Prof Sailesh Kumar Surendran

Professor Sailesh Kumar is Head of the Mothers', Babies' and Women's Health research program and leads the Genesis Maternal Fetal Medicine Research Group at Mater Research, with a group of seven researchers. He is also Head of the Academic Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Queensland (UQ) and Senior Specialist in Maternal & Fetal Medicine/Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Mater Mothers' Hospital.

Sailesh leads an active perinatal research group in fetal therapy and fetal imaging, and currently works on development of techniques for better prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes. He has written a popular Fetal Medicine Handbook and has over 110 publications. In the United Kingdom (UK) he supervised to completion five PhD and 22 Masters Students. He currently supervises a number of PhD and Honours students at UQ.

Sailesh is internationally recognised for his wide contributions to fetal medicine. He was a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG) Guidelines and Scientific Advisory Committees and is an associate editor of the journal Fetal and Maternal Medicine Review published by Cambridge University Press.

Sailesh completed his Doctorate at the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford in 2000, and was awarded a Fellowship in Maternal & Fetal Medicine to work at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital and Imperial College London before being appointed as consultant in 2001. He is an accredited Maternal & Fetal Medicine specialist both in the UK and Australia and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (UK) and Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists.

Sailesh is Chief Investigator on two successful National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) applications and his students have been awarded UQ Research Scholarships and NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships.

"I pursued an academic career because it allowed me to follow my dual interests in medical research and education. My current research has evolved somewhat from my initial interests in fetal therapy, to a broader scope of prediction for adverse late pregnancy outcomes. I believe that my research may help address some of the perinatal health problems that Australian’s face but also in less affluent countries where perinatal outcomes are significantly poorer. I am committed in mentoring younger clinicians interested in a future academic career."

Funding

• 2025 Nine Telethon Perinatal Research Grant: Prof Kumar was awarded $283,664 over one year for his research project titled ‘Identifying term pregnancies with severe placental dysfunction and understanding parental and healthcare provider views about the option of planned birth to reduce adverse outcomes’ .The research aims to combine diagnostic strategies for accurate identification of all babies at risk of stillbirth, neonatal death or severe pregnancy complications and determine whether planned birth at 39-40 weeks is an acceptable and effective prevention of severe birth complications.
• 2025 Nine Telethon Perinatal Research Grant: Prof Kumar was awarded $167,346 over one year for his clinical translation project titled ‘The Mater Fetal Growth Clinic – A model to improve clinical outcomes and build collaborative research capacity in Southeast Queensland’. The research will evaluate the viability and benefit of expanding the Fetal Growth Clinic service at Mater that increases identification of small for gestational age (SGA) babies and subsequently provides a new model of care to these at-risk pregnancies. They will also evaluate the transferability of this service by establishing and evaluating a similar clinic at another Queensland Hospital and Health Service.