The Team
Co-Leads
Associate Prof Claire Carson
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford
Claire is a Senior Researcher in Epidemiology and Deputy Director, NIHR Policy Research Unit in Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care. She has training in both quantitative and qualitative methods and specialises in the analysis of observational and routine data.
Dr Kate Duhig
King's College London/St Thomas' Hospital.
Kate is a Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician who has led successful multicentre implementation trials in pregnancy, national clinical cohort studies, and transformational change in national guidelines and NHS policy.
Co-Investigator team
Prof Marian Knight
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford
Marian is a Professor of Maternal and Child Population Health and Director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford. She has extensive experience as a Health Services Researcher focusing on complications in pregnancy and early childhood. She also leads the MBRRACE-UK national confidential enquiries into maternal morbidity and mortality.
Prof Maria Quigley
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford
Maria is a Professor of Statistical Epidemiology, providing expertise in the analysis of population-based cohorts, and record linkage of large, routinely collected data to address a range of research questions in maternal and child health.
Associate Prof Ramon Luengo-Fernandez
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford
Ramon is a Senior Health Economist with experience of applied and methodological research on Health Economics in maternal and child health studies.
Dr Nicola Vousden
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford
Nicola is an Academic Clinical Lecturer in Maternal Population Health and Public Health; Registrar to the Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health and Social Care. She is an implementation scientist with expertise in using big data to understand inequalities in outcomes in pregnancy.
Prof Jim Davies
Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford and Oxford Big Data Institute
Jim is a Professor of Software Engineering and has expertise in the development of informatics solutions for large-scale clinical and translational research, and in the development of new model- and metadata-driven techniques for big data engineering, and the automatic management and processing of data.
Ms Natalie Whyte
Public and patient representative
Natalie is an experienced Service User Voice Representative with lived experience of NHS maternity care specialising in maternity and neonatal services across the Midlands, and maternal inequalities. She is highly experienced in co-producing and collaborating with stakeholders to implement user-led improvements within healthcare settings.
Mr Marcus Green
Public and patient representative
Marcus is the Chair of the Pregnancy and Baby Charities Consortium and CEO of Action on Pre-eclampsia. Now in his eighth year as CEO he has worked on the continued international development of the charity, including a focus on bringing families' voices to research, and on the external affairs and influencing role.
Prof Jane Sandall
King's College London
Jane is a Professor of Social Science and Women's Health, NIHR Senior Investigator Emerita, and Head of Maternity and Midwifery Research at NHS England (2021-2023). A midwife by background, she brings Implementation Science expertise to the programme.
Prof Josip Car
King's College London
Josip is a Professor of Population and Digital Health Sciences who having worked in multiple health systems and diverse organisations including the WHO and Ministries of Health and Industry, has lead health systems, population and digital health research and AI for health innovations.
Prof Krish Nirantharakumar
King's College London
Krish is a Clinical Professor of Public Health and Health Data and has expertise in public health, health informatics and digital health technologies. His research focuses on developing, implementing and evaluating digital technologies for learning health systems and real-world evidence research.
Prof Chris Gayle
Imperial College London
Chris is a Professor of Neonatal Medicine and works clinically as an honorary consultant neonatologist at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust. He has experience leading NIHR international neonatal studies, and of utilising routinely recorded data within such studies.
Prof Heather O'Mahen
University of Exeter
Heather is a Professor of Perinatal and Clinical Psychology, and National Clinical Advisor to the Perinatal Mental Health Policy team. Her work focuses on improving equitable access to psychological interventions, particularly in the perinatal period.
Dr Liza Bowen
City and St Georges, University of London
Liza is an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in General Practice, working clinically as a GP in Brighton. She is an epidemiologist with expertise in using electronic health records in maternal and women's life course health.
Dr Lucy Mackillop
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust/ University of Oxford
Lucy is an Obstetric Physician and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer with expertise in the role of digital health innovation for women with medical problems in pregnancy. Her research interests include the construction of evidence-based algorithms to predict acutely unwell women in pregnancy and the immediate puerperium, and data linkage.