This joint mission by ISUOG and FMF is dedicated to addressing the needs of healthcare professionals from low-resource countries and serving as an inclusive platform for knowledge exchange, skill enhancement, and improved healthcare outcomes in regions facing resource challenges. Renowned speakers from the field will contribute their expertise, further enriching the event's impact. Read more about these speakers below.

Course chairs: 

Professor Tom Bourne

ISUOG President 2020 - 2022, Virtual World Congress Technical Congress Chair 2020 and 2021, 2022 World Congress Co-Chair, Executive Committee, Finance & Risk Committee, Nominations Committee

Professor Tom Bourne was ISUOG President between 2020 and 2022 and is curently Chair in Gynaecology at Imperial College London, Hon Consultant Gynaecologist at Queen Charlottes and Chelsea hospital and Visiting Professor at KU Leuven in Belgium. He is an authority on managing early pregnancy complications, emergency gynaecology and gynaecological ultrasonography. He trained in ultrasound at Kings College Hospital in London. He subsequently worked at the University of Göteborg, Sweden as Medical Research Council visiting scientist, Hamar in Norway, and Leuven in Belgium. He was appointed senior lecturer and consultant gynaecologist at St George's University Hospital London before moving to Imperial College. He has edited seven books and published over 400 papers. He sits on the management committee of the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research. He is medical advisor and trustee of the patient group, the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. He is immediate Past-President of the UK Association of Early Pregnancy Units. He is co-founder and CEO of the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) group and sits on the steering committees of several large multicentre international trials. He is founder member of the RCOG task force on “supporting our doctors”. He is honorary fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, honorary member of the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine and honorary member of the Brazilian and Hungarian Ultrasound Societies.

His principal research interest is diagnostics in early pregnancy and gynaecology including the IOTA, IETA, IDEA and MUSA studies, microbiome, metabolomics, novel biomarkers, and AI. His interests include the psychology of pregnancy loss and physician welfare including studies with the BMA and RCOG.

Country: UK

Language: English

Field: Gynaecology

Specialties: Early Pregnancy Care, Emergency Gynaecology, Ultrasound in Oncology, Gynaecological Ultrasonography, Physician Wellbeing

Selected Notable Publications:

Sporadic miscarriage: evidence to provide effective care. Coomarasamy A, Gallos ID, Papadopoulou A, Dhillon-Smith RK, Al-Memar M, Brewin J, Christiansen OB, Stephenson MD, Oladapo OT, Wijeyaratne CN, Small R, Bennett PR, Regan L, Goddijn M, Devall AJ, Bourne T, Brosens JJ, Quenby S.

Lancet. 2021 May 1;397(10285):1668-1674. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00683-8. Epub 2021 Apr 27.

Validation of models to diagnose ovarian cancer in patients managed surgically or conservatively: multicentre cohort study.

Van Calster B, Valentin L, Froyman W, Landolfo C, Ceusters J, Testa AC, Wynants L, Sladkevicius P, Van Holsbeke C, Domali E, Fruscio R, Epstein E, Franchi D, Kudla MJ, Chiappa V, Alcazar JL, Leone FPG, Buonomo F, Coccia ME, Guerriero S, Deo N, Jokubkiene L, Savelli L, Fischerová D, Czekierdowski A, Kaijser J, Coosemans A, Scambia G, Vergote I, Bourne T, Timmerman D.

BMJ. 2020 Jul 30;370:m2614. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m2614.

Posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression following miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

Farren J, Jalmbrant M, Falconieri N, Mitchell-Jones N, Bobdiwala S, Al-Memar M, Tapp S, Van Calster B, Wynants L, Timmerman D, Bourne T.

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Apr; 222(4):367.e1-367.e22. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2019.10.102.

Risk of complications in patients with conservatively managed ovarian tumours (IOTA5): a 2-year interim analysis of a multicentre, prospective, cohort study.

Froyman W, Landolfo C, De Cock B, Wynants L, Sladkevicius P, Testa AC, Van Holsbeke C, Domali E, Fruscio R, Epstein E, Dos Santos Bernardo MJ, Franchi D, Kudla MJ, Chiappa V, Alcazar JL, Leone FPG, Buonomo F, Hochberg L, Coccia ME, Guerriero S, Deo N, Jokubkiene L, Kaijser J, Coosemans A, Vergote I, Verbakel JY, Bourne T, Van Calster B, Valentin L, Timmerman D.

