A social scientist by training, Dr Stuti Pant has taken a less common route into STEM, but one that fills a gap in neonatal research. In neonatal neuroscience, she investigates how families experience care in their most vulnerable moments.
In this Q&A, Dr Pant reflects on the unconventional path that led her from the social sciences into neonatal research and explains how this lens reframes how we understand neonatal encephalopathy (a disturbance in brain function in a newborn).
DoBS: You are a social scientist working in neonatal neuroscience. What drew you to this intersection of disciplines? Could you tell us a bit more about your background?
Stuti Pant: I’ve always been drawn to the human side of science – how decisions get made, how people experience care, and how systems either support or fail families in high-stress moments. My training is in social sciences, which gave me tools to study behaviour, communication, ethics, and power dynamics in real-world settings.
Within neonatal care, I was struck by the gap between what medicine can do and what families actually experience – especially around uncertainty, consent, and trauma. Neonatal neuroscience is an area with incredible scientific progress, but translating that progress into better outcomes depends on trust, communication, and implementation. That’s where my skill set fits naturally – working alongside clinicians and scientists to make research and care more grounded, parent-centred, and deliverable in practice.
What unique insights does a social science lens bring to understanding and preventing neonatal encephalopathy?
A social science lens helps us see neonatal encephalopathy not only as a biomedical event, but as something shaped by healthcare systems, timing, communication, and context. Prevention isn’t just “the right intervention” – it’s whether the intervention is feasible, adopted, and sustained across busy maternity and neonatal settings.
Several of your publications focus on neonatal trials and informed consent in low- and middle-income countries. What are the unique ethical and practical challenges of conducting neonatal research in these settings, and how has this work shaped your perspective on global health equity?
Neonatal trials in LMIC settings are often time-critical and emotionally intense, which makes the ethics of consent and communication especially complex. Challenges include:
- Time pressure: decisions may need to happen quickly, when parents are overwhelmed.
- Language and literacy barriers: consent documents can be technically correct but practically inaccessible.
- Power dynamics: families may feel unable to question clinicians or decline.
- Resource constraints: staffing, space, follow-up systems, and continuity can all affect what “informed” and “voluntary” truly mean in practice.
This work has shaped my view that global health equity isn’t only about access to interventions – it’s about respect, agency, and partnership. Equity means designing research processes that are realistic, culturally safe, and co-produced – so participants aren’t just “recruited,” they’re genuinely engaged and protected.
For women early in their careers, coming from non-STEM fields, what advice would you offer about pursuing medical research?
It is important to understand that your background is not a disadvantage – it’s a differentiator. Medical research needs people who bring a different perspective to understand systems, ethics, communication, behaviour change, and implementation. My advice for all women from non-STEM backgrounds is ‘own your lens’- be able to say clearly what you contribute that a purely biomedical pathway might miss.
What do you do outside of your professional life to decompress and maintain balance?
I have learned that sustainability matters. My work is meaningful, but it can be heavy. I try to keep a balance through family time.
Are there any future research priorities you’re especially excited about?
One area I’m excited about is making consent and communication in time-critical neonatal trials more ethical and more practical. In partnership with our parental community, we are working to develop innovative methods for research participation to understand what supports genuine understanding and reduces harm.