About
Dr Danielle Schoenaker is a Principal Research Fellow / Associate Professor in Preconception Health and Care at the University of Southampton.
Danielle’s research focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of people of reproductive age before and between pregnancies, developing and evaluating approaches that reduce inequalities and support healthier outcomes for individuals, families and future generations. She combines evidence synthesis, analysis of large-scale population datasets, and collaboration with patients, the public, healthcare professionals and policymakers to ensure her research translates into meaningful improvements in policy and practice.
As an NIHR Advanced Fellow, she leads research to inform preconception care in primary care. She co-chairs the Primary Care subgroup of the UK Preconception Partnership to collaboratively develop practical, evidence-based approaches that strengthen preconception care in primary care settings.
Danielle is the Emerging Lead and Implementation Work Package Co-Lead for the Preconception and Interpregnancy Health theme within the NIHR Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium. This programme of research is implementing and evaluating a system-wide blueprint for preconception and interpregnancy care and support to reduce maternity disparities and improve outcomes for families across the UK.
Danielle co-leads the International Core Indicators for Preconception Health and Equity (iCIPHE) Alliance, an international collaboration developing agreed indicators to monitor population- and system-level preconception health and care. This work supports countries to measure progress, identify opportunities for improvement and strengthen the prioritisation of preconception health worldwide.
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Research
Research interests
- Preconception health
- Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
- Maternal, paternal and child health
- Lifecourse epidemiology
Current research
Informing preconception care in the primary care setting: Dr Danielle Schoenaker was awarded a NIHR Advanced Fellowship (2023-2028) to inform how primary care teams can better support their patients in preparing for a healthy pregnancy. Her team is leading analyses of linked health and care data to examine the extent to which improved preconception health can reduce adverse pregnancy, birth and early childhood outcomes. This evidence is feeding into multi-stakeholder activities to co-develop best practice guidance for preconception care, which will be implemented and pilot-tested in primary care settings and evaluated through a health economics analysis. Public contributors are involved throughout this research and in the dissemination of findings, for example at conferences (blog).
System-wide preconception and interpregnancy care and support to reduce maternity disparities: Dr Danielle Schoenaker is the Emerging Lead and Implementation Work Package Co-Lead for the Preconception and Interpregnancy Health theme within the NIHR Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium. his programme of research is implementing and evaluating a system-wide blueprint for preconception and interpregnancy care and support to reduce maternity disparities and improve outcomes for families across the UK.
National surveillance of preconception health: a project led by Dr Danielle Schoenaker has identified preconception indicators that can be monitored using existing routine datasets to inform surveillance of preconception health in England. In collaboration with the UK Preconception Partnership and UK government Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), she produced a first national-level report card on women’s preconception health in England published by OHID and in BJOG, and highlighted in an NIHR Alert. Ongoing analyses and collaboration are informing the implementation of preconception health indicators into national surveillance dashboards.
International surveillance of preconception health:
Dr Danielle Schoenaker co-leads the International Core Indicators for Preconception Health and Equity (iCIPHE) Alliance, bringing together academic, clinical, policy and public representatives from low-, middle- and high-income countries. The Alliance published a paper in The Lancet on measuring and monitoring pregnancy planning and preconception health, and is conducting an international consensus study to reach agreement on a core set of preconception indicators for surveillance.
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Research groups
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Research interests
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Current research
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Research projects
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Publications
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Supervision
Current PhD Students
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Teaching
Current teaching contributions
- Guest lecturer for Module on Epidemiology: Concepts, Analysis and Application (University of Southampton; MSc Public Health and MSc Global Health).
- Supervisor to PhD, MSc and undergraduate students conducting studies related to preconception, maternal and paternal health (University of Southampton and external).
- Personal Academic Tutor to Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery students (University of Southampton).
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Courses and modules
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External roles and responsibilities
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Biography
Current positions
- Principal Research Fellow / Associate Professor of Preconception Health and Care, Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, School of Human Development and Health, University of Southampton, UK
- Honorary Associate Professor (research), School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
- Honorary Senior Research Fellow, EGA Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, UK
Leadership roles
- Emerging Lead, Preconception and Interpregnancy Health theme, NIHR Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium
- Co-lead, International Core Indicators for Preconception Health and Equity (iCIPHE) Alliance
- Member, Executive Committee, UK Preconception Partnership
- Member, Executive Committee, Health in Preconception, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Early- and Mid-Career Researcher International Collective (HiPPP EMR-C)
Prizes
- Best Poster Award | World Congress on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (2019)
- Dean’s Award for Postdoctoral Researchers (Public Engagement category) | Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton (2021)
- EMCR Publication Prize | Health Impacts Research Centre, University of Wollongong (2019)
- Young Investigator Award | Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (2019)
- Early-Mid-Career Researcher Travel Award | Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong (2019)
- Conference Travel Award | Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (2018)
- Conference Travel Award | Australasian Epidemiological Association (2016)
- Award for Research Excellence | School of Public Health, The University of Queensland (2016)
- International Travel Award | The University of Queensland (2015)
- Conference Travel Award | Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (2015)
- Award for outstanding consumer collaboration | International Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postpartum Early- and Mid-career Researcher Collective (2022)
- Award for outstanding impact outside academia | International Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postpartum Early- and Mid-career Researcher Collective (2022)
- Postdoctoral Career Track Award | Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton (2022)
- Centennial PhD Scholarship | The University of Queensland (2013)
- International Postgraduate Research Scholarship | Commonwealth of Australia (2013)
- NIHR Advanced Fellowship (2023)
- Best Poster Award | World Congress on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (2019)
- Dean’s Award for Postdoctoral Researchers (Public Engagement category) | Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton (2021)
- EMCR Publication Prize | Health Impacts Research Centre, University of Wollongong (2019)
- Young Investigator Award | Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (2019)
- Early-Mid-Career Researcher Travel Award | Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong (2019)
- Conference Travel Award | Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (2018)
- Conference Travel Award | Australasian Epidemiological Association (2016)
- Award for Research Excellence | School of Public Health, The University of Queensland (2016)
- International Travel Award | The University of Queensland (2015)
- Conference Travel Award | Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (2015)
- Award for outstanding consumer collaboration | International Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postpartum Early- and Mid-career Researcher Collective (2022)
- Award for outstanding impact outside academia | International Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postpartum Early- and Mid-career Researcher Collective (2022)
- Postdoctoral Career Track Award | Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton (2022)
- Centennial PhD Scholarship | The University of Queensland (2013)
- International Postgraduate Research Scholarship | Commonwealth of Australia (2013)
- NIHR Advanced Fellowship (2023)
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Prizes
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