Dr Hamied Haroon

Dr Hamied Haroon works as a Research Scientist in quantitative biomedical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at The University of Manchester where he gained his PhD in 2005. When Hamied became a member of staff he was shocked to suddenly lose all of the support he had as a disabled student! He helped to establish the University's Disabled Staff Network in 2007 and became its first Chair. The Network's first proud success was to achieve a dedicated University support service for disabled staff! In 2013, Hamied became Co-Chair of the Network with Melanie Sharpe, and together they organised the 'What Are We Hiding?' national conference for disabled staff on 6th June 2014 focussing on hidden disabilities and the hidden contribution of disabled people to the economy. Based on the success of this conference, they won the University's inaugural 'Making A Difference Award for Equality & Diversity' in May 2015. At this conference, Hamied launched the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN), an umbrella 'super-network' to connect and represent disabled staff networks in universities and colleges, NHS trusts and other sectors. Hamied won the University’s Staff Volunteer of the Year Award 2019 for being a 'tireless campaigner'. The Royal Society highlighted the profiles of a selection of past and present disabled scientists to celebrate the International Day of Disabled People in 2019, which included Hamied. In 2021, Hamied featured in a new children's book called 'Superhero Scientists' and delivered the University of Oxford's Annual Disability Lecture in May.