Ambassador

ROMANO Andrea

Maastricht University
Maastricht, The Netherlands

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health, Medicine & Life Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Andrea Romano PhD graduated in biology (1995) at the University of Bologna (Italy) and subsequently moved to the Netherlands, at the University of Wageningen, where he obtained his PhD in 2002. He then continued his research activity at Maastricht University, where he performed his post doc on steroid hormone receptors (2002-2007) and where he is currently principal investigator and assistant professor at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences.

Dr Romano’s professional activity is dedicated to research and the major focus is on steroid hormone signalling in the context of endometrial pathophysiology. His research activities have been financed by prestigious grants from, among others, the Dutch Cancer Society, the European Community, the Canadian Institute for Health Research, the ‘Stichting’ Fertility Foundation. The research of his team has been published in high–impact factor journals like the Journal of Pathology, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Frontiers in Pharmacology.

Andrea Romano is regularly invited as a lecturer at national and international meetings, like the meetings of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), the German Societies of Gynaecologic Endocrinology and of Reproduction Medicine, the International Menarini Foundation, the Dutch Gynaecology Society, etc.

Andrea Romano acts as reviewer for over 30 international peer-reviewed journals, as expert panel for various funding bodies, and he is an advisory board member for Forendo Pharma Ltd in the development of novel drugs for endometriosis.

Andrea Romano served as associate editor for Human Reproduction (Oxford press, 2013-2016) and is currently guest editor of the special issue for the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, entitled ‘Molecular research in endometrial pathophysiology’.

Andrea Romano was appointed as senior deputy of the ESHRE Special Interest Group for Endometriosis & Endometrial Disorders (SIGEED) in 2015 and from 2017 he serves as coordinator-elect. In this context he contributes to the organisation of the annual ESHRE pre-congress courses, the main sessions for the annual meeting, and additional ESHRE campuses/workshops.

Dr Romano was appointed a WES Ambassador in 2018.

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Ambassador

OH Sung-Tack

Chonnam University Medical School
Gwangju, South Korea

Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Chonnam University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea

Professor Sung-Tack Oh, MD, PhD, is a reproductive endocrinologist and surgeon (especially laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis ). He completed his medical school and residency at the Chonnam University & Hospital of Gwangju in South Korea and his reproductive endocrinology research fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He has two PhD degrees: biochemistry at Chonnam University Graduate School and computer engineering at Honam University Graduate School. He also graduated from the School of Medicine at Chonnam University and Classic Music College at Gwangju University.

He is the president of the Southern Korean Association of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (SKA-MIGS). He is past president of the Korean Society of Endometriosis (KSE) and the Korean Pelvic Pain Society (KCPPS). He currently the chair of the many committees of the Korean Society of Gynaecologic Endoscopy and Minimally Invasive Surgery, the Korean Society of Menopause, and the Korean Association of Women’s Sexual Health.

Dr Oh is professor and past director of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Chonnam University Medical School in Korea. He is a member of many professional societies including the Korean Society of Obstetrics & Gynecology, the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopist (AAGL), the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgens (SLS), and World Endometriosis Society (WES). He has been an advisor, consultant, and reviewer to professional and patient organisations, and has published and lectured extensively nationally and internationally on endometriosis, assisted reproductive technologies, reproductive surgery, and infertility.

He has cared for about 70 patients/day twice a week at OPD and many operations (mainly laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis ) at three times a week and many hysteroscopic surgery in office-bases for over 30 years in Chonnam University Hospital.

Dr Oh became a WES Ambassador in 2018.

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Ambassador

BEDAIWY Mohamed

University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada

Professor with tenure and Division Head of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Dr Mohamed Ali Bedaiwy MD, PhD, FACOG, FRCSC, is double certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in obstetrics and gynaecology and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Dr Bedaiwy received his medical degree from Assiut University School of Medicine, Egypt, where he graduated Valedictorian, summa cum laude.

Dr Bedaiwy completed:

• Residency in obstetrics and gynaecology and reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University Hospital Case Medical Center, CWRU, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• Fellowship in minimally invasive surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• Fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility in the Division of Reproductive Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
• PhD from the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Dr Bedaiwy is a prolific author with over 350 peer reviewed papers, abstracts, book chapters, and videos. He was also the associate editor of Human Reproduction (2012-2016) and currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology. Dr Bedaiwy has had a career-long interest in high quality medical care, research, and education. He was the scientific programme chair of WCE2017.

Dr Bedaiwy’s research is focused on advancing basic and clinical knowledge about endometriosis, infertility, ART, and early pregnancy complications. He also has interest in minimally invasive surgery and fertility preservation. Dr Bedaiwy has served as chairperson of postgraduate courses at ASRM, WCE, and the AAGL that deal with different aspects of reproductive surgery, endometriosis, and infertility enhancing procedures. He has served on review committees for the NICHD and is an oral examiner for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dr Bedaiwy has been the recipient of many international awards for surgical and research excellence at different societies from Egypt, Jordan, Australia, Canada, and USA.

