The Basic Training Sub-Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of ISUOG’s state-of-the-art Basic Training modules and education material for dissemination. These modules provide trainees that are new to ultrasound an introduction to essential topics in obstetrics and gynecology.
Chair
Dr Catalina Valencia is a gynaecologist and obstetrician, epidemiologist, and maternal-fetal medicine specialist from the University of Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia. She holds a Diploma in Fetal Medicine and Fetal Surgery from the Fetal Medicine Foundation at King's College Hospital in London, United Kingdom. She is currently the head of the Maternal-Fetal Unit at Clínica del Prado and an Assistant Professor in Gynaecology and Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Universidad CES in Medellín, Colombia. She is the former Chair of the FIGO Preterm Birth Committee.
Catalina has a particular interest, and her publications mainly focus on prenatal diagnosis and obstetric complications, particularly pre-eclampsia and preterm birth. She has participated in training programmes on various topics related to mother-child care, such as obstetric emergencies and ultrasound. She has worked closely with the ISUOG Basic Training Subcommittee, leading its introduction and dissemination in countries worldwide, especially in Latin America.
Country: Colombia
Field: High Risk Obstetrics, Ultrasound, Fetal Medicine
Specialities: First trimester screening, fetal anomaly screening; fetal interventional procedures; multiple pregnancy, preeclampsia, preterm birth.
Languages: Spanish, English, Italian
Specialties: Fetal echo/ cardiology
Languages: English; Spanish
Sub-Committee Members
Romain Corroenne, MD, PhD, is a Maternal–Fetal Medicine specialist at Lille University Hospital, France, and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, USA.
He trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Fetal Medicine in France and completed a research fellowship at Texas Children's Hospital. His main clinical and research interests include fetal therapy and fetal imaging.
He joined the ISUOG Basic Training Sub-Committee in 2023 and is particularly involved in the development of the ISUOG Residency Curriculum. He also joined Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology as a Trainee Editor in 2026.
Country: USA
Field: Obstetrics, Imaging, Fetal Medicine & Surgery, Education
Specialities: fetal brain and anomaly screening, fetal MRI, spina bifida
Languages: French, English
Prof. Özgür Deren is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Head of the Maternal–Fetal Medicine and Perinatology Unit at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara. He completed his Obstetrics and Gynaecology training at Hacettepe University and undertook advanced training and research in prenatal diagnosis and maternal–fetal medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. His special interests include prenatal diagnosis, advanced obstetric ultrasound, fetal echocardiography, fetal neurosonography, multiple pregnancy, high-risk pregnancy, fetal therapy and fetal surgery.
Prof. Deren is the founding President of the Society of Perinatology and High-Risk Pregnancies of Türkiye (PUDER), an ISUOG Ambassador and a member of the ISUOG Basic Training Sub-Committee. He has served on numerous national committees that help shape maternal and perinatal health policy in Türkiye and has contributed to several national clinical guidelines. He also served as a member and Chair of the Turkish Ministry of Health TUKMOS Perinatology Commission, which is responsible for developing the core curriculum and establishing national standards for subspecialty training in perinatology.
Country: Türkiye
Field: Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Maternal–Fetal Medicine; Fetal Medicine
Specialties:Fetal anomaly screening; fetal echocardiography; fetal neurosonography; fetal growth restriction; multiple pregnancy; maternal and fetal Doppler; invasive prenatal diagnosis; fetal therapy and fetal surgery; high-risk pregnancy
Languages: Turkish; English
Dr Megha Gupta is an academic Maternal and Fetal Medicine (MFM) Specialist and Obstetrician-Gynecologist based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her medical career began at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, where she earned her medical degree in 2011. She completed her residency training at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center before moving on to complete a highly specialized clinical fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Currently, Dr Gupta serves as an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. She manages complex pregnancies clinically at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and maintains professional affiliations with Massachusetts General Hospital. Her contributions to the field have earned her peer-nominated award considerations within the Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians (HMFP) group.
