Overview

Dr Sanz Cortes current academic position is in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas), as an Associate Professor.  She is a fetal surgeon at Texas Children's Hospital providing care for patients who receive any fetal intervention from the time of pre-surgical evaluation, surgery and until delivery. Part of her clinical care is also dedicated to the management of the fetal neurosonology clinic at the same center.  She is also very invested in multiple research projects related to fetal conditions that require utero therapy from a multidisciplinary approach and with particular emphasis on advanced imaging techniques.  She is passionate about research mentorship, education, development of biomedical devices and innovation.  One of the main focus of her research has been dedicated to understanding the effects of fetal spina bifida repair and its minimally invasive approach, leading initiatives such as the International Consortium for Fetoscopic Myelomeningocele Repair.  

Other current affiliations that she holds are:  Member of the Steering Committee of Texas Children's Hospital Fetal Center, Steering Committee of the North American Fetal Therapy Network, Scientific Committee of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG), part of the Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Prenatal Diagnosis journal editorial boards.

Country: USA

Field: Obstetrics

Specialties: Fetal anomalies; fetal brain; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; fetal therapy and intervention

Languages: English; Spanish

Jezid Miranda, MD, Ph.D. is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist at Hospital Maternidad Rafael Calvo, and an Associate Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, at Universidad del Sinu Medical School (Cartagena, Colombia). He is Chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Obstetric Director of the Multidisciplinary Fetal Care Program. 

Dr. Miranda completed a research fellowship at the Perinatology Research Branch, Intramural Division of the National Institute of Health, Detroit, MI, USA and a PhD in Fetal and perinatal medicine, from a consortium of three universities in Europe, [Barcelona (Spain), Leuven (Belgium), and Lund (Sweden)], applied to fetal growth restriction. Dr. Miranda sees women for ultrasound, prenatal diagnosis, and MFM consultation as well as caring for women on Labor and Delivery and the Antepartum Service at Hospital Maternidad Rafael Calvo.

Dr. Miranda’s research program is focused on the definition, design, execution, and dissemination of evidence-based, patient-centered interventions to improve the quality and effectiveness of obstetric care, particularly regarding fetal growth restriction, preterm labor, and fetal interventional procedures during pregnancy for the management of pregnancy complications such as twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, diaphragmatic hernia and spina bifida. As a result of this research, He has published more than 30 articles in recognized international journals in obstetrics and gynaecology. Committed to an academic career, member of evaluation commits for research projects in maternal and perinatal health as well as an associate reviewer in international journals of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

Country: Colombia

Field: Obstetrics; Imaging; Fetal Medicine

Specialties: Fetal growth restriction, fetal interventional procedures, preterm labor, genetic testing, implementation research, maternal morbidity and mortality

Languages: Spanish; English

Dr Fatima Crispi is a physician scientist, consultant and professor in Maternal Fetal Medicine at BCNatal, University of Barcelona, with a strong focus on fetal cardiology. She has spent stays abroad (i.e. Harris Birthright Research Center with Kypros Nicolaides and St. Georges Hospital London with George Sutherland) and developed a PhD, directed by Eduard Gratacós, that first demonstrated postnatal persistence of in utero cardiac remodelling after fetal growth restriction. She has pioneered research on Fetal Cardiac Programming, establishing fetal cardiac function standards, developing animal and in silico models of placental disease, applying -omics in preeclampsia, implementing artificial intelligence tools and exploring the link between fetal and adult cardiac disease. She established a unique clinic on fetal cardiac function incorporating new imaging tools for assessing the fetal heart. She is fully committed to education having directed 17 PhDs and leading a Postgraduate degree on Fetal Cardiology at the University of Barcelona.

She has been involved with ISUOG for almost 20 years, with numerous scientific communications and invited participations to ISUOG congresses and educational activities and contributions to the Fetal Heart Special Interest Group.

Country: Spain

Field: Obstetrics; Imaging; Fetal Medicine

Specialties: fetal cardiology; fetal biometry and wellbeing; preeclampsia; fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; echocardiography; congenital heart disease; cardiac function

Languages: English, Spanish, Catalan

Rogelio Cruz-Martínez, M.D, PhD

Director of the Fetal Medicine and Surgery Center, Medicina Fetal Mexico, Queretaro, México 
Northamerican Fetal Therapy Network (NAFTNet) Center 
Member of the National System of Science and Technology (Conacyt) level 3
Young Investigation Award for ISUOG in 2009
ISUOG Next Generation Leaders (2019-2021)
VISUOG editor (Fetal Thorax section) 
Editor of the Journal PLOSOne

Dr. Cruz-Lemini is a clinical researcher and consultant at Hospital de la Santa Creu I Sant Pau in Barcelona, Spain. She is a specialist in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Fetal Cardiology from Mexico City, with a Masters degree in Clinical Sciences’ Research (MSc), and Doctor in Medicine (PhD), by the Universitat de Barcelona. She has been an invited speaker at international courses, conferences and congresses, with more than 50 publications in international journals, several chapters in books of the subspecialty, and scientific reviewer of publications such as PLOS One, Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, among others.

