Overview

Vincenzo Berghella is originally from Pescara, Italy, where he moved after high school to attend Manhattanville College, New York, USA. He did medical school at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU), in Philadelphia; Ob-Gyn Residency at New York Downtown Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, and Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) Fellowship at TJU, in Philadelphia, where he remained and is now Director of the MFM Division and Fellowship Program.

Vincenzo Berghella (VB) has authored over 350 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts, is the editor or co-editor of medical textbooks such as ‘Obstetric Evidence Based Guidelines’ (in 3rd edition), ‘Maternal Fetal Evidence Based Guidelines’ (in 3rd edition), ‘Evidence Based Labor and Delivery’, ‘Obstetrics: normal and abnormal pregnancies’, and ‘Operative Obstetrics.’ He is also the author of over 40 other books (see www.amazon.com). VB has been a member and leader (chairman) of several Committees of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), is an Oral Examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, is a Past-President of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), and is a Board member of the SMFM Foundation. He is Associate Editor for the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG), Editor in chief of AJOG MFM (Founding Editor), Editor for the Journal of Maternal Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, and Associate Editor for the Cochrane Review. He works as a clinician (50% of the time) at TJU, educator, and clinical researcher. His research interests are in high-risk pregnancy, in particular, but not limited to prediction and prevention of preterm birth, and management of labor and delivery.
 

Francesco D’Antonio, MD, PhD, is an associate professor and consultant in maternal-fetal medicine at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chieti, Italy. Dr. D’Antonio has previously worked in the Fetal Medicine Unit at St. George's Hospital, London, UK, in the High-risk Pregnancy Unit at Catholic University of The Sacred Heart Hospital, Rome, Italy and in the University Hospital of Northern Norway, Tromsø. D’Antonio is in the Editorial Board of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Country: Italy

Field: Obstetrics, fetal medicine, prenatal imaging

Specialties: Fetal brain, fetal heart, multiple pregnancies, fetal growth restriction, fetal magnetic resonance imaging, placenta accreta spectrum disorders.

Languages: English; Italian

Helen Feltovich MD MS, lives in New York City where she practices medicine and leads an international research collaborative with physics and engineering colleagues Profs Tim Hall and Ivan Rosado-Mendez (Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Prof Kristin Myers (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University). She also provides clinical direction for the Iris Fund, a nonprofit founded by Brittney Crystal and dedicated to preterm birth research. Together, the team combines artificial intelligence, quantitative ultrasound and computational modeling to create digital twins of pregnancy for studying the mechanics of birth. Their goal is to bring insight into the question every pregnant patient wants to know: when will I deliver? Helen has been active within ISUOG for the past 2 decades, attending almost every World Congress, serving on the society’s Outreach and Scientific Committees, and helping to develop the Practice Guideline for the use of ultrasound in the prediction of spontaneous preterm birth. She has been active in similar initiatives through her roles on the governing boards and committees within the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, the American Institute for Ultrasound in Medicine, and the Perinatal Quality Foundation. She is also a charter member of a scientific review section for the NIH, and an expert advisor to the NIH on home use of ultrasound and artificial intelligence applications to obstetric ultrasound.  

Publications:

Feltovitch H, Gall TJ. Quantative imaging of the cervix: setting the bar. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2013 Feb 41 (2): 121-8

Myers KM, Feltovitch H, Mazza e etal, The mechanical role of the cervix during pregnancy. J Biomech 2015; Mar 11 (epub ahead of print)

Country: USA

Field: Obstetrics

Specialties: Fetal Anomaly Screening 1T and 2T; fetal anomalies screening; aneuploidy screening; fetal anomalies; fetal growth restriction; safety in ultrasound; fetal growth; detection of fetal and neonatal growth abnormalities in low and middle income countries. 

Languages: English

Prof. Asma Khalil is a Professor of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine at St George’s University Hospital (University of London). She is a subspecialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine, specialising in scanning women and babies with complications in pregnancy. She is the lead for the Multiple Pregnancy service at St George’s Hospital, the referral unit for the South West London region, but also cares for women with low risk pregnancies.

