Philip Baker Research Track record:
My track record is of building high calibre research groups:
In 1995, the research staff at the City Hospital division of the School of Human Development consisted of a technician and a research fellow. In five years, I established a critical mass of researchers; in 1999 my group had more abstracts accepted at the Society of Gynecologic Investigation (the major international scientific meeting within our speciality) than any other centre.
In March 2001, I moved to Manchester, to direct the newly established Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre. The centre acts as a major focus of obstetric research within the UK, and facilitates the training of clinical and scientific researchers within the speciality. Our research group in Manchester became the largest obstetric research group in Europe.
In 2007-8 I led the Manchester application for a National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre. The successful award of an NIHR Biomedical Research Centre status incorporated approximately £30M funding, from partner organisations including the Department of Health, The Northwest Development Agency, Manchester City Council and AstraZenica. I became the inaugural Director of the centre, which comprises three interlocking themes: Genetic and Developmental Medicine, Tissue Injury and Repair, and Experimental Therapeutics:
In July 2009, I joined the perinatal investigators in the Department of Obstetrics, University of Alberta. Alberta is home to the Human Metabolome project – and I have used our expertise in metabolomics to develop screening tests for major pregnancy complications.
Studies investigating pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction form major parts of my research portfolio. These major pregnancy complications are studied at a molecular, cellular, blood vessel and whole body level with each project interacting with and strengthening other projects.
Grants held: over the past 10 years:
I have been awarded grants totalling over £14M for my own research portfolio. Grants from the Medical Research Council (MRC), the British Heart Foundation and the Wellcome Trust are currently held. I was previously the principal investigator of an MRC Development Grant and I am currently co-PI of an MRC programme grant and a Wellcome Trust Translational award. The majority of these grants relate to the study of the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction.
I have personally led institutional research applications that have successfully accrued >£50M; several of these applications represent cross-faculty interdisciplinary initiatives.
Prizes and Awards:
1990 Perinatal Medicine Prize: Int. Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy.
1992 William Blair-Bell Memorial Lectureship
1994 International Society for Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy: Young Investigator Award.
1995 Joan Dawkins Fellowship (awarded by the BMA Board of Science and Education).
1997 Edgar Research Fellowship (awarded by Wellbeing)
2004 Sir William Liley Lecturer (Perinatal Research Society)
2005 President’s Achievement Award of the Society of Gynecologic Investigation (The first time this award had been made outside North America).