Professor Richard Lilford
Lead for maternal health theme
Richard assumed leadership of the maternal health theme in July 2024, following Shakila Thangaratinam’s departure from the University of Birmingham. Previously the lead for Work Package 2 on patient choice, he has particular expertise in implementation and patient safety in women’s health. His tenure as a Council member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) provided extensive experience in developing and evaluating computer decision-support systems and in enabling women to make well-informed choices when weighing trade-offs between different health outcomes.
Professor Shakila Thangaratinam
Collaborator
Shakila led the Midlands PSRC maternal health theme before joining the University of Liverpool in 2024. She is now the Deputy Executive Dean of the Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, Professor of Women’s Health, University Lead for the India portfolio, and an NIHR Senior Investigator. Shakila continues to contribute to the maternal health work packages of the Midlands PSRC.
Dr John Allotey
Collaborator
John is Associate Professor in Epidemiology and Women’s Health at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Women’s Health within the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research. He has almost a decade of experience in academic clinical research, primarily in the field of maternal health. His research interests lie in the development, evaluation and implementation of prognostic models and evidence synthesis using aggregate data and individual participant data meta-analysis.
Dr Catherine Dunlop
Collaborator
Catherine is a practitioner in maternal health research and Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist trainee in the NHS. She is also Academic Clinical Lecturer at Birmingham Womens Hospital and University of Birmingham.
Dr Mairead Black
Collaborator
Mairead’s research interests include informed decision-making in maternity care, pregnancy with multiple long-term conditions, inequalities in maternity care, the role of caesarean birth and induction of labour.
Pamela Nayyar
Research project manager
With over 20 years’ experience in health sciences research, Pam provides structured research project management and co-ordination on diverse research studies. Pam works with Richard and contributes to the research through systematically reviewing literature, online questionnaire development and study recruitment.
Dr Caroline Gillett
Assistant Professor in Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement
Caroline will use her experience and expertise in Public and Patient Engagement to support the maternal health teams public engagement ambitions, through capacity building and mentoring.
Dr Soha Sobhy
Associate Clinical Professor
Soha is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Birmingham and Consultant Obstetrician at Birmingham Women’s Hospital. Soha specialises in high-risk obstetrics and global maternal health, with a focus on optimising the use and safety of caesarean sections and reducing surgical mortality and morbidity, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Soha is also dedicated to advancing patient safety and promoting maternal health equity.
Dr Patricia Apenteng
Research Fellow
Patricia Apenteng is a Research Fellow in the Department of Applied Health Sciences.
Her research is centred on improving outcomes for patients and the efficiency of healthcare services. She uses a range of research methodologies, and her work spans several disciplines including implementation science, epidemiology, medical sociology, primary care, and population health.
Dr Valencia Kabeya
Research Fellow
Valencia is a post-doctoral research fellow within the Midlands PSRC Maternal Health Theme, with over a decade of experience as a radiographer specialising in CT within the NHS and private healthcare sectors. Driven by her passion for people and culture, her research interests focus on addressing health inequalities in maternity care and cancer screening. She is dedicated to improving healthcare accessibility and outcomes for marginalised communities, with a strong emphasis on reducing health disparities.
Valencia is working on Work package 2, which involves evaluating how current maternity care practices for mental health assessment align with national guidelines and exploring variations based on ethnicity, parity, and age.
Dr Saba Tariq
Research Fellow
Saba is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow leading work within the Maternal Health theme at the Midlands Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC). With a strong foundation in clinical pharmacology and over 15 years of academic experience, she plays a strategic role in shaping research directions that improve maternal and perinatal outcomes.
Saba’s leadership is evident in her design and implementation of decision support tools for maternity settings, including innovative solutions for managing complex cases such as large-for-gestational-age pregnancies. She leads high-impact systematic reviews on maternal health, ensuring the integration of global evidence into policy and practice.
Recognised for her creative approach to healthcare research, she pioneers the use of simulation and drama-based methods to enhance clinical decision-making and service design. Saba’s work is backed by multiple international research grants, and she is a respected mentor and educator, combining academic excellence with visionary leadership to drive global improvements in maternal health and patient safety.
Dr Hsu Chong
Research Fellow
Hsu works clinically to deliver a specialist maternal and fetal medicine service comprising of chronic hypertension and rheumatology antenatal clinics, fetal medicine scan lists and on call activity.
In the last year (March 2024- present), Hsu has led a team to deliver the implementation of a new EPR (Epic™ ) at Birmingham Women’s & Children’s Hospital NHS Trust. This involved:
- Programming department-wide macros for standardisation of documentation
- Providing leadership and guidance on customisation and coding on a variety of orders for maternity
- Designing and delivering training to obstetricians and midwives
- Liaising with various members of the team for optimisation of the EPR.
Hsu is also the obstetric perinatal mortality lead at Birmingham Women’s & Children’s Hospital. This comprises of a multidisciplinary team including midwifery and neonatal co-investigators to review care in relation to stillbirths and neonatal deaths that have occurred locally.
Hsu’s research interests lie in leveraging digital systems to deliver safe care in maternity.