Dr Lynne Sykes is a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London and a Consultant Obstetrician at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust with a specialist interest in preterm birth and maternal medicine. Her main research interest is in the role of inflammation/infection in spontaneous preterm labour, and has been working in this area for the last decade. Lynne's doctoral research explored the potential use of anti-inflammatory agents as a therapeutic strategy for the prevention of preterm labour. She now leads a team who focus on the on the importance of the immune response in women who deliver preterm. One area of her work aims to decipher the role of viruses on bacterial induced preterm labour, with particular consideration to tissue dependent responses in the context of ascending versus haematogenous spread of infection. The other major part of her research is exploring patient specific immune responses to the gut and vaginal microbiota, and how this influences the risk of preterm labour. Her research aims are to develop predictive tools based on immuno-phenotyping, deepen understanding of how immune-microbial interactions determines the risk of preterm birth, and to develop a strategy for immunomodulation for the prevention of preterm labour