Lancet Oncol. 2019 Mar; 20(3): 448-458. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30837-4.

Defining safe criteria to diagnose miscarriage: prospective observational multicentre study. Preisler J, Kopeika J, Ismail L, Vathanan V, Farren J, Abdallah Y, Battacharjee P, Van Holsbeke C, Bottomley C, Gould D, Johnson S, Stalder C, Van Calster B, Hamilton J, Timmerman D, Bourne T.

BMJ. 2015 Sep 23; 351:h4579. doi: 10.1136/bmj.h4579.

Evaluating the risk of ovarian cancer before surgery using the ADNEX model to differentiate between benign, borderline, early and advanced stage invasive, and secondary metastatic tumours: prospective multicentre diagnostic studies. Van Calster B, Van Hoorde K, Valentin L, Testa AC, Fischerova D, Van Holsbeke C, Savelli L, Franchi D, Epstein E, Kaijser J, Van Belle V, Czekierdowski A, Guerriero S, Fruscio R, Lanzani C, Scala F, Bourne T, Timmerman D; International Ovarian Tumour Analysis Group.

BMJ. 2014 Oct 15;349:g5920. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g5920.

Diagnostic criteria for nonviable pregnancy early in the first trimester. Doubilet PM, Benson CB, Bourne T, Blaivas M; Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound Multispecialty Panel on Early First Trimester Diagnosis of Miscarriage and Exclusion of a Viable Intrauterine Pregnancy, Barnhart KT, Benacerraf BR, Brown DL, Filly RA, Fox JC, Goldstein SR, Kendall JL, Lyons EA, Porter MB, Pretorius DH, Timor-Tritsch IE.

N Engl J Med. 2013 Oct 10; 369(15): 1443-51. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1302417.

Limitations of current definitions of miscarriage using mean gestational sac diameter and crown-rump length measurements: a multicenter observational study. Abdallah Y, Daemen A, Kirk E, Pexsters A, Naji O, Stalder C, Gould D, Ahmed S, Guha S, Syed S, Bottomley C, Timmerman D, Bourne T.

Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2011 Nov; 38(5): 497-502. doi: 10.1002/uog.10109.

He is President of the UK Association of Early Pregnancy Units (AEPU), Trustee of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust and on the steering committee of the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) trial.

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1999 Gold Medal Award article

Prof. Kypros Nicolaides is Professor of Fetal Medicine at King’s College Hospital, London. He was born in Cyprus and studied medicine at Kings, training in obstetrics and gynecology and specialising in fetal medicine. He has carried out extensive research in many aspects of fetal diagnosis and therapy leading to the publication of more than 1400 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals. His research publications on imaging and prenatal diagnosis have transformed ultrasound practice and his work to implement quality control for nuchal translucency has led to this technique becoming an established screening test of Down's syndrome and other genetic conditions. He was awarded the ISUOG Ian Donald Gold Medal in 1999 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the field.

He has provided training in fetal medicine to more than 500 doctors from 50 countries and has supervised more than 50 doctors to undertake research leading to PhDs and MDs. In 1995 he founded the charity The Fetal Medicine Foundation, which has donated more than £45 million to promote research and training in fetal medicine throughout the world.

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Faculty:

Dr. Lorraine Dugoff is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Chief of the Reproductive Genetics Division at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She is triple boarded in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Clinical Genetics. Dr. Dugoff  currently serves on the Professional Practice and Guidelines Committee for the American College of Medical Genetics, the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Foundation Board of Directors and the SMFM Document Committee. She is the alternate PI for the University of Pennsylvania Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network site. Her research is primarily focused on the prediction of adverse obstetric outcomes including preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction and the application of emerging genetic technologies to clinical care.  
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​​Liesbeth Lewi is a fetal medicine specialist at UZ Leuven, Belgium and associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine of KU Leuven, Belgium. Her clinical work and research focus on complications in monochorionic twin pregnancies and their placentas.​ 
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Executive Committee, Finance & Risk Committee, Nominations Committee, China Task Force, UOG Editorial Board

Professor Liona Poon is an Academic Subspecialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine, devoted in improving maternal and fetal health. She has had a prolific research output throughout her clinical and research posts, including over 130 peer-reviewed publications in high impact international journals. In the last 10 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 and education. 

