David Edwards

Professor of children's and neonatal medicine

Area of expertise: neonatology (care of newborns)

Biography

David Edwards is professor of children's and neonatal medicine, Kings College London and Director of the King's College Centre for the Developing Brain.

He was previously the Weston professor of neonatal medicine, Head in the Neonatal Medicine Group at the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, and Chairman and head of the division of paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology at Imperial College London.

After graduating from Oxford, David spent a year as a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He trained at the Medical School at Guy's Hospital and studied neonatology at University College London before moving to the Hammersmith Hospital and Imperial College.

He became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1986 and a Fellow in 1993, a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in 1998, and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2002. In 2009, David was made an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Radiologists.

His research work focuses on treatment and prevention of brain damage in newborn infants, and his research group has worked for many years on the discovery and implementation of hypothermia to treat birth asphyxia.

David holds current grant funding from the MRC, EPSRC, Wellcome Trust and other bodies. He leads the Developing Human Connectome Project, a €15 million programme funded by the European Research Council to map the development of structural and functional connectivity in the fetal and newborn brain.

Further information

Azzopardi D, Strohm B, Marlow N, Brocklehurst P, Deierl A, Eddama O, Goodwin J, Halliday HL, Juszczak E, Kapellou O, Levene M, Linsell L, Omar O, Thoresen M, Tusor N, Whitelaw A, Edwards AD. Effects of hypothermia for birth asphyxia on childhood outcomes N Engl J Med. 2014 371(2):140-9

Azzopardi DV, Strohm B, Edwards AD, Dyet L, Halliday HL, Juszczak E, Kapellou O, Levene M, Marlow N, Porter E, Thoresen M, Whitelaw A, Brocklehurst P. 2009. Moderate hypothermia to treat perinatal asphyxial encephalopathy. N Engl J Med. 361: 1349-1358.

Edwards AD, Brocklehurst P, Gunn AJ, Halliday H, Juszczak E, Levene M, Strohm B, Thoresen M, Whitelaw A, Azzopardi D. 2010. Neurological outcomes at 18 months of age after moderate hypothermia for perinatal hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy: synthesis and meta-analysis of trial data. British Medical Journal. 340: c363.

Rutherford M, Ramenghi LA, Edwards AD, Brocklehurst P, Halliday H, Levene M, Strohm B, Thoresen M, Whitelaw A, Azzopardi D. 2010. Assessment of brain tissue injury after moderate hypothermia in neonates with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy: a nested substudy of a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Neurol. 9: 39-45.

Ball G, Aljabar P, Zebari S, Tusor N, Arichi T, Merchant N, Robinson EC, Ogundipe E, Rueckert D, Edwards AD, Counsell SJ. Rich club organisation of the newborn human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 May 20;111(20):7456-61

Development of cortical microstructure in the newborn human brain. Ball G, Srinivasan L, Aljabar P, Counsell SJ, Durighel G, Hajnal JV, Rutherford MA, Edwards AD. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Jun 4;110(23):9541-6

Doria V, Beckmann CF, Arichi T, Merchant N, Groppo M, Turkheimer FE, Counsell SJ, Murgasova M, Aljabar P, Nunes RG, Larkman DJ, Rees G, Edwards AD. 2010. Emergence of resting state networks in the preterm human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 107: 20015-20020.

Counsell SJ, Edwards AD, Chew AT, Anjari M, Dyet LE, Srinivasan L, Boardman JP, Allsop JM, Hajnal JV, Rutherford MA, Cowan FM. 2008. Specific relations between neurodevelopmental abilities and white matter microstructure in children born preterm. Brain. 131: 3201-3208.

Bassi L, Ricci D, Volzone A, Allsop Rathbone, R., Counsell, S.J., Kapellou, O., Dyet, L., Kennea, N., Hajnal, J., Allsop, J.M., Cowan, F., and Edwards, A.D. 2011. Perinatal cortical growth and childhood neurocognitive abilities. Neurology 77, 1510- 1517.

JM, Srinivasan L, Pai A, Ribes C, Ramenghi LA, Mercuri E, Mosca F, Edwards AD, Cowan FM, Rutherford MA, Counsell SJ. 2008. Probabilistic diffusion tractography of the optic radiations and visual function in preterm infants at term equivalent age. Brain. 131: 573-582.

Kapellou O, Counsell SJ, Kennea N, Dyet L, Saeed N, Stark J, Maalouf E, Duggan P, Ajayi-Obe M, Hajnal J, Allsop JM, Boardman J, Rutherford MA, Cowan F, Edwards AD. 2006. Abnormal cortical development after premature birth shown by altered allometric scaling of brain growth. PLoS Med. 3: e265.

Boardman JP, Counsell SJ, Rueckert D, Kapellou O, Bhatia KK, Aljabar P, Hajnal J, Allsop JM, Rutherford MA, Edwards AD. 2006. Abnormal deep grey matter development following preterm birth detected using deformation-based morphometry. Neuroimage. 32: 70-78.

Ma D, Hossain M, Chow A, Arshad M, Battson RM, Sanders RD, Mehmet H, Edwards AD, Franks NP, Maze M. 2005. Xenon and hypothermia combine to provide neuroprotection from neonatal asphyxia. Ann Neurol. 58: 182-193.

Gunn A, Gluckman PD, Wyatt JS, Thoresen M, Edwards AD. 2005. Selective head cooling after neonatal encephalopathy. Lancet. 365: 1619-1620.

Gluckman PD, Wyatt JS, Azzopardi D, Ballard R, Edwards AD, Ferriero DM, Polin RA, Robertson CM, Thoresen M, Whitelaw A, Gunn AJ. 2005. Selective head cooling with mild systemic hypothermia after neonatal encephalopathy: multicentre randomised trial. Lancet. 365: 663-670.

Duggan PJ, Maalouf E, Watts TL, Sullivan MHF, Counsell S, Allsop JM, Al-Nakib L, Rutherford M, Battin M, Roberts I, Edwards AD. 2001. Intrauterine T cell activation and increased pro-inflammatory cytokine concentrations in preterm infants with cerebral lesions. Lancet. 358: 1699-1700.

Ajayi-Obe M, Saeed N, Rutherford M, Cowan FM, Edwards AD. 2000. Reduced development of the cerebral cortex in extremely preterm infants. Lancet. 356: 1162- 1163.

Battin M, Maalouf EF, Counsell S, Herilhy AH, Edwards AD. 1997. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain of premature infants. Lancet. 349: 1741.

Mehmet H, Yue X, Squier MV, Lorek A, Cady E, Penrice J, Sarraf C, Wylezinska M, Kirkbride V, Cooper C, Brown GC, Wyatt JS, Reynolds EOR, Edwards AD. 1994. Increased apoptosis in the cingulate sulcus of newborn piglets following transient hypoxia-ischaemia is related to the degree of high energy phosphate depletion during the insult. Neuroscience Letters. 181: 121-125.

Edwards AD, Wyatt JS, Richardson C, Potter A, Cope M, Delpy DT, Reynolds EOR. 1991. Effects of indomethacin on cerebral haemodynamics in very preterm infants. Lancet. 335: 1491-1495.