Her clinical practice and research focus primarily on high-risk obstetrics and maternal-fetal complications. Dr Gupta possesses specialized expertise in treating severe medical conditions that impact pregnancy, including blood and coagulation disorders such as Antiphospholipid Syndrome and HELLP Syndrome.
Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Dr Sarika Gupta is an obstetrician, gynaecologist, sonologist at The Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. She is also a clinical lecturer in Reproductive Health at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her imaging interests are in fetal neurosonography and the pre-operative evaluation of endometrial and ovarian neoplasms. In addition, Sarika is passionate about public health and improving health equity for disadvantaged women in the Asia Pacific, having completed her PhD in expanding access to long acting reversible contraception for women in Papua New Guinea. Sarika is published in her areas of interest and is a journal reviewer for Publons.
Country: Australia
Field: Obstetrics, imaging, fetal medicine, public health, reproductive health
Specialties: first trimester prediction, fetal anomalies, gynaecological malignancy, contraception
Languages: English, Hindi
Dr. Raigam J. Martinez-Portilla is a Full Researcher in the Department of Clinical Research of the National Institute of Perinatology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. His special interests are clinical research regarding preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, fetal surgery, evidence-based medicine, and prediction models. Raigam completed his Fetal Medicine training at the University of Barcelona under the supervision of Francesc Figueras, and his MSc in Evidence-Based Healthcare at the University of Oxford. Raigam is currently in his last year of the PhD in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Hospital Clinic – University of Barcelona also under the supervision of Francesc Figueras.
Raigam is the lead researcher of the Mexican Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the founder of the Iberoamerican Research Network in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Translational Medicine. He is the leading fetal surgeon of the health services of Mexico City and the Private Children’s Hospital also in Mexico City. Raigam is part of the N-Gen committee of ISUOG and a scientific reviewer of the AJOG, UOG, FTD, Plos One, and other relevant journals.
Country: Mexico
Field: Obstetrics; Imaging; Fetal Medicine
Specialties: Evidence-Based Medicine, Fetal Surgery, Fetal Growth Restriction, Preeclampsia.
Languages: English; Spanish
Abstract:
Comorbidities and social determinants in pregnant women with COVID-19 infection: Analysis of 11031 pregnancies including 138 deaths (OC10.04) Presenter R. J. Martinez-Portilla, Spain. See the abstract being presented at 1:39PM on 16th October.
Dr Christopher Nash is an associate professor in the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine within the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Dalhousie University and IWK Health. He completed his residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at Dalhousie University and his fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of Toronto. He has also completed a Master of Science in Pharmacology at Queen’s University.
Christopher is the current MFM lead of the Medical Disorders in Pregnancy program at IWK Health and the Obstetrical Simulation lead for the residency program at Dalhousie University.
Country: Canada
Field: Maternal Fetal Medicine; Imaging; Obstetrics
Specialties: Fetal imaging; Maternal Medical Disorders in pregnancy; Placental Accreta Spectrum disorders
Languages: English and French
Iran and the UK. Dr Piri has been a member of ISUOG Outreach team for the phase 2 of Oman Outreach
program in 2019 and has continued to be ISUOG's virtual mentor for Oman and Egypt since then. Dr Piri has been the Director of ISUOG's Iranian Translation Team for COVID-19 resources and ISUOG Practice Guidelines, which have had over 40,000 reads. At the moment she is the Ambassador of ISUOG in Middle East and North Africa, and a member of basic training and patient information leaflets subcommittees of ISUOG. She has been the director of her Fetal Medicine Practice in Tehran since 2009.
