Prof Shakila Thangaratinam

Who Prof Shakila Thangaratinam is

Professor Shakila Thangaratinam is Professor of Women's Health and Executive Dean of the Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences at the University of Liverpool, and a Consultant Obstetrician at Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust. She is an NIHR Senior Investigator, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and Vice President (International) of the Academy of Medical Sciences. She leads large-scale interdisciplinary global and national research networks funded by MRC, NIHR, WHO and others, securing over £70M in research income across 40+ countries. Her research has shaped national and global guidelines on Covid-19 in pregnancy, gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, pulse oximetry in newborns, and epilepsy in pregnancy. She previously established and led two WHO Collaborating Centres for Women's Health and founded the Barts Research Centre for Women's Health.

References for this biography

1. 1.Professor Shakila Thangaratinam | Our people | University of Liverpool — Current role titles, research income (£70M+), NIHR roles, WHO Collaborating Centres, and clinical position at Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust
2. 2.Liverpool Professor awarded prestigious women's health medal – University of Liverpool News — Eardley Holland Medal award (2025), second woman to receive it, Executive Dean role, Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences
3. 3.Shakila Thangaratinam – InterAcademies Partnership — Vice President (International) of the Academy of Medical Sciences
4. 4.Celebrating success | RCOG — Confirms Shakila Thangaratinam as Eardley Holland Medal winner 2025
5. 5.Contact us | Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences | University of Liverpool — Organisation head-office address and postcode: William Henry Duncan Building, 6 West Derby Street, Liverpool, L7 8TX
6. 6.Professor Shakila Thangaratinam on X (@thangaratinam) — Verified X/Twitter handle, confirmed by Academy of Medical Sciences official account tagging @thangaratinam
7. 7.Professor Shakila Thangaratinam – LinkedIn — LinkedIn profile self-identified as Prof Thangaratinam, links to her University of Liverpool staff page; i-WIP and IPPIC network details

Notable achievements

• Became only the second woman to receive the RCOG Eardley Holland Medal (2025), awarded once every five years for outstanding original work in obstetrics and gynaecology. Source ↗
• Secured over £70M in research income leading interdisciplinary global collaborative networks across 40+ countries. Source ↗
• Elected Vice President (International) of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2025). Source ↗
• Led the NIHR-funded i-WIP (International Weight Management in Pregnancy) collaborative group spanning 40 researchers, 16 countries and over 50,000 women, and the IPPIC network covering 73 collaborators, 21 countries and over 5 million pregnancies. Source ↗

What Prof Shakila Thangaratinam has said

• “Rates of gestational diabetes are increasing worldwide. While lifestyle interventions are proven to prevent type 2 diabetes, their role in preventing gestational diabetes has been unclear – until now. Our findings show these interventions should be integrated into routine antenatal care so all women can benefit.”

  Professor of women's health at the University of Liverpool · Diabetes · 10 Sept 2026 · Evidence supports lifestyle programmes to prevent gestational diabetes ↗

• “Women could spend the next 10 years unnecessarily worrying.”

  professor of women's health at the University of Liverpool · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · Is Tylenol the same as paracetamol, and should you take it in pregnancy? Here’s why experts say Trump should be ignored ↗

• “Women should know that the existing evidence does not really support a link between paracetamol and autism and ADHD. If pregnant women need to take paracetamol for fever or pain then we would say please do, particularly because high fever in pregnancy could be dangerous to the unborn baby.”

  consultant obstetrician and senior author on the review at the University of Liverpool · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · No link between paracetamol in pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children, review finds ↗

Where Prof Shakila Thangaratinam has been quoted

1. Research shows lifestyle interventions in pregnancy reduce gestational diabetes riskkcl.ac.uk · 30 Sept 2026
2. Evidence supports lifestyle programmes to prevent gestational diabetespulsetoday.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
3. Is Tylenol the same as paracetamol, and should you take it in pregnancy? Here’s why experts say Trump should be ignoredtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. No link between paracetamol in pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children, review findstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Severe Type 1 Diabetes Onset Linked to Later ComplicationsEMJ
• Tazbentetol shows retinal neuroprotection potential in diabetic mouse modelDrug Target Review
• UK start-up takes on Americans with cheaper diabetes devicesThe Times

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.liverpool.ac.uk/people/shakila-velayutham-thangaratinam
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/profthangaratinam/published here ↗
• Xhttps://x.com/thangaratinampublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.