Overview

Dr Simon Meagher is consultant sonologist at the Perinatal department, Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne. He also serves as Medical Director of Monash Ultrasound for Women where he oversees a team of 50 sonologists, sonographers, genetic counsellors, phlebotomists and administrative staff in delivering a tertiary level ultrasound service across south east Melbourne. Dr Meagher has dedicated 30  years of his term as Medical Director, teaching and lecturing in obstetric and gynaecological ultrasound both locally and overseas. He has delivered over 800 lectures, across 17 countries, and 43 cities worldwide. In 2015, he was awarded ‘Sonologist of The Year’ by the Australian society of Ultrasound in medicine (ASUM) in recognition  of his teaching skills and his commitment to  hands on training within the hospital setting at the Mercy Hospital for Women and for  his commitment and contributions to ASUM.

His interest in clinical research has focussed on early pregnancy screening and diagnosis he has published over 100  articles in peer review journals, including 15 articles  in the last 3 years focusing on first trimester  pregnancy screening and diagnosis. Dr Meagher has described five original sonographic fetal markers during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. He is now focusing his interest on aneuploidy and embryo development from  seven to 10 weeks as we approach the dawn of a new era of genetic screening via free fetal DNA analysis.  

Dr Meagher has taken on multiple leadership positions - early in his career as the Chair of the Standards of Practice Committee at ASUM, examiner and executive board member for the ASUM Diploma of diagnostic ultrasound and later as council member of ASUM. Thereafter he served as Chairman of the Victoria Obstetric Sonologists group and on several  ISUOG Sub-Committees  at the  International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetric and Gynaecological Ultrasound.

Country: Australia

Field: Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Specialties: Prenatal Diagnosis. First and Second Trimester Fetal anomaly screening. Aneuploidy screening and diagnosis. NIPT and prenatal Exome sequencing. Maternal and Fetal Doppler Ultrasound. Invasive Prenatal Procedures.  Ultrasound and Infertility. Tubal Patency Testing. 

Languages: English

Dr Meetan Preet, is currently working as a Fetal Imaging specialist and consultant Fetal medicine at Prime Diagnostics center, Chandigarh, India. She has obtained her post doctoral fellowship from Mediscans in Chennai, India under Prof. S. Suresh.

Meetan is also working as a Consultant and Advisor to Medgenome Genetic Labs, India.

She has been a gold medalist during her graduation. She has several publications in national and international journals.

Her special interests include the fetal face and 3D, 4D in field of fetal medicine.

Country: India

Field:  Ultrasound; Obstetrics; Fetal Medicine

Specialties: First trimester screening for Anomalies, Fetal biometry and wellbeing; Second trimester Anomaly scan; 3D and 4D in obstetrics; Materno-fetal Dopplers and fetal growth restriction.

Languages: English; Hindi

Dr Prashant Acharya is a consultant in fetal medicine and high risk obstetric care at Paras advanced center for fetal medicine, Ahmedabad, India. He is an honorary sonologist and fetal medicine consultant at the NHL municipal medical college & KM school of post graduate medical studies, affiliated to Gujarat University. He is a leader in Maternal Fetal Medicine. His expertise is in obstetrical ultrasound with a special focus on fetal growth, fetal Doppler, fetal echocardiography and fetal Interventions.

Notable publications:

1) Evaluation of Applicability of Standard Growth Curves to Indian Women by Fetal Biometry:   Prashant Acharya, Ashini Acharya
South Asian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology, September-December 2009;1(3):55-61

2) International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 119S3 (2012) S161–S260  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 
LOW COST IN UTERO FETAL TRANSFUSION :P. Acharya, A. Acharya

Country: India

Field: Obstetrics

Specialties: Fetal anomaly screening 1st trimester and 2nd trimester; fetal growth; aneuploidy screening; fetal heart with fetal autopsy pathology specimen (video); fetal growth restriction; maternal and fetal Doppler; fetal interventional procedure. 

Languages: English; Hindi

"Working with ISUOG has been a lifetime opportunity. The Society has helped me provide better knowledge of Ultrasonography in Obstetrics and Gynecology to our part of the world. In 2012 I organised ISUOG’S 8th International Symposium in New Delhi attracting more than 600 new members. ISUOG’s Symposium will be returning to New Delhi in 2015 and we are expecting to add more than 600 new members to ISUOG again. Our improved relations and efforts will give strength to the wonderful and herculean efforts of ISUOG in improving fetal and maternal health across the world."

