Conversations in Fetal Medicine – Details, episodes & analysis

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Welcome to a special bonus episode! Recorded live at the RCOG Annual Academic Meeting in January 2024, organised by the Blair Bell Research Society. Join us in conversation with Professor Lucilla Poston, co-hosted with the fabulous Dr Neil Ryan (a clinical academic and subspecialty trainee in gynae-oncology).

This is also a chance to celebrate the RCOG Annual Academic Meeting and learn a bit more about the Blair Bell Research Society. With thanks to the RCOG and BBRS for permission to share the recording. 

Professor Poston's bio:

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/lucilla-poston

Professor Lucilla Poston CBE is a Professor of Maternal & Fetal Health in the School of Life Course & Population Sciences. Her research spans maternal nutrition, obesity and gestational diabetes with a focus on the short as well as longer term consequences for the health of mother and the child. Approaches include studies in mother -child cohorts and development of pragmatic interventions in pregnancy to improve pregnancy outcome and child health. Her team also interrogate the early life origins of disease through maternal and child electronic health record data linkages.

Professor Poston is President of the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG) and was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2009. She was appointed NIHR Senior Investigator, Emeritus in 2017, having succeeded twice in open competition. In 2017, Lucilla was awarded a CBE for services to Women’s Health. In 2024 Lucilla was listed by Research.com as being one of the top 1000 female scientists in the world, according to the H Index.

Previously Professor Poston was the Tommy's Chair of Maternal & Fetal Health and the Director of the Tommy’s Maternal & Fetal Research Unit based at St Thomas’ Hospital, and the Head of the School of Life Course & Population Sciences.

RCOG Annual Academic Meeting info:

The RCOG Annual Academic meeting ‘Save the date’ and call for abstracts has just been announced! 6-7 Feb 2025

https://rcog.eventsair.com/annual-academic-meeting-feb-2025

Dr Neil Ryan's bio:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/neilryan

Neil is the RCOG Subspecialty Trainee in Gynaecology Oncology at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and a CSO/NES Clinical Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.

He was awarded a personal MRC fellowship to undertake a PhD at the University of Manchester (UoM) which he completed in 2020. His thesis was supervised by Professors Crosbie and Evans.

His PhD led to a change in NICE guidelines relating to the testing of womb cancer along with numerous publications, presentations, invited lectures and awards.

Neil's work was recognised by a President's Doctorial Scholarship and awarded the UoM's highest postgraduate award: The President's Medal. Neil was recently awarded the William Blair Bell Lecture by the RCOG.

British Gynaecological Cancer Society (BGCS) podcast info:

https://www.bgcs.org.uk/professionals/new-podcast-series/

Podcast information:

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance')

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Welcome to the fifth episode of season four of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, in conversation with Professor Lawrence Impey.

Professor Impey's bio:

Qualification MBBS 1988 from the Middlesex

Undergraduate degree 1985 in Oxford

Trained in London, Dublin and Oxford. MRCOG 1993, FRCOG 2007

Consultant in Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine in Oxford since 2001.

Full time NHS clinical consultant, director of tertiary referral Oxford Fetal Medicine Unit

23 years as practising obstetrician and fetal medicine specialist

Director of subspeciality training in maternal and fetal medicine, Oxford

Clinical Lead for Maternity Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley

Visiting Professor in fetal medicine, Oxford University

Author of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Impey and Child 6th (ed in preparation), and Oxford handbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (current is 3rd ed) Collins, Arulkumaran, Hayes, Arambage and Impey

Multiple blood chapters eg Oxford Textbook of Medicine

Lead author of two greentop guidelines

Publications on labour and the role of intrapartum risk factors, breech presentation, preterm birth and fetal growth restriction and risk factors for adverse outcomes

Current research projects: predicting and preventing stillbirth, Machine learning based intrapartum CTG interpretation

Father of Cicely and Orlando and grandfather of Fergus

Podcast information:

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

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Welcome to the second episode of season three of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Professor John Kingdom.

