An internationally recognised researcher who has advanced our understanding of human birth has been named the 19th Freeman of the City of Newcastle.

In a career that spans more than 35 years, Distinguished Laureate Professor Roger Smith AM has sought answers to some of medicine’s biggest questions, helping families across the world with his research into pregnancy, premature birth and stillbirth.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said Professor Smith has made his mark in Newcastle and overseas.

“Professor Smith’s research is dedicated to improving the welfare and the wellbeing of everyone,” Cr Nelmes said.
“He was instrumental in the creation of the Hunter Medical Research Cooperative Limited in 1990, which eventually became the world-leading Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI). “Professor Smith established the Gomeroi Gaanyggal project in Tamworth, Newcastle and Walgett, endeavouring to ‘close the gap’ where Aboriginal health is concerned, using art as a medium for increasing Indigenous women’s access to healthcare during pregnancy.

“He also helped create a program in Nepal that reduced maternal mortality by 40 per cent by encouraging the Nepalese military to conduct helicopter evacuations of women with obstetric emergencies. The program arranged supplies of sanitary napkins for 2.6 million schoolgirls to allow them to stay at school longer and increase their future opportunities.”

Professor Smith said being named a Freeman of the City was an unexpected honour.

“It’s exciting to be the first scientist and researcher to become a Freeman of the City and I believe it represents a change in the way Newcastle thinks about itself,” Professor Smith said.
“I’d like to see Newcastle continue to develop as a city of ideas, finding solutions for global problems such as climate change and artificial intelligence, bringing together business groups, the University of Newcastle, HMRI, Hunter New England Health and City of Newcastle to generate this future. I’d like to be part of Newcastle’s contribution to the world.

“Newcastle has been my adopted home for the last 44 years and it’s where we brought up our children and now our grandchildren are growing up here. I love that I can get to work in 15 minutes and have a swim before or after work, or both.

“I also love that Newcastle has everything from libraries to the art gallery, a conservatorium, port, airport, sports ground, beaches and restaurants, yet it’s small enough that it’s like living in a village, which is good for our mental health.”
Among his incredible list of achievements, Professor Smith and his team of researchers discovered the biological clock within the human placenta that determines the length of human pregnancy.
He and his team discovered how aging of the placenta can be a cause of stillbirth and have developed nanoparticles targeted to the muscle of the uterus as a treatment for premature birth.

Professor Smith was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2013 for his outstanding contribution to the field of human pregnancy physiology and Indigenous health.
He is a Fellow of the Australian Society for Reproductive Biology, a Life Member of the Endocrine Society of Australia and Scientific Director of the HMRI Mothers and Babies Research Program.
Professor Smith joins an illustrious group of Novocastrians to be awarded the Freeman of the City honour including Surfest co-founder Warren Smith, award-winning architect Brian Suters and sporting administrator and civic luminary, Adele Saunders OAM.