uOttawa Faculty of Medicine maternal-fetal medicine expert Dr. Mark Walker has led a team of international colleagues examining the latest evidence and clinical approaches to pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening high blood pressure disorder that is one of the most serious pregnancy complications.
The “seminar” publication in The Lancet represents an important international recognition of Dr. Walker’s extensive expertise in maternal and newborn health and his longstanding leadership in research and clinical epidemiology.The Lancet is ranked as the world’s top general medical journal with an elite ‘impact factor’ of 109. Publications in the journal often help shape global practices, policies, and future research.
“With knowledge translation and uptake, we can reduce the burden of disease globally with maximal impact in low-income and middle-income countries.”
Dr. Mark Walker
The Lancet’s seminar series features expert-led reviews of important clinical topics, allowing leading specialists to help shape how a major issue is understood by an international medical audience. Seminars are commissioned by the journal, with editors inviting experts to synthesize and interpret the evidence in areas of significant importance to medicine and clinical care.
As first and corresponding author, Dr. Walker provided leadership on the seminar and its synthesis of current knowledge surrounding pre-eclampsia, which affects at least 2–4% of pregnancies and is characterized by hypertension, new-onset organ dysfunction, and complex underlying biology.
Without timely treatment, the condition can put both mother and baby at significant risk, with potentially life-threatening consequences.
“Pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality. Our team has led several world-first trials and cohort studies,” says Dr. Walker, whose work at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, where he is Vice-Dean of Internationalization and Global Health, and The Ottawa Hospital’s research institute has contributed significantly to the understanding of maternal and perinatal health.
Advancing prevention, diagnosis & care
The published seminar examines the current understanding of the condition, including major risk factors such as chronic hypertension, diabetes, obesity and previous pre-eclampsia. It reviews strategies for prevention, including attention to diet quality and moderate-intensity physical activity among women with metabolic risk factors, low-dose aspirin for women at high risk, and risk-stratified timing of birth at term.
It also highlights a critical global health challenge. Although understanding of pre-eclampsia has advanced substantially, maternal and perinatal mortality remains high in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the incidence of pre-eclampsia is higher. Significant differences in care persist between high-income and low-income and middle-income settings.
“With knowledge translation and uptake, we can reduce the burden of disease globally with maximal impact in LMICs,” Dr. Walker says.
Despite decades of research and advances in prediction, diagnosis and prevention, delivery of the placenta remains the only definitive treatment for pre-eclampsia. Dr. Walker and his co-authors underscore the need for continued work to identify women at risk, diagnose the condition accurately, prevent its progression and ultimately develop more effective treatments.
Global impact in maternal & newborn health
Dr. Walker’s leadership on the high-impact seminar builds on a career focused on improving outcomes for mothers and newborns.
His expertise spans maternal-fetal medicine, clinical epidemiology and population health, positioning him at the intersection of clinical care and research needed to address complex pregnancy-related conditions.
The publication is both a significant contribution to the literature on pre-eclampsia and a recognition of the expertise in maternal-fetal medicine and global maternal health at the uOttawa Faculty of Medicine and its broad collaborative ecosystem with affiliated research institutes and hospitals.
Read the seminar in The Lancet: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)01071-8/abstract