Prof Kingdom's bio:

John Kingdom is a consultant in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Obstetrics at Mount Sinai
Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada, where he established their Placenta Clinic in 1999 with his career-long friend Rory Windrim. English by birth, John lived in the southern counties, then in the “Troubles” of Northern Ireland, before medical school Dublin, where he graduated from Trinity College in 1984. Living in the busy Rotunda Hospital in Dublin for 3 months, followed by a summer elective at the Fetal Medicine centre at the Queen Mother’s Hospital Glasgow, the home of Obstetric Ultrasound, set him firmly on his career path. He spent the next decade as a trainee in Glasgow, before moving to UCH, London to one of the very few UK subspecialty training positions at that time in Fetal Medicine. He held a senior lecturer position at UCL for only 3 years, before making the decision to cross the Pond to take up a unique opportunity as a clinician-scientist in major MFM centre. There he managed a molecular pathology research lab linked with his work as a high-risk Obstetrician, producing over 400 basic and more clinical publications thus far in his career, including guidelines on placenta accreta spectrum disorder and fetal growth restriction. In 2017, John led the first launch of real-time placenta growth factor testing (PlGF) in North America, which in 2023 is fast changing many aspects of care in our specialty.

Since 2013, John has been Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, spanning a city of over 6 million. With over 300 consultants across all sub-specialities, working in a citywide network of 10 hospitals and over 40,000 births annually, UofT ObGyn now ranks second to Harvard. Mount Sinai MFM Division of over 20 consultants provides 24/7 in-house care in all dimension of Fetal Medicine, and is home to both the Ontario Fetal Centre and a new Complex Obstetrics Surgery program. Their city-wide MFM fellowship currently has 12 subspecialty trainees in 2-3 year programs, as a mix of Canadian and International trainees, including from the UK. John’s current passion beyond his own research focuses on mentorship across the fellowship to consultant transition, and ongoing academic career development. In Fall 2023 he was elected to fellowship of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Podcast information:

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

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Welcome to the first episode of season three of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Professor Asma Khalil. See below for her bio.

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.
 
Biography of Prof. Khalil:

Prof. Asma Khalil, MD,MBBCh, MRCOG, MSc(Epi), DFSRH, Dip(GUM)

Professor of Fetal Medicine, St George’s Hospital, University of London

Director of Fetal Medicine Unit, Liverpool Women’s Hospital

Vice-President of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Asma Khalil is a Professor of Fetal Medicine. She is the Obstetric Lead at the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit (NMPA). She gained her MD at the University of London in 2008. She was elected as the Vice-President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

She set up the Laser service for fetal interventions at Liverpool Women's Hospital in 2011.

Prof. Asma Khalil has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers, and many published review articles and chapters. She was awarded many research prizes, both at national and international meetings. She was awarded the 2021 FIGO Women's Awards: Recognising Female Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Her research interests include twin pregnancy, congenital infections, fetal growth restriction and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.

She had a fellowship with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE).  committed to the implementation of clinical guidelines in practice. She is the Lead author of the ISUOG guideline on the role of ultrasound in twins and congenital infections. She also led the guideline team developing the FIGO guideline on twin pregnancies. She was a member of the NICE Guideline Committee updating the Twin and Multiple Pregnancy guidance. 

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Welcome to the sixth episode of season two of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Mr David Howe. It's the last episode of this season, but not the end of the podcast - season three is already being planned! 

David is a recently retired consultant obstetrician who specialised in complex fetal problems and prenatal diagnosis.

Training and education:

• Undergraduate training in Bristol
• Post-graduate training in obstetrics and gynaecology, Wessex
• Sub-specialty training, Birmingham Women's Hospital

Experience:
Mr Howe worked for University Hospital Southampton since February 1996 until 2023. He was responsible for complex fetal problems and prenatal diagnosis, and ran a clinic for monochorionic twins. He was also the obstetric lead for the joint obstetric cardiac clinic.

Alongside his role as a consultant in obstetrics, Mr Howe was an honorary senior lecturer in fetomaternal medicine.

Key achievements

• Establishing the Wessex fetal and maternal medicine service
• Clinical director for obstetrics and gynaecology, 2001 to 2006
• Divisional director of women and children’s services, 2006 to 2007
• Developing a sub-specialty service and sub-specialty training programme in fetal and maternal medicine

ISUOG trainee membership - free for first two years then reduced fee: https://www.isuog.org/membership/trainees.html

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast. 

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie. 

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Welcome to the fifth episode of season two of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Dr David Coggin-Carr.
 
