#130 Why South Asians are at Worse Risk with Professor Jaspal Singh Kooner

8th Dec 2021

My guest today is Professor Jaspal Kooner, who is leading the South Asia Biobank Research study.

If you’re listening to this and you are of South Asian descent, this episode might be a bit of an uncomfortable listen. Because what we’re chatting about today is why, despite the advances in medicine, people of south asian origin are twice as likely to suffer cardiovascular disease, three times more likely to have diabetes as well as many other related diseases that you can think of including cancer and dementia. And I know the title of this pod is “Why south asians are at worse risk”, but the honest answer as you’ll hear from my guest today, is still “we don’t have a good idea”.

This is why, if you are between the ages of 18-85 and of South Asian heritage, no matter if you are of mixed background or whatever, look at the description in the podcast notes on your pod player right now. There is a link right at the top of this episode for the BIOBANK study at sabiobank.org. Click on the link, stop listening to this pod for 5 minutes and book an appointment immediately at https://www.sabiobank.org/

My guest today is Professor Jaspal Kooner, who is leading the South Asia Biobank Research study. Professor Kooner is one of the leading cardiologists in the country with over 30 years’ experience in the treatment of general cardiovascular disorders. He is a Consultant at Imperial College Healthcare Trust, and an active researcher who has pioneered some major discoveries and published numerous times in journals such as Nature including research revealing novel genetic variants that underlie coronary heart disease, type-2 diabetes, obesity, and other highly prevalent disorders.

I think this podcast is going to be a real inspiration particularly for young medics out there, or even people thinking about medicine. Prof shares his stories of his upbringing in Nairobi and his move to Kent in England, plus his journey to medicine, his thoughts on medical education today, when he first learnt of the disparity between health in certain populations as well as how he navigated the system.

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