Professor Robert Pattinson has been the Director of the SAMRC/University of Pretoria Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies Research Unit since 1998. This is one of the oldest Extramural Research Units of the South African Medical Research Council. He is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of Pretoria where he previously served as Clinical Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He serves on the National Committee for the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths for which he edits all the reports and served on the National Perinatal Morbidity and Mortality Committee in South Africa. As a qualified Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Prof Pattinson has a strong research focus in areas of maternal, fetal and infant health. He led the team that developed and scaled up the Essential Steps into Obstetric Emergencies programme - the programme has been scaled up into all districts in South Africa. Pattinson is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf); winner of the Discovery Health Excellence Award and a Fellow Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Prof Pattinson attributes most of his professional growth to the SAMRC – his association with the organisation dates back to 1987, when he first received the SAMRC Post Graduate Bursary which he says was a defining moment for his career.

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