Inaugural Lecture: Prof Topun Austin

Shining Light on the Newborn Brain

Topun Austin is a Consultant Neonatologist at the Rosie Hospital, Cambridge and Honorary Professor of Neurophotonics at University College London.  He trained at University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, undertaking an intercalated BSc in Physiology in 1992, during which he developed his interest in neonatal physiology. 

Topun qualified in 1995 and embarked on a career as a neonatal paediatrician, After obtaining his MRCP (Paediatrics) he undertook research training at UCL, working in both the Department of Paediatrics and the Department of Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering, completing his PhD in 2009 under the supervision of Professors John Wyatt and Jem Hebden. He completed his neonatal training at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and Hammersmith Hospital, London, and was appointed a Consultant Neonatologist at Cambridge in 2008; in 2016 he was appointed an Associate Lecturer at Cambridge University.

Topun has a broad research interest in the developing brain, however his principal focus has been in the development of novel optical monitoring and imaging technologies. As part of his PhD he was involved in obtaining the first 3D optical imaging scans of the neonatal brain using the aptly named MONSTIR imaging system. Topun has maintained his links with the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory (BORL) at UCL and in 2013 co-founded neoLAB – a joint UCL-Cambridge functional brain-imaging group. To date his research group has achieved a number of ‘firsts’, including identification of previously un-described haemodynamic phenomena associated with neonatal seizures and burst suppression, and the description of a novel index of cerebrovascular reactivity in preterm infants. In 2014 MONSTIR-2 was transported to Cambridge and is being used to study seizures and neonatal stroke in newborn infants.

Following the opening of the new Rosie Hospital in Cambridge in 2012, Topun obtained funding from the Evelyn Trust to build a unique functional brain-imaging unit within the hospital. The Evelyn Perinatal Imaging Centre, of which he is the director, was opened in 2013 and currently consists of a dedicated infant scanning room, physics laboratory and an MRI scanner installed in 2015. The research activity within the Evelyn Perinatal Imaging Centre is wide-ranging, with successful collaborations both in Cambridge and London.

Topun is also interested in the challenges of translating research outputs to clinical care for infants with brain injury. With funding from the Health Foundation, he led an award-winning project to develop a high quality clinical service for neonatal neuroprotection for infants with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy across the East of England. He is currently involved in developing a neonatal neurocritical care service in Cambridge, modeled on the pioneering service developed by Professor David Rowitch at the University of California, San Francisco.

Topun is active on a number of fronts promoting the importance of understanding brain development and prevention of perinatal brain injury. He is the lead for the Paediatric and Perinatal theme of the NIHR Brain Injury Healthcare Technology Consortium and has been on the research council of both the European Society of Paediatric Research and Neonatal Society in the UK.

Topun is also interested in promoting his research and science more generally to a wider audience. In collaboration with BAFTA award winning director Dr. Shreepali Patel he co-produced an acclaimed short film ‘The Golden Window’, exploring the experience of neonatal intensive care from the parents and baby’s perspective. He has also given a number of public lectures, most notably at the Hay Festival on the origin of human consciousness.

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