LCFC Programme of research

The Leicester City Football Club (LCFC) Professorship was established following a generous donation from the LCFC to the University of Leicester. The donation is being used to fund research that aims to improve the health of Leicester’s children, both today and in the future. 

The LCFC Programme of Research in Child Health is part of the TIMMS research group at the University of Leicester. TIMMS is known worldwide for carrying out research to improve survival and long-term outcomes for babies born early (preterm).

Our studies

• A study of babies born late preterm and early term in Leicester City: The Leicester Early Birth Study (Professor Elaine Boyle)
• Parental involvement in decision-making about planned late preterm and early term birth: the PIP study (Dr Frances Mielewczyk, Researcher)
• Who supports breastfeeding for babies born a few weeks early? (Vimbai Mamombe, PhD Student)
• The LLEGS Study - The Leicester Late preterm and Early term Growth and body composition Study (Alice Kavati, PhD Student and Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner).
• The impact of antenatal, perinatal and early life factors on neonatal immune function and epigenetics (Will Dodwell, Paediatrician in training and PhD Student).
• Pregnancy in Older Women (POW): we aim to examine the risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes in women conceiving aged 35 years and over by undertaking a scoping review and analysing routinely collected data. (Dr Frances Mielewczyk, Researcher).

People

• Professor Elaine Boyle
• Dr Frances Mielewczyk
• Dr Ahmed Salih
• Dr Caroline Mulvaney
• Alice Kavati
• Vimbai Mamombe
• Will Dodwell

Events

Born just a few weeks early: Does it matter?

An event to mark World Prematurity Day 2023 was held on 17 November 2023, 5.00pm - 6.00pm, at the George Davies Centre, University of Leicester.

The GDC was lit up in purple to highlight World Prematurity Day.

Get involved

Are you interested in the health and wellbeing of babies and young children in Leicester and Leicestershire? Can you help us improve our work into the health of babies and young children? We are looking for parents, members of the public and representatives from relevant organisations to join our Parent and Public Advisory Group (PPAG). We would love people from a range of backgrounds to join our group.

Outputs

1. Mielewczyk FJ, Boyle EM. Uncharted territory: a narrative review of parental involvement in decision-making about late preterm and early term delivery. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2023 Jul 18;23(1):526. Doi: 10.1186/s12884-023-05845-6. PMID: 37464284; PMCID: PMC10354979.
2. Frances Mielewczyk (2024). Do parents get the say they want in decisions about whether their baby needs to be born early? Leicester Lunchtime Lecture, Leicester Central Library, 13/11/2024.
3. Elaine M. Boyle, Frances J. Mielewczyk, Caroline Mulvaney. Late preterm and early term birth: Challenges and dilemmas in clinical practice’ in Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine. Available online 7 November 2024, 101564. 
4. Boyle, EM, Mielewczyk, FJ, How to write a good research grant proposal. Paediatrics and Child Health, 2024, 34 (1), 6-10, doi:10.1016/j.paed.2023.10.002.
5. Salih AM, Menegaz G, Pillay T, Boyle EM. Explainable Artificial Intelligence in Paediatric: Challenges for the Future. Health Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 12;7(12):e70271. doi:10.1002/hsr2.70271. PMID: 39669185; PMCID: PMC11635175.
6. Mulvaney CA, Mielewczyk FJ, Boyle, EM. (2025, March 3). Factors influencing the outcomes of pregnancy in women conceiving when over 35 years of age: protocol for a scoping review. Retrieved from osf.io/h7q3t