David is a UK+US dual-certified obstetrician, subspecialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine, and early career clinical academic with additional training and expertise in Integrative Medicine and medical acupuncture. He currently practices full-spectrum MFM in both Vermont and upstate New York and additionally serves as Associate Medical Director of the Birthing Center and Associate Director of Quality for Obstetrics at the University of Vermont Medical Center. His clinical interests include planned vaginal breech birth, assisted vaginal birth, fetal growth restriction and electronic fetal monitoring. His research interests are focused on the evidence-based integration of acupuncture and related techniques into conventional maternity care, as well as the exploration of novel applications of acupuncture in animal models of high-risk pregnancy. His lab is currently examining the efficacy, safety and mechanisms of action of electroacupuncture in a rat model of maternal obesity characterized by insulin resistance and uteroplacental insufficiency. He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Acupuncture in Medicine (published by SAGE and owned by the British Medical Acupuncture Society) since 2015.

After graduating from UCL medical school in 2004, he spent 12 years in UK postgraduate training during which time he was awarded an MSc in Western Medical Acupuncture by the University of Hertfordshire and a PhD in Fetal Medicine from UCL under the supervision of Anna David and Jacqueline Wallace at the University of Aberdeen (to which he relocated for 18 months). His thesis was entitled “Evaluation of
Prenatal Adenoviral Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Gene Therapy in the Growth-Restricted Sheep Fetus and Neonate”. He began subspecialty training at St George’s, University of London, completed the RCOG ATMs in Maternal Medicine and Advanced Labour Ward Practice and ultimately gained his CCT in general O&G, but subsequently made the decision to emigrate to the USA and retrain in O&G and MFM.

He spent his first year as an intern at NYU (including a stint at Bellevue, the USA’s oldest public hospital) and then moved on to the University of Vermont for a further three years’ of Ob/Gyn residency followed by three years’ of MFM fellowship. While finally working in a substantive post (as an attending physician and Assistant Professor), he is currently rounding out 20 years’ of postgraduate training by completing a 1-year faculty fellowship in Integrative Medicine through the Osher Collaborative for Integrative Health.

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast. 

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie. 

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Welcome to the fourth episode of season two of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Dr Surabhi Nanda. 

Dr Surabhi Nanda is a consultant in Maternal Fetal Medicine at Guy's and St Thomas Hospital and an honorary senior lecturer at King's College London. She leads the multiple pregnancy and obstetric neurology service at St Thomas, as well as looking after women with complex respiratory problems and cancer in pregnancy. She has published  and talks widely on areas relevant to her subspecialist interest. From an academic perspective, she is currently a national chief investigator for a multicentric study on non-invasive prenatal testing for neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia in pregnancy, and co-investigator for a study looking at preterm delivery in triplets. She is also co-investigator on a UKOSS study on non-invasive ventilation in pregnancy. She is one of the two national fetal medicine reps for BMFMS and incoming president for the Maternity and Newborn forum at the Royal Society of Medicine. She is the clinical trustee for Twins Trust, a multiple births charity in the UK. She works closely with the British Association of Perinatal Medicine in developing antenatal pathways for families needing paediatric palliative care. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and photography. 

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast. 

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie. 

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Welcome to the third episode of season two of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Professor Jan Deprest. 

Jan Deprest is a leading international fetal surgeon who works two days a week at UCLH as a consultant and at UCL as a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology. At UCL he works in the Institute for Women's Health and the Translational Imaging Group. For the rest of the week he works at his home institutions,  at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and its University Hospitals Leuven (Belgium). Professor Deprest is currently the academic chair of the Department of Development and Regeneration and director of the Centre for Surgical Technologies.

Clinically he is the director of the fetal surgery programme in Leuven. He trained in fetal medicine in Leuven (Belgium), St George’s Hospital London (UK), Leiden (Holland) and attended the programme at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia (PA, USA). He established the Eurofoetus consortium, which is dedicated to the development of instruments and techniques for minimally invasive fetal and placental surgery. The Leuven Fetal Medicine Team focuses on antenatal modulation of lung development, e.g. for pulmonary hypoplasia due to congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) as well as for bronchopulmonary dysplasia. He has headed several clinical studies dedicated to the prenatal prediction of survival of fetuses with isolated CDH using genetic testing, ultrasound and fetal MRI imaging. He developed a percutaneous method for fetoscopic placement of a balloon into the fetal trachea (FETO).  His translational research also investigates the application of amniotic fluid derived stem cells for treating fetuses or neonates with CDH or other lung disorders, fetal membrane wound healing and brain development in fetuses exposed to steroids or anesthesia.

