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Professor Ilias Tachtsidis
Professor Tachtsidis leads the MultiModal Spectroscopy group, in the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory at UCL. The lab focuses on the development of the next generation of optical non-invasive systems for brain monitoring and imaging in the clinical environment. His research interest is in the field of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) developments and application including understanding the confounding factors of NIRS in neuroscience, proposing advanced signal processing methods to overcome them, and developing instrumentation and algorithms for monitoring non-invasively brain tissue changes in oxygenation and mitochondrial metabolism (the oxidation state of cytochrome-c-oxidase or oxCCO) through the development of multi-wavelength and broadband NIRS.
Kelly Harvey-Jones
I am a neonatologist at University College London Hospital and undertaking a PhD at the Department of Neonatology, Institute for Women’s Health, University College London. I completed a Bachelor of Medical Science and MBBS at the University of Sydney, Australia and speciality training in Neonatology and general Paediatric training, at Royal College Paediatrics and Child Heath, London, UK. I am interested in the development of early optical cot-side biomarkers of newborn brain injury and utilising these within a multimodal platform of neuro monitoring in the delivery of neonatal neurocritical care.
My PhD Project is - Assessment of cerebral perfusion and mitochondrial oxygen metabolism using advanced optical techniques in cohorts of newborn brain injury.
Niccole Ranaei-Zamani
I am an Obstetrics and Gynaecology registrar undertaking a PhD in using optical technology to monitor placental function as part of the PROSPEKT (Prevention of Stillbirth using Optical Technologies and Knowledge Transfer) study. This is part of a large international consortium of studies aiming to reduce the risk of stillbirth. I became interested in this project due to the intersection between machine learning, wearable technology and improving perinatal outcomes in both high and low-resource settings.
Olayinka Kowobari
I am a Neonatologist with a special interest in hemodynamics and preterm outcomes. I am currently working as a clinical research fellow and undertaking a PhD in the PreNIRS (Preterm birth and Neonatal brain Injury Risk indicators) study, which explores the role of the optical markers (using Near Infrared Spectroscopy) for further understanding of the pathophysiology of preterm birth and related brain injury in newborn infants.
Sarah Johnson
I trained at the University of Nottingham and worked clinically as a midwife before starting my research career, and worked on a range of Reproductive Health and Childbirth research studies before joining The Placental Monitoring Study team at UCL.
Olivia Newth
As a Clinical Research Midwife, I feel passionate about improving the health and pregnancy outcomes of women, birthing people and their babies. I have worked in research since 2020, across a broad portfolio of commercial, non-commercial and academic studies, and more recently as the lead midwife for a large multi-centre RCT. I really enjoy working as part of this multidisciplinary team and it’s a privilege to contribute to new information and ways of working to benefit birthing people in the future.