Notable Publications:
Aspire trial: incidence of preterm preeclampsia in patients fulfulling ACOG and NICE criteria according to risk by the FMF algorithm. Poon LC, Rolnik DL, Tan MY, Delgado JL, Tsokaki T, Akolekar R, Singh M, Andrade W, Efeturk T, Jani JC, Plasencia W, Papaioannou G, Blazquez AR, Carbone IF, Wright D, Nikolaides KH.
Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2018 Jan 30. doi: 10.1002/uog.19019 [Epub ahead of print]

Aspirin versus Placebo in Pregnancies at High Risk of Preterm Preeclampsia. Rolnik DL, Wright D, Poon LC, O'Gorman N, Syngelaki A, de Paco Matallana C, Akolekar R, Cicero S, Janga D, Singh M, Molina FS, Persico N, Jani JC, Plasencia W, Papaioannou G, Tennebaum Gavish K, Meiri H, Gizurarson S, Maclagan K, Nicolaides K.H.
New England Journal Medicine 2017, 2017 Jun 28. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1704559. [Epub ahead of print]

Country: China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Field: Obstetrics

Specialties: Fetal anomaly screening 1st trimester and 2nd trimester; fetal biometry and wellbeing; fetal anomalies screening; aneuploidy screening; fetal anomalies; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; multiple pregnancy; preeclampsia; preterm delivery; fetal growth; detection of fetal and neonatal growth abnormalities; ultrasound on the labour ward

Languages: English; Chinese (Mandarin); Chinese (Cantonese)

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Mark S. Sklansky, M.D. is Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, Founder and Medical Director of the UCLA Children’s Heart Center, Director of the UCLA Fetal Cardiology Program, Program Director of the Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship, Co-Director of the UCLA Congenital/Pediatric Heart Program, and Professor of Pediatrics within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. 
 
Dr. Sklansky received his B.A. degree in biomedical ethics from Brown University in 1984, and his medical degree from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine in 1987. Dr. Sklansky then completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (1987-1990), followed by a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston (1990-1993). During this time, Dr. Sklansky pursued specialized, fetal cardiology training in Philadelphia, under the supervision of Dr. James Huhta. 
 
After a year of private practice in Sacramento, Dr. Sklansky joined the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at the University of California, San Diego (1994-2002), where he pursued his passion for the prenatal detection and evaluation of the fetal heart. During this time he developed an international reputation for his pioneering work with three-dimensional fetal cardiac imaging. In 2002, Dr. Sklansky returned to Los Angeles as director of the Fetal Cardiology Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. In 2010, Dr. Sklansky joined the Department of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Sklansky has been board-certified in pediatric cardiology by the American Board of Pediatrics since 1994. 
 
Dr. Sklansky’s primary focus during his 30+ year clinical and academic career has been fetal cardiology, with a focus on prenatal detection and evaluation of congenital heart disease. For over 3 decades, he has lectured frequently at academic meetings and workshops around the globe on all aspects of fetal cardiology and fetal cardiac imaging, and he has directed/participated in countless hand-on teaching workshops dedicated to teaching how to perform fetal cardiac screening and fetal echocardiography. Dr. Sklansky has published over 100 articles in his fields of interest, including fetal cardiology, general pediatric cardiology, biomedical ethics, and veterinary cardiology—including pioneering work in the field of transesophageal and fetal echocardiographic evaluation of the bottlenose dolphin. He has served as Chair of the Section of Fetal Echocardiography in the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, and has authored the chapter on fetal cardiac malformations and arrhythmias for the 4 most recent editions of Creasy & Resnik’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Principles and Practice. Dr. Sklansky directs a highly successful, annual fetal echocardiography symposium at UCLA that attracts hundreds of attendees annually from across the country and around the globe.  
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More faculty members will be confirmed in due course.

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