The goal of the Maternal, Newborn & Child Health Discovery & Tools team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to ensure that women and newborns remain healthy before, during, and after childbirth, including by supporting the development, testing, and scale-up of innovative solutions to address underlying vulnerabilities contributing to poor health.
Congratulations to Manu Vatish, Professor of Obstetrics & Consultant Obstetrician who has been appointed as the new Deputy Director for Maternal and Child Health Discovery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He will take up this role while continuing his role as Professor of Obstetrics in the Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health (NDWRH) at the University of Oxford.
The goal of the Maternal, Newborn & Child Health Discovery & Tools team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to ensure that women and newborns remain healthy before, during, and after childbirth, including by supporting the development, testing, and scale-up of innovative solutions to address underlying vulnerabilities contributing to poor health.
Professor Manu Vatish has worked in NDWRH for the past 10 years. In addition to his University role, he is Honorary Consultant at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. He has also been Clinical Director for the National Institutes for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network in the Thames Valley and South Midlands, and sits on the NIHR National Reproductive Health & Childbirth committee. He is a Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists College Tutor for Oxford, and has been Academic Training Programme Director for the Clinical Graduate School at Oxford. His clinical and research interests are in high-risk pregnancy, with a special focus on preeclampsia - a pregnancy-related condition with substantial associated global morbidity and mortality. He has led research on angiogenic biomarkers in this disease as well as in the basic science underlying this condition, and has been involved in several high impact clinical trials which have changed clinical practice. Together with Emeritus Professor Chris Redman, his group is also working on the expansion and improvement of the Dawes-Redman Cardiotocography CTG system for the antenatal detection of pregnancy complications.
Upon taking up this exciting new role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Professor Vatish commented "I am delighted to be joining the amazing team at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help deliver the very best healthcare for women and their babies. I look forward to engaging with the teams in Seattle and London and am excited by the opportunities this role offers to make a real difference to healthcare for women and children around the world."
Professor Krina Zondervan, Head of NDWRH commented: ‘Huge congratulations to Professor Vatish on this important global appointment, which is testimony to his significant achievements in maternal health research. I know he will fulfil his new role with passion and dedication, the Foundation are fortunate to have him!’.