Rate My Professor Ruth Hughes

Dr Ruth Hughes is a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Clinical Researcher in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Otago, Christchurch, where she also practices as an Obstetric Physician at Christchurch Women’s Hospital. She earned her BSc from the University of Wales, Cardiff, and MB BCh from the University of Wales, followed by Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP). After migrating to New Zealand from the UK in 1996, she completed postgraduate medical training in Christchurch and Auckland. In 2004, she undertook a Fellowship in Obstetric Medicine in Toronto, Canada. She was appointed Senior Medical Officer at Christchurch Women’s Hospital in 2005 and has since advanced her academic career at the University of Otago.

Hughes' research specializations center on improving pregnancy outcomes for women with medical disorders complicating pregnancy. Her contributions include advancing routine HbA1c screening for women with pre-existing diabetes, now adopted nationwide, and investigating prediabetes to address equity gaps in maternal health. She has led the introduction of angiogenic biomarker screening using the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio for placental insufficiency into routine clinical practice in Canterbury, in collaboration with clinical biochemists and Canterbury Laboratories. Her long-term efforts aim to influence national guidelines for equitable access to such testing across Aotearoa New Zealand. In education, she teaches fifth-year medical students, candidates for the postgraduate Diploma of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, physician and obstetric registrars, and second-year midwifery students, with a focus on maternal medical complications in pregnancy, including diabetes in pregnancy study days. She is a member of the New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes Diabetes in Pregnancy Working Group and the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society, supporting collaborative research and clinical guideline development. Key publications encompass 'Rapid postpartum progression to diabetes following early antenatal prediabetes: Evidence from a multiethnic New Zealand cohort' (Diabetes Care, 2026), 'In suspected fetal growth restriction, sFlt-1/PlGF and PlGF may have value in risk stratification for preterm birth and birthweight <3rd centile: A blinded cohort study' (Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 2025), 'Management of early dysglycaemia in pregnancy varies by region in Aotearoa New Zealand with risks of widening inequities' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2024), and 'Could the sFlt-1/PLGF ratio have added value in the detection and management of small for gestational age and fetal growth restriction?' (Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health, 2024). She presented 'How can we utilise angiogenic biomarker testing (sFlt-1/PIGF) to improve care for mothers with hypertension in pregnancy?' at the RANZCOG Aotearoa Annual Scientific Meeting in 2025.