Dr. Cruz-Lemini has been member of ISUOG since 2010, and has participated as speaker and faculty in multiple international symposia and world congresses, as well as aided with translation of multiple documents to Spanish, contributed to other information sources such as VISUOG, and as member of the Next-Gen committee.

Dr. Muñoz estudio en a la Facultad de Medicina de Rutgers-New Jersey y se graduó en 2013 con un doctorado con doble especialización, Biología de Células Madre y Neurociencias. Luego finalizo su Doctorado en Medicina en 2015. Completó su residencia en Obstetricia y Ginecología en Cleveland Clinic en 2019 y una maestría en Análisis de Salud Publica en 2020. El Dr. Muñoz completó una subespecialización en Medicina Materno-Fetal en la Universidad de Texas San Antonio en 2022. Luego se unió al programa de Cirugía Fetal y a la división Medicina Materno-Fetal del Texas Children's Hospital. Su investigación se ha centrado en el desarrollo de biomarcadores traslacionales para acretismo placentario y condiciones fetales. Se unió a la división de Cirugía Fetal de Texas Children's Hospital y continua como miembro del equipo para acretismo placentario.

Miguel Parra-Saavedra, MD, Ph.D. is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist at Clinica General del Norte, and an Associate Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, at Universidad Libre, Medical School (Barranquilla, Colombia). He is Chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Obstetric Director of the Multidisciplinary Fetal Care Program. 

Dr. Parra-Saavedra completed a research fellowship at Universidad de Barcelona (Hospital clinic) [Barcelona (Spain), PhD in Fetal and perinatal medicine, applied to fetal growth restriction, and its correlation with Doppler, the placenta and neurodevelopment outcome. Dr. Parra-Saavedra sees women for ultrasound, prenatal diagnosis, fetal surgery procedures and MFM consultation as well as caring for women on Labor and Delivery and the Antepartum Service at Clinica General del Norte.
 

Dr. Parra-Saavedra’s research has focused on:
-Pioneering work on the evaluation of the cervical consistency index in the Prediction of Preterm Birth (UOG 2011) 
-Correlation between Doppler, placenta, perinatal outcome and neurodevelopmental outcome (doctoral thesis with 6 articles published in first quartile journals)
- In association with important international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control of Atlanta (CDC) and the Texas Children's Hospital has published work on the characterization of the Congenital Zika síndrome.
- Psychological effects of covid-19 in pregnancy
-The management of pregnancy complications such as twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, diaphragmatic hernia and Fetoscopic repair of spina bífida. 
 

As a result of this research, he has published more than 24 articles in recognized international journals in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Country: Colombia

Field: Obstetrics; Imaging; Fetal Medicine
Specialties: Prediction of preterm birth, Fetal growth restriction, fetal interventional procedures, Congenital Zika síndrome
Languages: Spanish; English

Aura A. Sanchez Mejia, MD, FAAP, FASE

Dr Sanchez Mejia is an experienced pediatric cardiologist with expertise in non-invasive cardiac imaging, including transthoracic, transesophageal, three-dimensional, and fetal echocardiography. Her primary research focuses are myocardial deformation assessment in pediatric patients and outcomes in congenital heart disease. As an educator, she train residents, cardiology fellows, and cardiovascular sonographers. As associate director of the Texas Children’s Hospital echo lab, she leads multiple projects addressing imaging quality, workflow efficiency, and patient safety.

Dr Waldo Sepulveda studied medicine at the University of Chile (1975-1981) and his fellowship specialization in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Concepción (1982-1985). In 1991 and 1992 he completed a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut) and Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan). Read more.

Notable publications: His academic output includes nearly 200 scientific works published in international journals and book chapters. Read more.

Country: Chile

Field: Obstetrics

Specialties: Fetal anomaly screening T1 & T2; aneuploidies; fetal anomalies; fetal interventional procedures; multiple pregnancy; 3D & 4D ultrasound

Languages: English; Spanish