Garshasbi M, Wang Y, Zadeh SH, Giti S, Piri S, and Hekmat MR (2000). Clinical Application of Cell-Free DNA Sequencing-Based Noninvasive Prenatal Testing for Trisomies 21, 18, 13 and Sex Chromosome Aneuploidy in a Mixed-Risk Population in Iran // Fetal diagnosis and therapy, 47(3), 220-227
Country: Iran
Field: Obstetrics, Fetal Medicine
Languages: English, Persian, Turkish, Portuguese
Honours Committee member
Dr. Lina Youssef is a specialist and postdoctoral researcher in Maternal Fetal Medicine in BCNatal – Fetal Medicine Research Center, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clinic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain. Her special interests are preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction focusing on Ultrasound, Doppler and biomarkers. She holds an International joint PhD degree with distinction from three European Universities (University of Barcelona, Lund University and Leuven University). She holds also a Diploma in biostatistics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Lina is the scientific coordinator of the Master’s program in Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Fetal Medicine Barcelona Foundation in collaboration with the University of Barcelona. She has been involved in ISUOG activities since 2017 as a young ambassador, content reviewer and a member of Online Education Subcommittee. Lina also serves on a regular basis as an expert reviewer for the Spanish National Health Authority as well as for international research projects. She participates regularly as a speaker in international courses and congresses.
Country: Spain
Field: Obstetrics; Imaging; Fetal Medicine
Specialties: Preeclampsia; fetal growth restriction; fetal biometry and wellbeing; maternal and fetal Doppler; fetal anomalies; prenatal screening; multiple pregnancy
Languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, Catalan, French
With special recognition and thanks for the wonderful contributions of the following faculty members, without whose invaluable work the Basic Training gynecology curriculum could not have been created:
Wouter Froyman graduated as a Medical Doctor at KU Leuven in 2011. He finished his specialization in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2018 and has since then worked as a consultant in this department at the University Hospitals Leuven.
His main clinical activities and research are related to gynecological ultrasound and treatment of benign gynecological pathology, with special interest in minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery.
In 2019, he obtained his PhD degree in Biomedical Sciences, with a doctoral thesis entitled "Progress in differentiation and clinical management of adnexal masses". In 2020, he was appointed associate professor at KU Leuven. He is also a steering committee member of the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) studies.
Chiara Landolfo, MD, PhD, is a Consultant Gynecologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London. She has a special interest in gynecologic ultrasonography, working in fields of rapid access for suspected gynecologic cancer, complex benign gynecology, acute gynecology and gynecology oncology. She worked in tertiary oncology referral centers in Italy (Policlinico Sant’Orsola Malpighi in Bologna and Gemelli Hospital in Rome) and United Kingdom (Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital in London). She joined the IOTA group during her PhD at KU Leuven and since then she has been active in IOTA research on gynecologic ultrasound, translational analyses and artificial intelligence/radiomics on ovarian tumors. She also contributed to the International Endometrial Tumour Analysis (IETA) and the Morphological Uterus Sonographic Assessment (MUSA) studies.
She worked for the ISUOG Basic Training Task Force (2020-2026) and for the ISUOG Clinical Standards Committee to deliver guidelines for the use of diagnostic imaging in gynecology. Chiara also collaborates to VISUOG projects and worked as a member of the ISUOG Next Generation group.
She regularly takes part in education, scientific presentations and courses on gynecologic ultrasonography at national and international conferences.
Honours Committee member
Maya Al-Memar is a Consultant Gynaecologist at Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, with specialist clinical interests in complex benign gynaecology, acute diagnostic services including early pregnancy and acute gynaecology, rapid access for suspected gynaecological cancer, and paediatric & adolescent gynaecology. She completed her training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in North-West London including specialty training at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, and St Mary’s Hospital. Having worked in the largest gynaecology & reproductive medicine service in London at Imperial, she has experience in managing complex patients. Her focus is to provide the best possible care for women using high quality diagnostics ultrasound skills to streamline care. She graduated from Imperial College School of Medicine with first class honours in 2007, where she also completed her PhD and is now an honorary clinical lecturer. She is widely published in peer-reviewed journals. She currently has on-going research projects in the fields of early pregnancy, miscarriage, ovarian cysts and use of ultrasound to improve diagnosis of ovarian masses.
Country: UK
Field: Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Specialties: Early pregnancy and gynaecology imaging, adnexal masses, paediatric and adolescent gynaecology
Languages: English, Arabic
Basic Training Curriculum Developers
Secretariat Liaison
