Our team encompasses a diverse group of academic researchers, medics, midwives and laboratory staff. Centre for Cardiovascular Science Image Professor Rebecca Reynolds Professor of Metabolic Medicine, University of Edinburgh; Honorary Consultant Physician, NHS Lothian Rebecca Reynolds studied medicine at Oxford and was awarded a PhD by the University of Edinburgh in 2002. Her main research interest is in the early life origins of health and disease. Rebecca’s clinical work includes general diabetes and endocrinology and specialist clinics in reproductive endocrinology and obesity and diabetes in pregnancy. She set up the NHS Lothian Antenatal Metabolic Clinic in 2008 with obstetric colleagues. Rebecca is Deputy Head of the Centre for Cardiovascular Science and Dean International for the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine. She is also endocrinology and diabetes lead for Undergraduate Medicine. Research page Image Dr Marisa Magennis Research Coordinator Marisa is a research coordinator of academic projects and the project manager for the Born in Scotland and Data Trusts studies. Marisa’s research background is in biological sciences, with a BSc (Hons) and PhD in Experimental Bacterial Evolution from the University of Edinburgh, and an MRes from the University of St Andrews. Her role involves cross-disciplinary collaborations and she has experience in research funding and in developing and delivering public engagement activities. Image Shona Low Senior Research Midwife Shona is a research midwife at the University of Edinburgh. Shona initially worked in clinical research prior to pursuing a career in midwifery graduating from the University of the West of Scotland before working in Greater Glasgow & Clyde. She is currently the lead midwife for the Edinburgh Reproductive Tissue Biobank (ERTBB). Image Jayne Brady Senior BioBank Technician Jayne is the senior technician for the Edinburgh Reproductive Tissue BioBank (ERTBB), for which she has overall responsibility for day-to-day management. Previously, she worked as a biomedical scientist in the Biochemistry Department within the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. She manages the everyday logistics of the BioBank, from approving applications to use tissue samples for research, to the collection, storage and distribution of the samples - while maintaining all relevant documentation and data. She is also the lead technician on the Born in Scotland project. Image Jess Thompson Research Midwife Jess is a research midwife at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Prior to this role, she worked as a clinical midwife in the same hospital and has significant clinical experience including providing care for women experiencing high-risk pregnancies and preterm birth. In her current role, she has specific interests in digital health and medical apps and has been involved in the development and testing of a prototype preterm birth app with clinical stakeholders. Image Em Thompson Research Midwife Em is a research midwife at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Before working in research she was both a labour ward and community midwife. She graduated from Oxford Brookes University, with her MSc (Hons) dissertation research focusing on parental mode of birth decision-making surrounding term breech birth. Image Indira Kemp Research Midwife Indira is a research midwife at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Prior to joining the research team, Indira worked in community, and before that was a midwife on labour ward, antenatal and postnatal wards in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. She is passionate about improving maternity care. Image Sarah Donaldson Research Midwife Sarah is a research midwife at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Prior to this, she was a continuity of care midwife in Fife. She has also worked in the Midwife Led Unit, Observation and Antenatal and Postnatal Wards at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy. Image Marie Heritage Research Midwife Marie Heritage is a research midwife at the University of Edinburgh; prior to this she completed a 6 month contract as a research midwife at St George's University Trust, London. After completing nurse training in Glasgow she did a Diploma Ed Midwifery in Cambridge and she has worked all over the south east of England as a clinical midwife since qualifying. The majority of her clinical midwifery career has been spent as a senior midwife at St George's on labour ward and as a community team leader. Since returning to Scotland, she has also completed a short stint with NHS Lothian and Forth Valley as a clinical midwife. Image Rosie Jenks Research Midwife Rosie is a Research Midwife at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Prior to this role she worked briefly on the labour ward at the same hospital, she recently moved to Edinburgh from London where she worked in a team specialising in gestational diabetes. Image Anne-Marie (Annie) Jones Research Midwife Annie qualified as a Midwife in 2000 and soon afterwards spent four and a half years working as a midwife in New Zealand. On returning to the UK, she worked as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit midwife for three years before moving into clinical research in 2012. She has a particular interest in the impact of pre-existing trauma on women's pregnancy and birth experience and the role of maternity services in supporting women within that. Image Wendy Mak Research Practitioner Wendy works to recruit to, and assist with the running of, research studies within the wider Edinburgh Pregnancy Research Team. Prior to this role, she worked as a clinical nurse in Hong Kong. Bee Nagy Research Technician Bee obtained her BSc in Biomedical Sciences (Reproductive Biology) at the University of Edinburgh in 2017, and has since been working at the