapped - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  

National Education campaign and press release contribution:

  • Highways, N. (2021). Go left! We launch our biggest ever motorway safety campaign - Highways England. [online] nationalhighways.co.uk. Available at: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/about-us/go-left-we-launch-our-biggest-ever-motorway-safety-campaign/ .
  • DfBB. (2022). Stop Right There! Understand the Life-Saving Kit on Your HGV. [online] Driving for Better Business. Available at: https://www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com/articles/stop-right-there-understand-the-life-saving-kit-on-your-hgv/        

Research interests/expertise

  • Knowledge exchange
  • Public policy change
  • Policy engagement
  • Interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Systems Thinking
  • Safe Systems
  • Technology, limitations and user acceptance
  • Decision making in healthcare
  • Ethical decision making in healthcare
  • Leadership and change management
  • Education and Research

Areas of teaching

  • Postgraduate Clinical Pharmacy
  • Independent Prescribing
  • Interprofessional Postgraduate Education
  • Leadership and Change Management
  • Clinical Leadership, Education and Research

Qualifications

  • Masters in Pharmacy (MPharm)
  • Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy (PGClinDip)
  • Fellow of Higher Education Academy – Advance HE (FHEA)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCertHE)
  • Certificate in Independent Prescribing 

Courses taught

  • MSc Clinical Leadership, Education and Research
  • MSc Clinical Pharmacy
  • Practice Certificate in Independent Prescribing 

Honours and awards

  • Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE): 2021
  • Laureate Award, Lifetime Achievement- Highways UK Excellence Award: 2022
  • PR Week UK– UK Editor, Communicators of the Year (1-10): 2021
  • Recovery Industry Partner Award: 2023
  • Community Action Award- Finalist Leicestershire Heroes Award: 2020
  • Remarkable Woman Award- SHE Awards: 2021

Membership of external committees

Due to the confidentiality of Meera’s work, she is currently unable to share this information

Membership of professional associations and societies

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • British Sociological Association

Professional licences and certificates

Registered Pharmacist (GPhC)