CB

Cheryl Battersby

Imperial College London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, University of Nottingham

Research areas: Medicine · Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health · Infant Development and Preterm Care · Infant Nutrition and Health · Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare

ORCID iD 0000-0002-2898-553X
Follow

About

Dr Cheryl Battersby is an NIHR Clinician Scientist, Clinical Associate Professor (Clinical Reader) in Neonatal Medicine at Imperial College’s School of Public Health, and Honorary Consultant Neonatologist at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust. She is Theme Lead for Neonatal Medicine within the Imperial College Centre for Paediatrics and Child Health (PaeCH). She studied Medicine at the University of Nottingham and completed subspecialty training in Neonatal Medicine in 2018.

In 2020, she was awarded an NIHR Advanced Fellowship to lead neoWONDER: ‘Neonatal Whole Population Data Linkage to Improve Lifelong Health and Wellbeing of Preterm Babies’. This programme links a 12-year cohort of babies held within the UK National Neonatal Research Database to population-level physical health, mental health and education data. This large-scale, life-course approach aims to identify neonatal interventions that may improve the lifelong health and wellbeing of babies born preterm or sick. By working closely with patients and parents, she ensures that the research addresses outcomes that are meaningful and relevant to them.

She also leads The 22 Weeks Study in collaboration with NeoTRIPS, an affiliate group of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine. The study involves more than 40 tertiary neonatal units across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and is collecting data to improve understanding of this emerging population, for whom evidence remains limited. Following the team’s publication on outcomes following birth at 22 weeks in England and Wales, she was interviewed alongside neonatologists from across the world to advocate for further research in this area. She is a strong advocate for ensuring that every child has a healthy start to life, including access to safe maternity and neonatal care.

She has experience of engaging with national and broadcast media, including interviews with The Guardian, appearances on programmes such as BBC Breakfast, and contributions to documentary productions. She is available for media appearances, expert commentary and interviews.

Dr Battersby completed her PhD at Imperial College London, focusing on the epidemiology of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), a serious bowel condition affecting preterm babies. She led the first national prospective cohort study to quantify the incidence of severe NEC using a consistent case definition and to examine feed-related antecedents. She is particularly interested in applying her expertise in the development, interrogation and use of large datasets more broadly across child health.

She holds several national leadership roles. She is Honorary Secretary of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM), Chair of the BAPM Nanopreterm Specialist Interest Group, and Co-chair of the BAPM Haemodynamics Framework Development Group with NeoFOCUS. She chaired the recent revision of the BAPM framework for the perinatal management of extreme preterm birth and was a member of the working group for the BAPM palliative care framework. She represents the BAPM on the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State. She is also a panel member for the NIHR Team Science Awards and a member of the NHS Research Advisory Group.

She was previously Chair of the BAPM Data and Informatics Group from 2020 to 2023 and Deputy Chair of the NIHR Health Technology Assessment Prioritisation Committee for Hospital-Based Care from 2021 to 2025.

In 2021, she received the RCPCH Simon Newell Award for an early independent researcher, recognising her research achievements and strong commitment to training and supporting the next generation of researchers. She is the founder and Consultant Lead for NeoTRIPS (Neonatal Trainee-Led Research and Improvement ProjectS) and was RCPCH Neonatal College Tutor at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital from 2019 to 2021.

Her other interests include neonatal haemodynamics and improving neonatal outcomes in low-resource and lower-middle-income countries. Since 2011, she has volunteered as a trustee and medical adviser for a non-governmental organisation. She has experience of establishing a neonatal unit and of working and teaching in low-resource settings.

She supervises PhD, MSc and BSc students undertaking research projects within the School of Public Health and the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction. She welcomes enquiries about her research and potential opportunities.

Employment

Education

Projects & Funding

  • Endoscopic Lavage after Intraventricular Haemorrhage in Neonates in the UK: A national randomised controlled trial on the efficacy of neuro-endoscopic lavage (ENLIVEN-UK) National Institute for Health and Care Research
    2023 - 2029
  • Bicarbonate for AcidosiS in very pretErm babies: a randomised clinical trial: The BASE Trial NIHR Evaluation Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre
    2023 - 2029
  • The neoGASTRIC trial: Avoiding routine gastric residual volume measurement in neonatal critical care, a multi-centre, randomised controlled trial National Institute for Health and Care Research
    2022 - 2026
  • PRENCOG: Preterm birth as a determinant of neurodevelopment and cognition in children: mechanisms and causal evidence Medical Research Council
    2022 - 2027
  • Pregnancy AntihyperteNsive Drugs: which Agent is best? (giant PANDA study) NIHR Evaluation Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre
    2020 - 2024
  • WONDER: A Whole Population Data linkage approach to improving long-term health and wellbeing of preterm babies NIHR Academy
    2020 - 2025
  • Timing of Stoma Closure in Neonates (ToSCiN) Study National Institute for Health Research
    2020 - 2022
  • WONDER: A Whole Population Data linkage approach to improving long-term health and wellbeing of preterm babies NIHR Academy
    2020 - 2025
  • Optimising newborn nutrition during therapeutic hypothermia: an observational study using routinely collected data National Institute for Health Research
    2017 - 2019

Publications (113)