Research

I am a NIHR Clinician Scientist, Clinical Associate Professor in Neonatal Medicine at the Imperial College School of Public Health, and Honorary Consultant Neonatologist at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust. I am theme lead for Neonatal Medicine for the Imperial College Centre for Paediatrics and Child Health (PaeCH). I read Medicine at the University of Nottingham and completed Neonatal Medicine subspecialty training in 2018.

In 2020, I was awarded a  NIHR Advanced Fellowship to lead a programme of research neoWONDER : 'Neonatal Whole Population Data linkage to improve lifelong health and wellbeing of preterm babies'. I will link data from a 12-year cohort of babies held on the UK National Neonatal Research Database, to other population-level physical and mental health, and education data. This life-course approach at scale will help identify neonatal interventions that may improve the life-long health and wellbeing of preterm and sick newborns. By working closely with patients and parents, I will ensure that the research is meaningful and relevant to their needs.  

I am also leading The 22 weeks study in collaboration with British Association of Perinatal Medicine affiliate group, NeoTRIPS, involving over 40 tertiary neonatal units across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, collecting data to learn more about this new population for which there is a paucity of knowledge and research. Following our publication on outcomes born at 22 weeks in England and Wales, I was  interviewed alongside other neonatologists across the world to advocate for more research in this area. I am a strong advocate for ensuring every child has a healthy start to life, which includes safe maternity and neonatal care. 

I have experience engaging with national and broadcast media, including interviews with The Guardian and appearances on BBC programmes such as BBC Breakfast and documentary productions. I am available for media appearances, expert commentary, and interviews.

I completed my PhD at Imperial College, which focused on the epidemiology of Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC), a serious bowel condition that affects preterm babies. I led the first national prospective cohort study which quantified the incidence of severe NEC applying a consistent case-definition and examined feed-related antecedents. I am keen to apply my expertise in the development, interrogation and application of datasets more broadly across Child Health.

I hold a number of national leadership roles. I am the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) Honorary Secretary, Chair of the BAPM Nanopreterm Specalist interest Group,  Co-chair of the development of BAPM Haemodynamics framework with NeoFOCUS. I chaired the recent revision of the BAPM extreme preterm framework, and was a member of the working group for the BAPM palliative care framework. I am a panel member of the NIHR Team Science Awards and committee member of the NHS Research Advisory Group.

I was past-Chair of the BAPM Data and Informatics group (2020-2023) and was previous Deputy Chair of the NIHR HTA Prioritisation committee for Hospital Based Care (2021-2025). 

In 2021, I was awarded the RCPCH Simon Newell early independent researcher award, in recognition of my research achievements and strong commitment to training and supporting the next generation of researchers. I am founder and Consultant Lead for NeoTRIPS (Neonatal Trainee-Led Research and Improvement ProjectS), and was previously RCPCH Neonatal College Tutor at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (2019-2021).

My other interests include neonatal haemodynamics and improving neonatal outcomes in low resource, low middle-income countries. Since 2011, I have volunteered as a trustee and medical advisor for a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and have experience of setting up a neonatal unit, working and teaching and working in low resource settings. 

I supervise PhD, MSc and BSc students undertaking research projects in the School of Public Health, and Reproductive and Developmental Medicine. I am happy to be contacted for more information or opportunities.

PhD students 

Emily van Blankenstein: The impact of nutrition in very preterm infants on their long-term outcomes: a data linkage approach (primary supervisor)

Alice Aveline: Causal inference methodology to evaluate care and interventions for babies born preterm (primary supervisor)

Hannah Gannon: Resilience in the face of crises: Evaluating the implementation of a digital healthcare tool for newborns in Zimbabwe (co-supervisor)

Philippa Rees: Childhood outcomes after perinatal brain injury: a population-based linkage study (co-supervisor)

Sunjuri Sun: Long-term outcomes and early academic attainment following childhood surgery: a population-based study (co-supervisor)

Sarah Sturrock: Using machine learning to develop a risk stratification tool for neonatal sepsis in low-resource settings (co-supervisor)

George Bethell: Improving understanding of indications for and timing of surgery in infants with Necrotising Enterocolitis (co-supervisor)

Academic Clinical Fellow

Behrouz Nezafat Maldonado: neoSTAR: Neonatal Surgical Transfers and Access Research (primary supervisor)