Jessica Ellen Ringshaw is a Research Fellow in Paediatric Neuroimaging at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London.

As an awardee of a Wellcome Trust International Training Fellowship, she completed her PhD in Paediatric Neuroscience at the University of Cape Town (UCT), alongside specialised training in neuroimaging at King's College London. 

She is also a Clinical Neuropsychologist with specific expertise in neurodevelopment and paediatric neuroimaging.

Under the umbrella of UNITY (Ultra Low-Field Neuroimaging In the Young), Jessica is a member of a multi-site network of specialist neuroimaging centres and clinical partners funded by the Gates Foundation.

In this capacity, she serves a bridging role that fosters cross-site collaboration, particularly between UCT and King's, and contributes to training and capacity development in paediatric neuroimaging across UNITY sites in Africa and South Asia.

Jessica’s neuroimaging research focuses on using MRI to understand the impact of antenatal maternal anaemia and iron deficiency on child brain structure and development in early life.

Her work addresses clinically relevant questions using traditional high-field (HF; 3T) MRI, alongside cross-validation research assessing the feasibility and comparability of a novel ultra-low-field (ULF; 64mT) MRI system for use in under-resourced settings.

Given the scarcity of paediatric neuroimaging in low- and middle-income countries, her research aims to contribute to global health priorities, with potential implications for clinical practice, community engagement, and public policy.

Her key research contributions to date include epidemiological research on the prevalence and profile of iron deficiency anaemia in South African mothers and infants with inflammation (PLOS Global Public Health), high-field neuroimaging research investigating the persistent effects of antenatal maternal anaemia on child brain structure in toddlers and school-age children (BMC Medicine), cross-validation research assessing agreement between high-field and ultra-low-field MRI-derived brain volumes (Human Brain Mapping), and clinical research investigating the impact of anaemia on infant brain volumes using both high-field and ultra-low-field MRI (Brain Communications).

Research interests

• Neuroimaging
• Neurodevelopment
• Neuropsychology
• Maternal and Child Health
• Nutrition
• Anaemia
• Child Brain Development

Expertise and public engagement

With the support of a Wellcome Trust Research Enrichment grant, Jessica has led multiple public engagement projects focused on communicating research findings, fostering reciprocal dialogue among stakeholders, and identifying meaningful opportunities for community-led change.

This work has included running interactive workshops in study communities, developing neuroimaging explainer videos to prepare mothers and children for MRI, and creating educational resources for disseminating research findings to the public.