Rebecca Reynolds: pregnancy and metabolism | Edinburgh Metabolism

University of EdinburghInstitute for Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research

Research area

My research focuses on understanding the mechanisms linking development in utero to health and disease across the lifespan. My work spans process to population eg experimental medicine studies in pregnant women and their children, detailed mechanistic studies using placental tissue, randomised controlled trials testing interventions in pregnancy to improve outcomes and epidemiological data-linkage studies using ‘big data’ in Scotland.

Publications

Showing 12 most recent publications

Evid Based Nurs. 2026 Sep;29(4):198. · PMID: 40441753; DOI: 10.1136/ebnurs-2025-104281

Obesity in pregnancy: women are motivated to make healthy lifestyle changes and be active during labour

Clark E, Reynolds RM

Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2026 Jan;77:101643. · PMID: 41240419; DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101643

Preterm birth, socioeconomic status, and white matter development across childhood

Mckinnon K, Blesa Cábez M, Thye M, Abel S, Smikle R, Skelton J, Jiménez-Sánchez L, Vaher K, Sullivan G, Corrigan A, Barclay G, Jardine C, Hamilton I, McIntyre D, Chua YW, Amir R, Quigley AJ, Battersby C, Tsanas A, Batty GD, Reynolds RM, Cox SR, Whalley HC, Thrippleton MJ, Bastin ME, Richardson H, Boardman JP

Graphical abstract ↗Mckinnon et al., Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (2026). CC BY 4.0.

Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Sep;51(9):1377-1381. · PMID: 40514265; DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.05.012

Umbilical Artery Wall Shear Stress and Control of the Feto-placental Circulation

Hoskins PR, Reynolds RM, Hunt K, Townsend R

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Jul;122(29):e2420902122. · PMID: 40658837; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2420902122

Energy expenditure and obesity across the economic spectrum

McGrosky A, Luke A, Arab L, Bedu-Addo K, Bonomi AG, Bovet P, Brage S, Buchowski MS, Butte N, Camps SG, Casper R, Cummings DK, Krupa Das S, Deb S, Dugas LR, Ekelund U, Forrester T, Fudge BW, Gillingham M, Goris AH, Gurven M, Hambly C, Joosen A, Katzmarzyk PT, Kempen KP, Kraus WE, Kriengsinyos W, Kuriyan R, Kushner RF, Lambert EV, Larsson CL, Leonard WR, Lessan N, Löf M, Martin CK, Medin AC, Neuhouser ML, Pietilainen KH, Plasqui G, Prentice RL, Racette SB, Raichlen DA, Ravussin E, Redman L, Reynolds RM, Rimm EB, Roberts S, Rosinger AY, Samuels MH, Sinha S, Snodgrass JJ, Stice E, Uauy R, Urlacher SS, Verbunt JA, Wolfe B, Wood B, Zhang X, Murphy-Alford AJ, Loechl CJ, Rood J, Sagayama H, Schoeller DA, Westerterp KR, Wong WW, Yamada Y, Speakman JR, Pontzer H, IAEA DLW Database Consortium

EBioMedicine. 2025 Jul;117:105811. · PMID: 40532624; DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105811

Statistical learning to identify and characterise neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years in babies born preterm: model development and validation using population-level data from England and Wales

Haider S, Tsanas A, Batty GD, Reynolds RM, Whalley HC, Cox SR, Marioni RE, Battersby C, Boardman JP

J Physiol. 2025 Jun;603(11):3463-3477. · PMID: 40448705; DOI: 10.1113/jp288710

The impact of metformin on placental ageing in humans and mice

Hattersley GJ, Yang L, Tarry-Adkins JL, Hufnagel A, Wong KK, Fernandez-Twinn DS, Chukanova M, Robinson IG, Drake AJ, Reynolds RM, Ozanne SE, Aiken CE

BJOG. 2025 Jun;132(7):902-915. · PMID: 39971868; DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.18101

Associations of Antenatal Corticosteroids With Neurodevelopment in Children Aged 27-30 Months: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Frier EM, Lahti-Pulkkinen M, Lin C, Decrue F, Zoega H, Allegaert K, Been JV, Burgner D, Duhig K, Einarsdóttir K, Florian L, Fraser A, Gissler M, Gyamfi-Bannerman C, Pedersen LH, Miller JE, Mol BW, Murray SR, Norman J, Roberts D, Schuit E, Shi T, Sheikh A, Vogel JP, Wood R, McGoldrick E, Jacobsson B, Krispin E, Reynolds RM, Stock SJ, Co‐OPT Collaboration

Stud Health Technol Inform. 2025 May;327:944-948. · PMID: 40380618; DOI: 10.3233/shti250511

User Needs Assessment for Gestational Diabetes Care and Management Digital Tool: A Qualitative Study

Kirkwood JR, Dickson J, Manataki A, Lindsay RS, Wake DJ, Reynolds RM

J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2025 Apr;248:106691. · PMID: 39921041; DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2025.106691

Determination of steroid reference intervals in a pregnancy population

Lahti-Pulkkinen M, Räikkönen K, Basiukajc A, Lee P, Denham SG, Simpson JP, Villa P, Hämäläinen E, Laivuori H, Kajantie E, Heinonen K, Girchenko P, Reynolds RM, Homer NZ

Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2025 Mar;13(3):210-220. · PMID: 39884300; DOI: 10.1016/s2213-8587(24)00340-1

Automated insulin delivery during the first 6 months postpartum (AiDAPT): a prespecified extension study

Lee TTM, Collett C, Bergford S, Hartnell S, Scott EM, Lindsay RS, Hunt KF, McCance DR, Reynolds RM, Wilinska ME, Sibayan J, Kollman C, Hovorka R, Murphy HR, AiDAPT Collaborative Group

BMC Psychiatry. 2025 Feb;25(1):122. · PMID: 39948527; DOI: 10.1186/s12888-025-06579-9

Metabolic biomarkers of clinical outcomes in severe mental illness (METPSY): protocol for a prospective observational study in the Hub for metabolic psychiatry

Rakshasa-Loots AM, Steyn C, Swiffen D, Marwick KFM, Semple RK, Reynolds RM, Burgess K, Lawrie SM, Lightman SL, Luz S, Smith DJ

Epidemiol Rev. 2025 Jan;47(1):mxaf011. · PMID: 40643383; DOI: 10.1093/epirev/mxaf011

Socioeconomic status and depression-a systematic review

Jespersen A, Madden RA, Whalley HC, Reynolds RM, Lawrie SM, McIntosh AM, Iveson MH

ExpandCollapse 6 earlier publications

J Appl Physiol (1985). 2025 Jan;138(1):13-21. · PMID: 39589823; DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00691.2024

Sex-related hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis adaptation during military training

Gifford RM, O'Leary TJ, Knight RL, Wardle SL, Doig CL, Anderson RA, Greeves JP, Reynolds RM, Woods DR

BMJ Open. 2024 Sep 16;14(9):e085365. · PMID: 39284691

Preterm birth as a determinant of neurodevelopment and cognition in children (PRENCOG): protocol for an exposure-based cohort study in the UK.

James P Boardman, Ruth Andrew, Mark E Bastin, Cheryl Battersby, G David Batty, Manuel Blesa Cábez, Simon R Cox, Jill Hall, Lauren Ingledow, Riccardo E Marioni, Neena Modi, Lee Murphy, Alan J Quigley, Rebecca M Reynolds, Hilary Richardson, Sarah J Stock, Michael J Thrippleton, Athanasios Tsanas, Heather C Whalley

Pubmed Link ↗

BJOG. 2024 May;131(6):858-868 · PMID: 37968246

Impact of COVID-19 on gestational diabetes pregnancy outcomes in the UK: A multicentre retrospective cohort study

Niamh-Maire Mclennan, Robert Lindsay, Ponnusamy Saravanan, Nithya Sukumar, Sara L White, Peter von Dadelszen, Christy Burden, Kathryn Hunt, Priya George, Jane E Hirst, Katherine Lattey, Tara T M Lee, Helen R Murphy, Eleanor M Scott, Laura A Magee, Rebecca M Reynolds; Diabetes in Pregnancy Working Group.

Pubmed Link ↗

Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2024 Apr;100(4):317-327. · PMID: 38229583

Plasma steroid concentrations reflect acute disease severity and normalise during recovery in people hospitalised with COVID-19

Kerri Devine, Clark D Russell, Giovanny R Blanco, Brian R Walker, Natalie ZM Homer, Scott G Denham, Joanna P Simpson , Olivia C Leavy, Omer Elneima, Hamish J C McAuley, Aarti Shikotra, Amisha Singapuri, Marco Sereno, Ruth M Saunders , Victoria C Harris, Linzy Houchen-Wolloff, Neil J Greening, Nazir I Lone, Mathew Thorpe, William Greenhalf, James D Chalmers, Ling-Pei Ho, Alex Horsley, Michael Marks, Betty Raman, Shona C Moore, Jake Dunning, Malcolm G Semple, Ruth Andrew, Louise V Wain, Rachael A Evans, Christopher E Brightling, John Kenneth Baillie, Rebecca M Reynolds; ISARIC4C Investigators and PHOSP-COVID Study Collaborative Group.

Pubmed Link ↗

Diabet Med. 2023 Oct;40(10):e15111. doi: 10.1111/dme.15111. Epub 2023 Apr 21. PMID: 37035965. · PMID: 37035965

Non-invasive imaging of functional pancreatic islet beta-cell mass in people with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Joshi SS, Singh T, Kershaw LE, Gibb FW, Dweck MR, Williams M, Idris I, Semple S, Forbes S, Newby DE, Reynolds RM

Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2023 Feb;19(2):112-124. · PMID: 36221036

The ATP-binding cassette proteins ABCB1 and ABCC1 as modulators of glucocorticoid action

Devine K, Villalobos E, Kyle CJ, Andrew R, Reynolds RM, Stimson RH, Nixon M, Walker BR

Full publication list ↗All Edinburgh Metabolism publications →

Social media

Rebecca Reynolds joined Melvyn Bragg and his other guests for an episode of In Our Time on hormones, broadcast this morning on BBC Radio 4.

Listen on BBC Sounds ↗