University, participating in reproductive biology and cardio-metabolic disease research. Image Irfa Rizwan PhD Researcher Irfa is a PhD researcher under the supervision of Professor Rebecca Reynolds, based at the Queen’s Medical Research Institute. She is a qualified dietitian and a post-graduate in Human Nutrition and Dietetics in 2018. Her current research aims to optimize dietary interventions for women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus in Scotland, to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes. She is particularly focusing on the health of South Asian women pre- or post-pregnancy using DASH-based dietary guidelines. Her previous research focused on the management of dyslipidaemia using plant-based ingredients on animal models. PhD Project: Addressing Gestational Diabetes: Optimising dietary intervention to improve maternal and neonatal health among South Asian women in Scotland Dr Kathryn Hunt Specialty Trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, NHS Lothian; Clinical Research Fellow Kathryn graduated from Oxford and has undertaken specialty training in obstetrics and gynaecology in Bristol. She is investigating the role of vascular dysfunction in pregnancy complications including pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction and stillbirth. Her research is funded through a BHF clinical research fellowship, and she is supervised by Professor Rebecca Reynolds. Image Jazz Kirkwood PhD Researcher Jazz is a PhD student under the supervision of Professor Rebecca Reynolds. Her research is focused on data-driven approaches to gestational diabetes. This involves the design and development of personalised digital mHealth tools, alongside, investigating and creating machine-learning models to predict pharmacological intervention of women with gestational diabetes. Image Carlos Sánchez Soriano Research Fellow Carlos is a postdoctoral researcher focusing on data science working with the MIREDA Partnership to interrogate health records and clinical data collected through the Born in Scotland project and harmonise pregnancy and neonatal information with other UK birth cohorts. Previously, he investigated the link between early life outcomes and adult cardiometabolic disease using the Walker cohort from Dundee, as part of his PhD project. Centre for Reproductive Health Image Dr Sarah Murray SCREDS Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics; Subspecialty Trainee in Maternal and Fetal Medicine, NHS Lothian Sarah qualified from Edinburgh University in 2008 and has undertaken her specialty training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Edinburgh, completing a Wellcome Trust funded PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2020. Sarah Also completed a Masters in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine through her PhD fellowship and the focus of her current research is on the use of routinely collected maternity data to study the relationship between gestation at delivery and perinatal outcomes. Image Emily Frier Research Fellow Emily graduated in medicine from the University of Edinburgh and is a senior trainee in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. She is currently a clinical research fellow, undertaking an MD supervised by Dr Sarah Stock and Professor Rebecca Reynolds. Emily is pursuing research on perinatal outcomes following exposure to antenatal corticosteroids in babies born at term, using population-level data. In collaboration with a Parental Advisory Board and an artist, Emily has successfully led the creation of a patient infographic on the use of antenatal corticosteroids. Dr Niamh Mclennan Research Fellow Niamh is currently researching the optimisation of care for women with gestational diabetes. Usher Institute Image Professor Sarah Stock Personal Chair of Maternal and Fetal Health; Consultant Obstetrician, NHS Lothian; Maternal and Fetal Medicine Subspecialist, Royal Infirmary Edinburgh Sarah is a consultant obstetrician and subspecialist in maternal and fetal medicine at the Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh. The focus of her research and clinical work is to improve care for women and babies at risk of being born too small or too soon. An aim is to improve detection and treatment of problems that cause preterm birth or growth restriction and stillbirth, and develop strategies that improve health of babies and children. She went to Manchester University Medical School, and has a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. Her specialist and subspecialist clinical training was undertaken in Edinburgh, with periods in Glasgow, London and Australia. Research page Image Dr Rosie Townsend SCREDS Clinical Lecturer; Obstetric Consultant, NHS Lothian Rosie qualified from Edinburgh in 2009 and undertook the majority of her specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology in London, during which time she completed her MD at St George's University in London. She has also worked in Malawi, the Philippines and Uganda and currently serves as Chair of the RCOG Global Health Trainees Committee. Her current research interests include environmental exposures and pregnancy health, stillbirth and preterm birth prediction and reducing inequity in global women's health. Image Farah Francis Research Fellow Farah is a Precision Medicine PhD student based at the Usher Institute collaborating with Clevermed. Her research is on detecting fetal hypoxia during labour by improving a pre-existing decision-making support tool, the cardiotocography (CTG). She is using machine learning algorithms in combination with electronic health records to increase accuracy in detecting fetal hypoxia. The outcome of this project will help to reduce the devastating impact of fetal hypoxia on babies and families while reducing the unnecessary emergency caesarean section rate. This article was published on 2023-11-27
