About Borne
Borne is a medical research charity based in Imperial College School of Medicine‘s facilities at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Our aim is to identify the causes of premature birth to save lives, prevent disability and create lifelong health for mothers and babies.
Only by investing in research will we understand what causes preterm birth. Only by investing in research will we learn how to save these lives.
– Professor Mark Johnson
Founder
Chief Scientific Officer
As a physician and obstetrician, Mark saw the devastating effects of prematurity first hand, and was left feeling deeply frustrated by his inability to do more for his patients. With his dual expertise in obstetrics and research, Mark found himself in a unique position to tackle the problem of preterm birth.
Borne was initially set up as a research appeal with CW+, the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital charity. Between 2013 and 2015, Borne raised over £3.5 million in support of preterm birth research. Borne became an independent medical research charity in 2016, with the ambition to grow the research team and start new phases of translational research that advances our understanding of pregnancy and identifies solutions to prevent or delay the onset of preterm labour.
Every child should have the chance of a full life that is unaffected by disability.
Borne’s vision is a world in which a child’s first day on earth would not have to be their hardest.
Research provides the foundations for lasting change to prevent preterm birth.
Through Borne’s pioneering research, we can make that vision a reality.
Borne seeks to:
- Understand the mechanisms responsible for preterm and term labour
- Develop effective treatment strategies to prevent preterm labour
- Build capacity by attracting the best scientists and clinicians to this area of medicine
- Increase awareness of preterm birth and its social, personal and economic consequences
We are driven to achieve our goals by the desire to give each child the chance of a full and healthy life, unaffected by disability.
Investing in medical research
Research provides the foundations for lasting change. 85% of women who go into preterm labour are not identified to be at risk.
We will make no progress in managing the complications of pregnancy until we understand the underlying physiological processes that are involved in normal and abnormal pregnancy and labour.
By taking a ‘bench-to-bedside’ approach, we are committed to undertaking research that advances our understanding of what causes preterm birth, and to identify and test solutions and treatments that improve risk detection and address risk factors, as well as delay threatened preterm labour.