Speciality Group webinar to focus on power of research data for reproductive health insights
The NHS Research Scotland (NRS) Reproductive Health and Childbirth Specialty Group has announced a new webinar taking place next month with a focus on leveraging the power of data for fresh insights
Taking place on Wednesday 17 June from 12.00-12.55pm, the informal session — entitled ‘Big Data in Obstetrics & New 150-Day Matrix’ — will be hosted live on Microsoft Teams with registration now being invited.
The bitesize ‘lunch and learn’ webinar will be opened by the Specialty Group’s Champion Support Manager, Annie Ganguly, and chaired by Professor Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, MD, FRCOG, Clinical Chair in Gynaecology and Director of the Aberdeen Centre for Women's Health Research (ACWHR) at the University of Aberdeen.
It will welcome two highly knowledgeable guest speakers:
- Rachel Kearns, Consultant Anaesthetist at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC)
- Ian Anderson, Information Services Manager at NHS Research Scotland (NRS)
Rachel’s presentation on ‘Big Data in Obstetrics’ will highlight her sub-specialty interest in obstetric and regional anaesthesia, and her current research involving the linkage of routinely collected healthcare data.
She believes that linking complex data sets can improve pregnancy outcomes, enhance personalised care, and predict complications by allowing researchers to better identify patterns, in turn facilitating vital advancements.
Rachel is a consultant anaesthetist at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, and holds an NRS Senior Researcher Fellowship.
She is also a board member of the Obstetrics Anaesthetists’ Association, is on the steering panel for The Royal College of Anaesthetists 8th National Audit Project (NAP8) and was previously the inaugural research network lead for Regional Anaesthesia United Kingdom (RA-UK).
Ian’s talk on a ‘New 150-Day Matrix’ will reflect on the recent announcement of the outcome of the 150-day clinical trial set-up target. The average set-up time for commercial clinical trials in the UK has reduced from 169 days in the previous year to 122 days when comparing the same six month period.
Ian will review the involvement of NRS sites within the UK 150-days target along with a demonstration of the NRS dashboards available to researchers and RD&I colleagues to help manage study set-up and delivery.
Ian is a Glasgow‑based technical problem‑solver with over a decade of experience at NHS Research Scotland, working with the Chief Scientist Office, the NRS Management Board, health boards, and research networks to support evidence‑based decision‑making.
He specialises in Power BI data visualisation, automation, and infrastructure engineering, turning complex systems into reliable, scalable solutions that inform national‑level research strategy.
Both speaker segments will offer time for Q&A.
Annie said: “We are delighted to be hosting two such knowledgeable speakers who both see data-led insights as being key to informing vital breakthroughs and helping to inform the direction of travel for improved research in reproductive health and childbirth.
“Our Speciality Group likewise sees reliable data as fundamental to a better future for reproductive health and childbirth outcomes, with the power to engender evidence-based transformation through effective analysis while assisting in the tracking of population-level health trends.
“We hope you can join us on 17 June to discover more about this important driver of innovative research and explore the issues around it.”
The webinar series is dedicated to advancing understanding and dialogue around reproductive health, pregnancy, and childbirth through a research-focused lens with further speakers being invited to shape its topics and themes.
While the series will be paused in the short-term, the speciality group is continuing to welcome submissions from researchers, clinicians, midwives, students, educators, public health professionals, and more, with further webinars expected to be announced for later this year.
The series aims to highlight current evidence, emerging studies, and critical gaps in knowledge across topics such as fertility, maternal and foetal outcomes, respectful maternity care, perinatal mental health, postnatal recovery and much more related to this area of health care.
If you are interested in presenting your work, suggesting topics, or collaborating on future webinars, please contact Champion Support Manager, Annie Ganguly
Publication date: 5th May 2026
