Professor Shakila Thangaratinam

Professor Thangaratinam started her research career as a Clinical Research Fellow at Keele University in 2004, and subsequently joined University of Birmingham in 2006 as a Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In 2011, she was awarded a PhD in ‘Health Technology Assessments in Maternal and Perinatal Health’.

After the completion of her clinical and academic training, she was appointed by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) to the post of Clinical Senior Lecturer in 2011, and was a full professor at QMUL between 2012-2019. She established the research support network, Katherine Twining Network (9 NHS hospitals, 3 Universities) in North and East London to deliver women’s health research, and Katie’s Team, the only dedicated and funded Patient and Public Involvement group for Women’s Health in the UK. As R and D Director for Women’s Health at Barts Health NHS Trust until 2019, she was instrumental in integrating research within everyday clinical practice. She was the joint Director of Barts Research Centre for Women’s Health (BARC) and undertook cutting-edge research on the problems facing women and children in East London.

She currently leads a portfolio of work in Women’s Health in areas such metabolic disorders in pregnancy (obesity, gestational diabetes), epilepsy, pre-eclampsia, stillbirth, fetal growth, and preterm birth. She co-leads the WHO Collaborating Centre for Women’s Health at University of Birmingham.

Clinical
She completed her Advanced Training in Specialist Medicine (ATSM) modules in maternal medicine, labour ward management and medical education, and completed her Core Training (CCT) in obstetrics and gynaecology in August 2010 at the Birmingham Women’s Hospital, the largest and busiest tertiary obstetric unit in West Midlands. Her academic work complemented her interest in maternal medicine with projects in pre eclampsia and epilepsy.

She is an Honorary Consultant at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.