Biography

A human biology and disease enthusiast, Darshi started her higher education as a medical student in India. During the fourth year of her medical course, she made a pivotal career change. Driven by a strong desire to delve deeper into human biology and pathology, Darshi returned to her home country, Sri Lanka. Concurrently, as a First-class grade holder at medical school, Darshi received the Chancellor’s scholarship to study Biomedical science at Keele University. She arrived at Keele in 2003 as a direct second-year entrance student and graduated in 2005 in Biomedical science with a 2:1. Since then Darshi has completed a postgraduate diploma in medicinal chemistry, a master’s degree in science, a post-graduate certificate in higher education and MA in Education. Darshi is a fellow of the higher education academy.

Before joining the foundation year team at Keele in 2020 as a lecturer in biological sciences, Darshi served as an Associate Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Derby University. Darshi also held the position of a lecturer in Biology for Health Access to HE students at a local college and as a senior demonstrator at Keele Medical School.

Research and scholarship

Darshi holds an MSc in Science, with a research focus on antibiotic resistance, including a dissertation on “Novel Pharmacological Interventions to Combat Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli.” Her scholarship interests centre on improving feedback literacy, the impact of formative assessments, and the use of social annotation through online collaborative tools. Darshi has contributed to the field by serving as a panel member on The Teach Learn Collaborate Repeat (TLCR) Pedagogy Panel, promoting shared educational practices. She also holds an MA in Education, with her dissertation exploring how exemplars and social annotation tools enhance feedback literacy within a diverse foundation year programme.

Teaching

Module Lead and lecturer for Foundations in Human Biology for Health FYO-00237

Module Lead and lecturer for Advancing Human Biology for Health FYO-00239