Dr Liona Poon is Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology and an Academic Subspecialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China, and Visiting Professor at Department Women and Children’s Health, King’s College London, London, UK. She is devoted in improving maternal and fetal health. She has had a prolific research output throughout her clinical and research posts, including 200 peer-reviewed publications in high impact international journals (H-index 56). In the last 15 years she has focused her research on establishing a programme for effective early prediction and prevention of preeclampsia, a major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. With her success in developing a first-trimester prediction model for preeclampsia using maternal risk factors, ultrasound, blood pressure and biochemical markers, and on Aspirin prophylaxis against preeclampsia, her goal in the next 10 years is to improve obstetric care worldwide, through clinical research, education and advocacy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been instrumental in establishing a series of guidelines, safety and consensus statements for the safe management of pregnant women affected by COVID-19. Her latest work has identified that comorbidity, poverty and social vulnerability are risk factors for mortality in pregnant women with COVID-19.