Caterina (Katia) M. Bilardo was born in Savigliano (Piedmont), Italy. After completing cum laude in 1983 the Medical studies and the Specialization in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Turin, she trained as Fellow in Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Medicine (1985- 1989) at King’s College Hospital, London, where she worked under the supervision of Prof. S. Campbell and Prof. K. N. Nicolaides.

Since 1989 she has relocated to the Netherlands where she has worked as Consultant and Head of the Prenatal Diagnosis Department at the Academic Medical Center Amsterdam (1992-2010). From 2010 to 2017 she has worked as Head of the Fetal Medicine Department at the University Medical Center Groningen where, in 2011, she has been appointed Professor in Fetal Medicine. Since October 2017 she has moved with the same position to the Amsterdam UMC, location VU Medical Center in Amsterdam, where she has also been appointed as Professor in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Fetal Medicine. In the Netherlands she has been President of the Dutch Working Party for Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology and is currently member of the Committee Prenatal Screening of the National Health Council.

Since 2007 she is in the Editorial Board of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Since 2009 she is Board member of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG). Between 2013-2017 she was Chair of the Education Committee within ISUOG. And in 2018-2020 she has been President of the same Society.

She has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and supervised numerous PhD students.

She pioneered research work on transvaginal ultrasound in this region. Her other key areas of interest are fetal diagnostics & interventions. She has more than 70 scientific publications and was felicitated with best paper award at 8th ISUOG International Symposium 2012.

She is an invited faculty at numerous National and International conferences and organizations including University of Rochester. She is a part of various training workshops in obstetric ultrasound.

Country: India
Field: Radiology
Specialties: Obstetrics and Gynaecological ultrasound.
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."

Publications and Work:

• Dr. B.S.Rama Murthy has published a textbook, ‘Imaging of fetal brain and spine’ (Springer 2019) with all the eleven chapters authored by him.

• Dr. B.S.Rama Murthy has contributed chapters to the following textbooks:
  - A Practical Guide to Obstetrics
  - An Introduction to Genetics and Fetal Medicine
  - Fetal Echocardiography
  - The First Trimester
  - Ultrasound in Congenital Anomalies (two chapters)
  - Management of Obstetrics & its related problems
  - Ward Rounds in Obstetrics and Gynecology
  - Ultrasound in Medicine

• He has been honoured with the following orations:
  N.G.Gadekar oration at the National Congress of Indian Radiology & Imaging Association
  - BM Memorial Foundation Day oration organised by the Bengal Obstetric & Gynecological Society
  - The AOGS oration organised by the Ahmedabad Obstetric and Gynecological Society

• He has organized two ultrasound conferences on invitation from the Ministry of Health, at Kuwait.

• He has, on invitation, delivered lectures in Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Kuwait, and UAE.

• He has delivered innumerable lectures and conducted many live obstetric ultrasound workshops all over the country.

• He has been a part of many webinars dedicated to obstetric imaging and Fetal medicine.

Achievements and Awards:

• He is a Founding member of the Indian Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

• He is the founder of the Medical Ultrasound Society of Karnataka (MUSK) which is now 25 years old. He is the Chief patron of MUSK.

• He was on the editorial board of ‘Indian Journal of Radiology & Imaging’

• He is the founder of 'Fetal Foundation of India' which runs a completely free obstetric ultrasound service. He has trained many specialists through the Foundation.

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)

Dr Prathima Radhakrishnan is the Director of Bangalore Fetal Medicine Centre (BFMC) and FGi Fetal Care Units (FFCU), the latter being a chain of clinics caring for the fetus across the city and nearby towns which perform highly specialised Obstetric scans and procedures.  She is the first Indian to get Diploma in Fetal Medicine from Fetal Medicine Foundation, UK in February 2011. She is also the first to perform Therapeutic Fetoscopic Laser for complicated monochorionic twin pregnancy in the country. Dr Prathima’s passion for the fetus has made BFMC one of the leading centres for tertiary level fetal care and a premiere education and training centre for doctors desiring to specialise in Fetal Medicine and Genetics in India. BFMC is in the frontline of original research work, having presented several papers in regional, national, and international conferences.  In addition, research papers from BFMC have been published in leading national and international journals. She has over 50 research publications, articles, guideline publications and chapters to her credit. Dr Prathima is an FMF accredited trainer & examiner for the Nuchal Translucency scan, Anomaly scan, Doppler, and invasive procedures certification in India. In addition to training several doctors onsite in fetal medicine and obstetric imaging, Dr Prathima has trained several doctors across the country and abroad with her structured online courses in Obstetric imaging. Her research interests includes screening for aneuploidies, preeclampsia, growth restriction, complications of multiple pregnancies, and fetal effects of maternal diabetes.

