Professor Vivette Glover

Vivette Glover is Visiting Professor of Perinatal Psychobiology at Imperial College London. Her first degree was in Biochemistry at Oxford University, and she did her PhD in neurochemistry at University College London. She then moved to Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital, London. In more recent years she has applied her expertise in biological psychiatry to the problems of mothers and babies. Her research has shown the effects of the emotional state of the mother during pregnancy, both on the developing fetus and longer term on the child. Her group have also studied the biological mechanisms that may underlie such fetal programming, including how prenatal maternal mood can affect the function of the placenta. They have shown that gene environment interactions can help to explain why children are affected in different ways.

She has published over 450 papers. She has been awarded the International Marce Society Medal given biennially for research into perinatal mental health, the John Cox medal, and the PIPUK award for Research into Pregnancy and Infant Mental Health. She has been a special advisor to the Department of Health on the Family Nurse Partnership and Preparation for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond. She is currently an advisor to the Early Intervention Foundation, the NSPCC, Best Beginnings and the biometric lead for A Better Start. She helped launch the Global Alliance for Maternal Mental Health in October 2016. Her work is contributing to changes in policy, with a growing awareness that better emotional care for women in pregnancy can improve the outcome for the next generation.