Prof. Khalil gained her MD at the University of London in 2009 following two years’ research into pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnancy). She also has a Masters degree in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and an MRC scholarship. She has published more than 45 peer reviewed research papers in medical journals, and many review articles and book chapters. She has been awarded many research prizes, at both national and international meetings.

Her research interests include hypertensive disease in pregnancy, multiple pregnancy, and other complications of pregnancy.

You can follow her on twitter @ProfAsmaKhalil

Notable publications: She has published more than 45 peer reviewed research papers in medical journals, and many review articles and book chapters. Read more.

Country: UK

Field: Obstetrics; Fetal Medicine

Specialties: Fetal anomaly screening T1 & T2; fetal biometry and wellbeing; aneuploidies; fetal anomalies; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; multiple pregnancy; preeclampsia; prenatal diagnosis; fetal therapy; interventional procedures during pregnancy.

Languages: English; Arabic

"I am committed to supporting ISUOG’s membership growth and providing educational opportunities in underrepresented regions of the world. I have contributed to the Society’s scientific program, speaking at their Intensive education courses and even running two Approved courses of my own, which have become popular in their own right. One of these courses takes place in Egypt, the other in the UK, where there is a shortage in opportunities for basic training in the field. Through these initiatives I have introduced more than 70 new members to the Society in the last year alone and strive to continue delivering ISUOG’s resources in areas where there is most in need."

Raffaele is a consultant in fetal medicine at University College London. He is part of the ISUOG CSC and took part in guidelines writing and review for the society. He works in the Preterm Birth Clinic at UCLH where he is performing studies on CS scar and risk of preterm birth and studies on different cerclages techniques. He published in more than 40 journals mostly on fetal growth and neurosonography and he is committed to education and training. He leads the Master Programme in Obstetric Ultrasound and Fetal Medicine at UCL. 

He has had a career-long passion to discover how to improve the health of people by discoveries and interventions before or soon after birth. 

In 2014, he initiated a state-wide whole of population program that successfully lowered the rate of preterm birth in the state of Western Australia. 

In 2018, he founded the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance and in 2021 the initiative received $US10 million in the Federal Budget to enable full national rollout of the program. 

John received an Order of Australia in 2014 and was the 2020 Senior Australian of the Year. 

Prof. Anthony Odibo, MD, MSCE, FRCOG, FACOG

Anthony Odibo is currently employed as a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA. He completed his medical training at the University of Benin, Nigeria and trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology / Maternal Fetal Medicine in the UK and USA. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Anthony Odibo also holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Anthony Odibo splits his time between an active clinical practice, with focus on prenatal diagnosis and fetal therapy, as well as research investigating prediction models and the role of the placenta in development of adverse pregnancy outcomes. He is the Medical Director of the Fetal Care Center of Tampa Bay.

Anthony Odibo is the new Editor in Chief of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has previously served as the Deputy Chief Editor for ACTA and Editor for BJOG and Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology and is on the Editorial Board for BJOG and Prenatal Diagnosis. 

Recent publications:

Customized fetal growth standard compared to the Intergrowth-21st Century standard at predicting small-for gestational age neonates.
Odibo AO, Nwabuobi C, Odibo L, Leavitt K, Obican S, Tuuli MG.
Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2018 Jun 7. doi: 10.1111/aogs.13394. [Epub ahead of print]

Vasa previa screening strategies: a decision and cost-effectiveness analysis.
Sinkey RG, Odibo AO.
Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2018 May 22. doi: 10.1002/uog.19098. [Epub ahead of print]

Elective induction of labor at 39 weeks among nulliparous women: The impact on maternal and neonatal risk.
Sinkey RG, Lacevic J, Reljic T, Hozo I, Gibson KS, Odibo AO, Djulbegovic B, Lockwood CJ.
PLoS One. 2018 Apr 25;13(4):e0193169. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193169. eCollection 2018.