Notable publications: 

Radhakrishnan P, Venkataravanappa S, Acharya V, Sahana R, Shettikeri A: Prediction of Fetal Anemia in Subsequent Transfusions: Is There a Need to Change the Threshold of the Peak Systolic Velocity of the Middle Cerebral Artery? Fetal Diagn Ther 2020; 47:491-496. doi: 10.1159/000505398

Radhakrishnan P, Phadtare S Fetal Therapy in India. Textbook for Neonatologists, in press, 2020

Shettikeri A, Acharya V, V S, Sahana R, Radhakrishnan P: Outcome of Pregnancies Diagnosed with TRAP Sequence Prenatally: A Single-Centre Experience. Fetal Diagn Ther 2019. doi: 10.1159/000503389

Kaul A, Radhakrishnan P. Performance of Common Down Syndrome Screening Methods Used in India with Construction of an Indian Nomogram for Nuchal Translucency/Crown-Rump Length Measurements in 14,337 Subjects. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2019;69(Suppl 2):142-146. doi:10.1007/s13224-018-1196-3

Sharma, A., Tayal, T., BH, N., Radhakrishnan, P. and Kaul, A. (2013), Nasal bone length: the long and short of it. Evaluation of the reference values for the fetal nasal bone length at 16 to 25 weeks of gestational age in an Indian population. Prenat Diagn, 33: 800-803. doi:10.1002/pd.4114

Narayani BH, Radhakrishnan P. Mid-second trimester measurement of nasal bone length in the Indian population. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2013; 63:2013–63. doi: 10.1007/s13224-012-0335-5.

Country: India

Field: Obstetrics imaging; Fetal Medicine

Specialties: Early screening and diagnosis of fetal anomalies; fetal cardiac screening and diagnosis of anomalies; fetal growth restriction; multiple pregnancies; preeclampsia; maternal diabetes; prenatal diagnosis; fetal therapy

Dr. Chinmayee Ratha –MS(ObG) MRCOG(UK) FIMSA FICOG; is a trained Obstetrician and Gynecologist who has dedicated her clinical interests to the service of the fetus – the unborn baby the building block of tomorrow's society. She started her career in the areas of Obstetrics and Gynecology after having completed her MBBS with Honours from King George's Medical College, Lucknow, by receiving the degree of Master of Surgery in Obstetrics and Gynecology from MLN Medical College, Allahabad. She was further awarded the membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, London, UK.

Dr. Chinmayee developed an interest in Fetal Medicine after attending a course in Clinical Genetics conducted by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) at SGPGI Lucknow. The course gave her the first insight into the potential of prenatal diagnosis and treatment of fetal conditions that could help achieve better health goals in future. She started her Fetal Medicine journey in 2006 at Bangalore Fetal Medicine Centre and Manipal Hospitals, Bangalore. Subsequently, she has done clinical attachments at Harris Birthright Research Centre, King's College Hospital, London and at the Fetal Medicine Unit, St.George's Hospital, London. She served as a consultant Fetal Medicine in Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi and worked at the Apollo Centre for Fetal Medicine. She also headed the Fetal Medicine Unit at Rainbow Hospitals from 2011 to 2016.

She believes that practicing Fetal Medicine in India has been one of the most satisfying decisions of her life and she intends to improvise care modules and disseminate practical approaches to planning management in challenging cases. To improve the reach of Fetal Medicine across India, she has been working in close collaboration with practicing doctors across the country to develop a "Shared Care" approach for difficult fetal cases. She travels frequently to different locations and conducts workshops/ training sessions to share her learnings in the area of Fetal Medicine.