Sneha Raman is a Design Researcher with expertise in developing participatory approaches for engaging with complex social and systemic issues and co-designing future health, wellbeing and care. She has led a number of research projects at GSA collaborating with citizens and diverse stakeholders across the Government, National Health Service (NHS), social care, industry and third sector. Her research portfolio spans a range of topics and contexts – a number of these addressing stigma and inequalities, with most recent work focusing on: mental health of young people from ethnically diverse groups; care journey for people living with a functional disorder; reducing risk of harm and supporting people who use drugs to live well; and lived experiences of young people living with eating disorders.

Sneha is part of the research team at the Innovation School leading co-design and service innovation within the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre funded by the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council. She has acted as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on projects funded through the TRIUMPH Network and Scottish Universities Insights Institute. She is currently Co-Investigator on two UKRI funded projects:

‘EDIFY – Eating disorders: delineating illness and recovery trajectories to inform personalised prevention and early intervention in young people’ – Aug 2021 - Aug 2025 (cross-council initiative led by MRC); and

'REALITIES in Health Disparities: Researching Evidence based Alternatives in Living, Imaginative, Traumatised, Integrated, Embodied Systems' – Nov 2022 - Feb 2024 (cross-council initiative led by AHRC).

Sneha co-developed Innovation School's newly launched BDes/MDes Design for Health and Wellbeing programme. She is a Supervisor on the Master of Research programme. Sneha’s research and supervisory interests include participatory design, social design and transformation design focusing on health, wellbeing and care, with a particular emphasis on engaging with citizens and communities with diverse abilities, sensitivities and lived experiences, and a concern for plurality and agonism in participatory processes.

Sneha graduated with distinction in Masters in Design Innovation and Citizenship at The Glasgow School of Art. Prior to finding her niche in academia, Sneha worked as a Senior Design Researcher and Innovation Manager with a leading design and research consulting practice in India, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams on rural healthcare projects particularly focusing on maternal and child health in India, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Researcher profile: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/2163184