Rate My Professor Charlotte-Eve Short

Dr Charlotte-Eve Short is a Clinical Associate Professor in HIV and GU Medicine in the Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. She serves as a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust partner sites, including West Middlesex Hospital and St Mary's Hospital. Qualified with MRCP, PhD, and BMedSci, she joined Imperial College in 2010 as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow after completing Academic Foundation training in GU/HIV Medicine in Brighton. In 2013, she commenced the Wellcome Trust 4i Clinical PhD Programme under the supervision of Professor Graham Taylor and Professor Robin Shattock, during which she established the pan-London HIV Preterm Birth Research Network. Her PhD research revealed that all women experiencing preterm birth had adverse vaginal microbiota of the Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) phenotype.

Dr Short's research specializations centre on the vaginal microbiome, particularly Lactobacillus-depleted dysbiosis in pregnancy among women living with HIV, its proinflammatory effects recruiting local immune cells, and upregulation of MMP-9 implicated in cervical remodelling for labour. She attracted funding as part of Imperial College's successful March of Dimes European Prematurity Research Centre bid. Commencing her Academic Clinical Lectureship in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the CoVidity biobanking study, enabling collaborative projects and high-impact publications. Key publications include 'Lactobacillus-Depleted Vaginal Microbiota in Pregnant Women With HIV Is Associated With Vaginal Inflammation and a Pro-inflammatory Cervical Phenotype' (Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 2021) and 'MMP-9 in Pregnant Women With HIV, a Potential Preterm Birth Mechanism?' (AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 2021). She was recognised by HRH The Princess Royal at the Academy of Medical Sciences' Helix Reception in 2025 and received an Imperial College Collaboration Kickstarter award. Currently, Dr Short is advancing a programme on BV recurrence, antimicrobial resistance, and novel live biotherapeutic treatments through clinical studies and randomised controlled trials. She delivers Faculty of Medicine staff rounds and produces podcasts exploring HIV stigma and mental health.