Dr Rosemary Townsend (MBChB MRCOG MD)

Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician

Biography

Background

I am a clinically active obstetrician with research interests in the prediction and prevention of stillbirth, the use of novel digital tools in obstetric risk assessment and global women's health. I trained in London and Edinburgh and have worked clinically in London, Scotland and Uganda. 

CV

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Responsibilities & affiliations

I work as a consultant obstetrician within NHS Lothian, where I lead the Small Baby Research Clinic and regularly work on the labour ward at RIE providing intrapartum care. 

I am a member of the Edinburgh Pregnancy Research Team which brings together doctors and midwives and researchers from NHS Lothian, the University Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Centre for Reproductive Health and the Usher Institute to work on research that aims to improve maternal and fetal health both during pregnancy and throughout life. https://edinburgh-pregnancy-research.ed.ac.uk/ 

I am a Trustee of Held in our Hearts, a charity providing support to families affected by baby loss. https://heldinourhearts.org.uk/

I am on the editorial board of the Welfare of Women Global Health Programme from the Global Library of Women's Medicine. https://www.glowm.com/wow-contents#

Undergraduate teaching

Module Organiser for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Year 5 

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

3

Past PhD students supervised

1

Research summary

Prediction and prevention of pregnancy complications 

Use of digital technology to advance pregnancy care 

Global women's health 

Current project grants

ISPF Developing a CITE-Testbed for Essential Maternal Health Technologies: Advancing Translation of Contextually Appropriate Medical Device Innovations in Uganda £30,000
CSO Applied Health Research Program: (Co-I, CI Prof R Reynolds) Transforming gestational diabetes management in Scotland to optimise outcomes for mothers and children (3 years from September 2024) £1,000,000
Sibel Health (funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation): Intelligent Pregnancy Products Platform Technology (I3P), using smart intrapartum monitoring to reduce pregnancy complications in India, Nigeria, Rwanda and Pakistan (Jan 2024-Dec 2027) $4,754,100
CSO EARLY POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP: Using digital phenotyping to explore the association between environment and pregnancy health: a novel Scottish Digital Birth Cohort £381,941
ISSF3/WELLCOME: Developing novel digital biomarkers: towards a Scottish Digital Biobank for investigating pregnancy health. 2022 £28,992
WELLCOME LEAP IN UTERO: (Co-I, CI Prof R Reynolds) iTest: novel retinal biomarkers in pregnancy for early prediction of stillbirth $651, 025

Organiser

The Global Women’s Research Society Conference 2024, Edinburgh. Rising to the challenge: women and newborn health in the context of global crises

Content from this conference is available freely online via MedAll: https://app.medall.org/event-listings/glow-2024-rising-to-the-challenge-women-and-newborn-health-in-the-context-of-global-crises

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