Fellow

Catherine Williamson, Professor of Women’s Health at King’s College London, is an international authority on medical disorders in pregnancy. Her work on intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy identified the first non-familial mutation, and then was the first to report population susceptibility loci. Professor Williamson’s work has provided a plausible hypothesis for the high rate of stillbirth in affected pregnancies with ICP, demonstrating an arrhythmia-inducing role for bile acids in the foetus. She has also made important discoveries in other areas of feto-maternal medicine. Her studies in large-for-gestational age pregnancies have demonstrated whitening of foetal brown fat during pregnancy and altered circadian rhythmicity, both of which are novel findings and are prompting additional mechanistic research.