Bio from UCLH: https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/our-services/find-consultant/professor-jan-deprest

Bio from KU Leuven: https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/00031972

ORCID record (to see his many publications): https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4920-945X

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast. 

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie. 

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Welcome to the second episode of season two of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Professor Kypros Nicolaides. 

Professor Kypros Nicolaides is the founder and chairman of the of The Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) which he set up in 1995. The FMF has donated more than £45 million to finance the training of doctors from around the world and to carry out major multi-centre research studies in fetal medicine. The Fetal Medicine Foundation also organises the yearly World congress in Fetal Medicine which is attended by more than 2000 participants from all over the world.

Professor Nicolaides has authored over 1500 peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 30 books. He has an H-index of 183, which is the highest of any Obstetrician & Gynaecologist in the world, and has had his research cited over 135,000 times. He has provided training in Fetal Medicine to over 1000 doctors from over 50 countries.

Professor Kypros Nicolaides has developed methods of (i) screening for premature birth (which is the main cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality) by measurement of cervical length and prevention through the use of vaginal progesterone (ii) screening for pre-eclampsia (which is one of the main causes of maternal mortality) by measurement of blood flow to the uterus by Doppler and measurement of blood pressure and the hormone placental growth factor and prevention through the use of aspirin (iii) methods of early screening for chromosomal abnormalities through the measurement of nuchal translucency, and spina bifida through the ‘lemon and banana’ signs, and (iv) methods of fetal therapy including fetal blood transfusions for red cell isoimmunized pregnancies, thoraco-amniotic shunting for fetal pleural effusions, endoscopic laser surgery for identical twin pregnancies with severe twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome in collaboration with Professor Yves Ville and endoscopic placement of a balloon in the fetal trachea for the treatment of severe diaphragmatic hernia in collaboration with Professors Jan Deprest and Eduard Gratacos.

He has recently proposed a new model of pregnancy care – “Turning the Pyramid of Prenatal Care”. This aims to assess the risk for most of the relevant pregnancy complications affecting mother and unborn child during a hospital visit at 11-13 weeks of gestation and, on the basis of such risks, provide personalised care to reduce an adverse outcome.

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kypros_Nicolaides

Kings College London page: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/kypros-nicolaides

Trailer for The Surgeon's Cut, available on Netflix: https://youtu.be/Fft5igeEIEM

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.  

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie. 

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Welcome to the first episode of the second season of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Professor Sally Collins. 

Sally is a Consultant Obstetrician subspecializing in Feto-Maternal Medicine
at the John Radcliffe Hospital and a Professor of Obstetrics in the Nuffield
Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford.
Sally graduated in Medicine from the University of Oxford and specialized in
Obstetrics and Gynaecology, training within the Oxford region during which
time she completed a DPhil in Obstetric Ultrasound. Sally is currently a
Consultant Obstetrician in a busy NHS Trust and has set up the Oxford FMU
tertiary referral Placenta Clinic.

She is highly research active having authored over 150 journal articles, filed
three patents and won several international research awards. She currently
holds several grants including from the NIHR and Sir Jules Thorn Trust to
develop a fully automated first trimester ultrasound screening tool for fetal
growth restriction.

Sally is also world renowned for her expertise in placenta accreta spectrum
(PAS) and is currently working with NHS England to develop a national
network for the diagnosis and management of PAS having co-authored the
RCOG and FIGO guidelines on diagnosis and management of PAS. She is
Chairperson elect of the International Society for PAS and is the lead author
on their recent evidence-based guidelines. She is a founder member of the
Oxford Placenta Accreta team (https://www.placentaaccretasspectrum.com/)
and continues to strive to improve the outcomes for women affected by this
rare, but complex and potentially lethal condition.

Websites with further details about her work and research:
https://www.wrh.ox.ac.uk/team/sally-collins

Her Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Collins

The (fabulous) PAS website we discuss in the episode:  https://www.placentaaccretasspectrum.com/

We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although anyone is of course welcome to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.  
 
Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.