External validity in perinatal research.
Odibo AO, Acharya G.
Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2018 Apr;97(4):424-428. doi: 10.1111/aogs.13268. Epub 2017 Dec 18. Review.

Weight discordance and perinatal mortality in twin pregnancies: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
D'Antonio F, Odibo AO, Prefumo F, Khalil A, Buca D, Flacco ME, Liberati M, Manzoli L, Acharya G.
Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2017 Nov 20. doi: 10.1002/uog.18966. [Epub ahead of print] Review.

Screening and prevention of preterm birth: what is a clinician to do?
Odibo AO.
Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2017 Aug;96(8):905-906. doi: 10.1111/aogs.13142. No abstract available.

Three-Dimensional Power Doppler Evaluation of Cerebral Vascular Blood Flow: A Novel Tool in the Assessment of Fetal Growth Restriction.
Goetzinger KR, Cahill AG, Odibo L, Macones GA, Odibo AO.
J Ultrasound Med. 2018 Jan;37(1):139-147. doi: 10.1002/jum.14323. Epub 2017 Jul 14.

Sexual Dimorphism in Umbilical Vein Blood Flow During the Second Half of Pregnancy: A Longitudinal Study.
Widnes C, Flo K, Wilsgaard T, Odibo AO, Acharya G.
J Ultrasound Med. 2017 Dec;36(12):2447-2458. doi: 10.1002/jum.14286. Epub 2017 Jun 24.

Prenatal diagnosis of aortopulmonary window associated with aberrant subclavian artery.
Louis-Jacques AF, Običan SG, Nguyen T, Odibo A.
Cardiol Young. 2017 Sep;27(7):1441-1443. doi: 10.1017/S104795111700035X. Epub 2017 Mar 16.

A stillbirth calculator: Development and internal validation of a clinical prediction model to quantify stillbirth risk.
Trudell AS, Tuuli MG, Colditz GA, Macones GA, Odibo AO.
PLoS One. 2017 Mar 7;12(3):e0173461. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173461. eCollection 2017.

Country: USA

Field: Obstetrics

Specialties: Fetal anomaly screening T1 &T2; fetal biometry and wellbeing; aneuploidies; fetal anomalies; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; fetal interventional procedures; multiple pregnancy; preeclampsia; preterm delivery

Language: English

Andrew Shennan is Professor of Obstetrics at King’s College London, based at St. Thomas’ Hospital and is Clinical Director of South London Clinical Research Network. He leads an NIHR Global Health Research Group (2021-2024). He is Chair of the FIGO Preterm Birth Committee (2012-23). He sits on the UK HTA commissioning board. He is current Chair of Action on Pre-eclampsia UK charity.

He specialises in clinical trials in antenatal and intrapartum care. His research interests include interventions to predict and prevent preterm birth, pre-eclampsia, and reduce global maternal and perinatal mortality. He has published >500 peer reviewed research reports (H index >50). 

He has an active clinical role in managing high risk obstetric patients, including a regular hands-on labour ward commitment, and a specialist award winning preterm birth surveillance clinic that accepts national and international referrals. 

He is the recipient of the international 2017 Newton Prize for excellence in research and innovation in support of economic development and social welfare in low and middle-income countries. He was awarded an OBE in 2018 for services to maternity care. 

He is a dedicated “parkrunner”, and is a founder member of the parkrun research board.
 

Dr Alexandros Sotiriadis (MD, PhD, Diploma in Fetal Medicine) is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics – Gynecology (Maternal-Fetal Medicine) at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and works as a Consultant at the Second Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ippokrateion Hospital, Thessaloniki. He is currently Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, member of the Editorial Board of Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, and member of the ISUOG Clinical Standards Committee and EFSUMB Publication Committee. He has published over 100 articles in PubMed-indexed peer-reviewed journals.

Country: Greece

Field: Obstetrics

Specialties: fetal growth; fetal anomalies; placental complications; genetics; preterm birth; evidence-based obstetrics

Languages: English, Greek