The opening of Tommy's National Centre for Preterm Birth Research sees Queen Mary scientists joining four other leading institutions, to tackle the UK’s high preterm birth rate.
Premature birth is the most common cause of death in children under five in the UK, where every year an estimated 53,000 babies are born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. It can have life-changing consequences, leaving children at higher risk of long-term complications including learning disabilities, hearing problems and visual impairment. Many parents whose babies are born prematurely report ongoing feelings of anxiety, depression and guilt.
The most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in 2021, the proportion of premature births in the UK was 7.6% overall — higher than the average across Europe and up from 7.4% in 2020, after three years of falling rates.
People from Black and Asian backgrounds and those living in the most deprived areas of the UK are more likely to experience premature birth than those from White backgrounds and those living in the least deprived areas.
Dr Tina Chowdhury from Queen Mary’s School of Science and Engineering, and Prof Andrew Prendergast of Queen Mary’s Blizard Institute Of Cell And Molecular Science, have been working together with the team at Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research in Zimbabwe towards understanding the interactions of how extreme heat affects pregnancy and preterm birth – funded partly by a £1.8million grant from the Wellcome Trust last year.
Dr Tina Chowdhury explained: “We have engineered human models to understand the mechanisms of inflammation and how the cellular microenvironment affects membrane integrity. Together with the Zimbabwe team, we will establish the primary drivers of inflammation identified from Zimbabwean cohort studies using the human model.”
In recognition of their leading research, Queen Mary was invited to be one of five institutions partnering on a new centre opened by Tommy’s Pregnancy Charity.
Tommy's National Centre for Preterm Birth Research was officially opened with a launch event at the Skyline in London on Wednesday 20th March.
The launch event featured a panel discussion hosted by journalist and broadcaster Leah Boleto with centre director Prof Cath Williamson and Prof Andy Sheenan from Kings College London, as well as parents affected by preterm birth.
The centre brings together researchers from five leading institutions: Imperial College London, University College London, King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London and the University of Leeds.
Kath Abrahams, Chief Executive of Tommy’s, said “Alarmingly, the UK is not on track to meet the Government’s target of reducing premature birth from 8% to 6% by 2025. We’ve established the Tommy’s National Centre for Preterm Birth Research to drive progress by bringing together experts who can advance our understanding of preterm birth and deliver new treatments to predict and prevent it. We’re determined to save and improve thousands of lives.”
The new centre’s teams will collaborate on a wide range of research projects investigating the causes and prevention of premature birth and the factors that increase risks for minoritised ethnic communities, as well as looking at the best ways to support parents of premature babies.
More than 20 research projects are currently planned as part of the centre’s work. They will investigate issues including:
Prof Catherine Williamson, Director of the centre, said: “This new centre will enable us to bring together the leading researchers in this field, to better understand the causes of this complex problem and to find effective answers through science. We’ll also be working closely with families to understand their priorities for research and care, as well as with policy makers right from the start to ensure our findings have maximal impact.”
For media information, contact: