Professor Rachel Tribe PhD, FPhysiol

Rachel Tribe is Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Health. She trained as a physiologist (BSc Special Dual Hons Physiology and Zoology) at the University of Sheffield and gained a PhD from the University of London focusing on dietary salt intake, sodium transport, and bronchial reactivity. Subsequently, as an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellow she studied smooth muscle intracellular calcium regulation at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, USA. On returning to the UK, Dr Tribe became interested in pregnancy and preterm birth and now leads a multidisciplinary research group in the Dept. of Women and Children’s Health, KCL funded by the MRC, Borne Foundation, Action Medical Research, Rosetree Trust, Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and Tommy’s charity. Professor Tribe’s research focuses on translational research related to preterm birth and other pregnancy associated conditions. Specific interests include uterine ion channel physiology, female reproductive tract innate immune system and interactions with the microbiome in pregnancy, identification of biomarkers for prediction of preterm birth and the potential of combining breastfeeding with probiotic supplementation to improve infant gut health. Professor Tribe collaborates with colleagues in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Kenya, The Gambia, Mozambique and India. She has a global health portfolio of studies to understand preterm birth phenotypes and prediction in different settings, leading the PRECISE Spontaneous Preterm Birth Study and is a Co-I on the PRECISE Network.

Professor Tribe was appointed as Vice Dean for Research and Impact in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine in Sept 2023 and is also the Faculty Research Integrity Champion. This role has a large focus on enhancing research capacity in the faculty, supporting research staff career development and promoting a positive research culture.

Rachel Tribe has a long standing involvement in the Physiological Society (previously on Council, Chair of the Membership & Grants Committee and Diversity/Equality Lead). Other professional roles have included membership of the Preterm Clinical Study Group Executive, Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology UK and PREBIC (Preterm Birth International Collaborative) and Convenor of the Annual Myometrium and Parturition Satellite meeting for the Society of Reproductive Investigation. She is also part of the management team overseeing the collaborative UK Preterm Birth Network Clinical database; this links data from high risk pregnancies in 29 centres across the UK and abroad for research purposes.

Professor Tribe teaches biomedical and medical undergraduate students and established the interdisciplinary MSc in Women and Children’s Health. Committed to supporting early career researchers, Rachel Tribe has successfully supervised and mentored many BSc, MSc, MD and PhD students in Women’s Health.