Professor
Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health, University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Stephen Tong an academic obstetrician at The University of Melbourne. Practicing at Mercy Hospital for Women (Melbourne, Australia), he is a clinician researcher with an interest developing diagnostics and therapeutics for pregnancy complications.
One of his main focusses is to develop a blood test to help women avoid stillbirth. The team he co-leads -The Translational Obstetric Group - has discovered circulating molecules that can pick pregnancies affected by poor placental function - pregnancies at high risk of stillbirth. He also co-leads a research program looking for new treatment for preeclampsia. This preeclampsia research program has run successive randomised trials of potential drug treatments and identified metformin as potentially the first disease modifying treatment for the condition. He also has an interest in population health research - evaluating long-term child health after fetal drug exposure and obstetric interventions. He is involved in many cohort studies and clinical trials running across low, and middle-income countries.
He has published over 250 papers. Since 2020 he has published in The Lancet (twice), BMJ, Nature Communications, JAMA Paediatrics, JAMA Psychiatry, JAMA Network Open, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology many times; Lancet Global Health, Plos Medicine, BMC Medicine and other journals.
He is on the advisory boards of Menzies Medical Research Institute (Tasmania) and the Robinson Research Institute (Adelaide); and editorial board member of Hypertension and BMC Medicine. He authored ‘The Birth Book’ (Big Sky Publishing, 2024, Second Edition), widely available in bookstores across Australia and New Zealand. And internationally available online.