Dr Renuka Shanmugalingam (right) with her supervisor Professor Angela Makris.
A study of the impacts of taking aspirin during pregnancy to prevent preeclampsia has earned a PhD candidate from Western Sydney University three national science prizes.
Dr Renuka Shanmugalingam was recently awarded the High Blood Pressure Research Council Australian Student Science Prize at the 15th Asian-Pacific Congress of Hypertension.
For two consecutive years she was also been the recipient of the Society of Obstetric Medicine of Australia and New Zealand Andrew Phippard Memorial Award for best scientific research oral presentation.
Dean of the School of Medicine at Western Sydney University, Distinguished Professor Annemarie Hennessy AM, said Dr Shanmugalingam's work is so inspirational because it advocates for patient-centric care.
"At the Congress she was able to demonstrate to hundreds of local and international colleagues the importance of providing medical care for patients on their own terms – no assumptions, no stereotypes," said Professor Hennessy.
Dr Shanmugalingam – who was recently recruited by the renal department of Liverpool Hospital – said the study was a huge team effort.
"I would like to say a very big thank you to my amazing supervisors, Professor Angela Makris and Professor Annemarie Hennessy, the Department of Obstetrics and Department of Renal Medicine in South Western Sydney Local Health District," she said.
"The midwives of Liverpool, Heart Research Institute, the PEARLS Foundation, the Women's Health Initiative Translational Unit at the District and most importantly, the women who participated in the study, have played an important role."
Dr Shanmugalingam has now been invited to present her teams' findings, which included the study of 220 pregnant women at Bankstown, Liverpool and Campbelltown Hospitals, at the British and Irish Hypertension Society meeting in Glasgow in May 2020.
