Dr. John Newnham

Biography

John Newnham graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1976 and pursued postgraduate training in obstetrics across Australia, Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He became a professor in 1989 and has maintained a passionate research focus on understanding the complexities of life, birth, health, and diseases that can affect lifespan due to events in fetal development, as well as common illnesses and disabilities that can be prevented during pregnancy. In 1989, he spearheaded the Raine Study, which recruited 2900 unborn babies at 18 weeks gestation, marking it as the world’s largest pregnancy-focused lifetime cohort study. This project has contributed significantly to successful medical research in Australia. His research has played a crucial role in discovering strategies to reduce the preterm birth rate at the population level. He initiated the Western Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Initiative in 2014, which rapidly expanded nationwide, and led the establishment of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance in July 2018. Professor Newnham currently serves as Head of the UWA Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, based at King Edward Memorial Hospital, and is an Adjunct Professor at Peking University in Beijing. His research has led to worldwide changes in clinical practice, particularly regarding the management and prevention of preterm labor, and he has published nearly 400 original articles in peer-reviewed journals, with funding support from the NIH for 27 years and the NHMRC for 30 years, totaling over $25 million in grants.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards