A University of Oxford professor of perinatal medicine has been recognised with the 2024 March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award in Maternal-Fetal Nutrition.

Dr Jose Villar is a professor at the university's Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health.

The award recognises his and his team's work at the department for their research in maternal-fetal nutrition, which has influenced the field globally.

Dr Villar said: "This award is truly a culmination of decades of work trying to figure out how maternal prenatal nutrition and other exposures affect the short- and long-term health of her offspring, and I’m very humbled.

"All of us serve a greater purpose that just informing mothers about what to eat or doctors which growth standard to use.

“We look at a woman’s pregnancy and what happens to her through a social, economic and cultural lens, and work toward equities that allow all mothers to have the opportunity to achieve nutritional goals that set babies up for lifelong success.

"That is the challenge ahead, and I couldn’t be prouder to continue it alongside March of Dimes.”

Dr Villar is celebrated as the originator of the first set of international standards for fetal growth, newborn size and body composition, and postnatal growth of preterm infants.

These standards, which are universally adopted, provide a worldwide model of healthy growth and development from the early gestation stage to two years of age.

Dr Villar's previous joint efforts helped uncover the link between calcium intake and the risk of preeclampsia and preterm birth.

While serving at the World Health Organization, he supervised the largest randomised controlled trial on the influence of calcium supplementation in preventing these ailments.

In 2014, he made an important contribution when he published a comprehensive set of international standards covering not only fetal growth, newborn size and body composition but also extending to the mother's weight gain, fundal height and hemoglobin levels during pregnancy.

Dr Emre Seli, chief scientific officer of March of Dimes, said: “It is difficult to overstate the value of Dr. Villar’s contributions to maternal and infant nutrition and its impact on early development."

The Oxford group he leads published a digital atlas of the fetal brain's normal development.

Dr Villar is currently advocating for breast milk as the primary food source for premature infants.

He is also collaborating with researchers at the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Stanford University to assess the influence of fetal growth patterns, brain structures and maternal traits on the motor and cognitive abilities of children at two years old.

The award will be presented to Dr Villar on May 4 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Canada.