Dr Ngozi Edi-Osagie is a consultant neonatologist in St Mary’s hospital in Manchester Foundation Trust. She is the RCPCH Officer for Genomics and chairs the Genomics Working Group.
She is also the national specialty adviser for neonatal care for NHS England, and it was as part of this role that she was invited to join the working group for the Newborn Genomes programme (led by Genomics England). This programme will evaluate the feasibility and impact of screening newborns for a number of childhood onset rare genetic conditions, where early intervention is crucial and would make a significant difference to outcome. The programme also aims to understand how genomic and health data could be used to improve knowledge and treatments.
She also has first-hand experience of the impact of new genomic innovations as she is fortunate enough to work on the neonatal unit where the first trial of genetic point of care testing designed to alter management in an acute time-sensitive setting was investigated and then implemented. The Pharmacogenetics to Avoid Loss of Hearing (PALOH) trial showed that babies with the gene that predisposes to aminoglycoside hearing loss can be detected shortly after admission to the neonatal unit and therefore given an alternative antibiotic, preventing hearing loss associated with this antibiotic.
Ngozi also sits on the Equality and Diversity committees of RCPCH and the General Medical Council (GMC). She is involved in external investigations and peer review of clinical services. She is the Co-chair of the community collaborative partnership between Manchester Foundation Trust and the Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN) and is also a medical advisor for this organisation. In 2021, Ngozi wrote about her experiences of being a paediatrician for RCPCH and shared a story that has stayed with her.