ProfessorDharmintra Pasupathy

Research program

1.  Obesity, Diabetes and Metabolic Disease in Pregnancy
   • More than 30 publications in the field
   • Established the PROMOTE cohort (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40054873/)
2. Fetal Medicine
   • More than 35 publications in the field including screening for fetal growth anomalies, contribution of iatrogenic preterm birth to overall preterm birth rate
   • CIA of the DESiGN Trial - the first randomised cluster trial of the Growth Assessment Program (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35727800/)
   • CIA of the Maternal & Child Health Futures Consortium - Prevention Research Program: Maternity and the First 2000 days, NSW Health
3. Perinatal Mental Health 
   • Establised research partnership with Gidget Foundation, leading perinatal psychology support service in Australia
   • Collaborative research program with University of Exeter (Professor Heather O'Mahen; ESMI - II Study)
4. Adverse birth outcomes
   • Active program of research focused on mitigating adverse birth outcomes including influences of health service contribution

Supervision summary

PhD Students

1. Mani MANOHARAN – PhD, 2024 (on-going). University of Sydney, Co-supervisor - Postpartum weight retention - unpicking the complex clinical and sociodemographic relationships.
2. Charles ARCUS – PhD, 2023 (On-going). University of Sydney, Primary supervisor - Improving performance and outcomes in a selective ultrasound screening program for fetal growth anomalies.
3. Vanessa EL-ACHI – PhD, 2022 (On-going). University of Sydney, Primary supervisor – Variations in preterm birth.
4. Yoon Ji Jina RHOU - PhD, 2022 (On-going). University of Sydney, Co-supervisor - Longitudinal Evaluation of Metabolic Risk Factors in Pregnancy and their Association with Gestational Diabetes, Perinatal Outcomes and Novel Neonatal Biomarkers for Fetal Exposure to Hyperglycaemia and Hyperinsulinaemia.
5. Beata GIDASZEWSKI – PhD, 2021 (On-going), University of Sydney, Co-supervisor - Protecting the Perineum with Care: Surveying clinical practice variations.
6. Chivon WINSLOE – PhD, 2020 (Upgrade complete, Oct 2023), University College London, Co-supervisor – Improving effective detection of fetal growth anomalies in changing maternal population in the context of adverse maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes.
7. Thora CHAI – PhD, 2019 (Awarded 2024), University of Sydney, Co-supervisor - The Role of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in the Development of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and its Eventual Progression to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
8. Sarah MELOV – PhD, 2019 (Awarded 2024), University of Sydney, Primary supervisor - Flags for future disease – designing a postpartum intervention program to modify cardiometabolic risk factors in women with a complex pregnancy.  
9. Jennifer JARDINE – PhD, 2017 (Awarded 2021), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Co-supervisor – Evaluating British maternity services using large, routinely-collected electronic datasets.
10. Sophie RELPH – PhD, 2017 (Awarded 2021), King’s College London, Primary supervisor - Antenatal detection of fetal growth anomalies: a hybrid effectiveness-implementation randomised control trial of a complex intervention.   
11. Sara WHITE – PhD, 2014 (Awarded 2018), King’s College London, Primary supervisor – Early pregnancy prediction of gestational diabetes in obese women.
12. Matias Costa VIEIRA – PhD, 2014 (Awarded 2018), King’s College London, Primary supervisor – Characterisation of pregnancy outcomes in relation to maternal obesity and fetal overgrowth.
13. May Ching SOH – PhD, 2013 (Awarded 2018), University of Auckland, Co-supervisor (primary UK supervisor) – Effect of maternal MPS in pregnancy and future cardiovascular disease in women withSLE.
14. Nashita PATEL – PhD, 2014 (Awarded April 2017), King’s College London, Co-supervisor – Determinants of infant adiposity in obese pregnant women: the UPBEAT RCT.
15. Martina PERSSON – PhD (Awarded 2012), Karolinska Institute, Co-supervisor – Fetal growth and pregnancy outcome in women with Type 1 Diabetes