Dr Bedaiwy was appointed a WES Ambassador in 2018.

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Ambassador

GAJBHIYE Rahul

National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health
Mumbai, India

Scientist, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai, India

Dr Rahul Gajbhiye MBBS PhD is a clinician-scientist working at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.

He completed his medical school at Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Memorial Medical College, Amravati, Maharashtra state, India, and obtained a PhD in applied biology at the University of Mumbai, India. He is a recipient of prestigious fellowships including the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Indo-Australia EMCR Fellowship, Burroughs Wellcome Fellowship. Dr Gajbhiye was also a visiting fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Australia.

He is an international ambassador for the World Endometriosis Society (WES) and a life member of Endometriosis Society of India and the Indian Society for Study of Reproduction and Fertility (ISSRF). He is the past member secretary of the Research Advisory Committee, Model Rural Health Research Unit (MRHRU), Dahanu, Maharashtra state, India, and has contributed immensely to the establishment of MRHRU in Maharashtra state. He was also a member secretary of the Scientific Advisory Committee and Project Review Group of ICMR-NIRRH Field Units and coordinated the research programs at 31 field units of the ICMR-NIRRH located all over India.

Dr Gajbhiye is the recipient of research grants from international (WHO) and national funding agencies (ICMR, DBT, DST and DAE) and is currently heading the research programmes focused on the pathogenesis of endometriosis, non-invasive markers for the diagnosis of endometriosis, pregnancy outcomes in Indian women with endometriosis, genetic risks for endometriosis, and the association between endometriosis and ovarian cancer. He has published consistently nationally and internationally along with two book chapters. He is actively involved in the efforts of World Endometriosis Research Foundation (WERF) for implementing the WERF EPHect Clinical Questionnaire (ECQ) and Standard Surgical Form (SSF). He is instrumental in translating the WERF EPHect ECQ into regional Indian languages. He is collaborating with the gynaecological laparoscopic surgeons and scientists in India as well as abroad with a vision of reducing the burden of endometriosis in India and globally.

Dr Gajbhive was appointed a WES Ambassador in 2018.

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Ambassador

BECKER Christian

University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom

Associate Professor at the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Christian Becker is an  studied medicine in Budapest, Berlin and San Francisco and qualified in 1995. He received his Medical Doctorate Degree at the Freie Universität Berlin in 1998.

Christian then trained in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Charité in Berlin and became fully accredited in 2003. In addition, he did two postdoctoral fellowships at the Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston working on angiogenesis and endometriosis.

In 2005, Christian moved to Oxford where he did an RCOG fellowship in reproductive medicine and surgery as and was appointed as consultant gynaecologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital and senior fellow at the University of Oxford.

Christian’s clinical and research interests focus on reproductive conditions including endometriosis and uterine fibroids. Together with Krina Zondervan he co-directs the Endometriosis CaRe Centre in Oxford leading a comprehensive basic, translational, and clinical research programme on endometriosis at the University of Oxford. Christian is the current chair of the ESHRE Endometriosis Guideline Development Group and was involved in the development of the NICE Guideline for Endometriosis in the UK. He has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in the field of endometriosis and has a special interest in biomarker studies.

Dr Becker became a WES Ambassador in 2018.

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Ambassador

ADAMSON David

Equal3 Fertility
Palo Alto, USA

Director, Equal3 Fertility

David Adamson, MD, FRCSC, FACOG, FACS is a reproductive endocrinologist and surgeon. He completed his medical school and residency at the University of Toronto in Canada and his Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility fellowship at Stanford University in California.

He is Past President of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), Society of Reproductive Surgeons (SRS), four other major gynaecological societies, and currently serves as Past Chair of the Committee on Reproductive Medicine for the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), Chair of the International Committee Monitoring ART (ICMART), President of the World Endometriosis Research Foundation (WERF), and ex officio Board member of the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS).

Dr Adamson holds clinical professorships at Stanford University and University of California, San Francisco. He is a member of over 20 professional societies including the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society (AGOS), Society for Gynecological Investigation (SGI), and Society of Gynecological Surgeons (SGS). He has been an advisor, consultant, and reviewer to government, industry, professional and patient organisations, and has published and lectured extensively nationally and internationally on endometriosis, assisted reproductive technologies, reproductive surgery, and infertility. In 1997 he founded Advanced Reproductive Care (ARC Fertility), a national network of IVF clinics company that provides financial programmes and other services to IVF practices and their patients.

He has been recognised as one of the best 400 physicians for women in America. In 2006 he received the Outstanding Achievement in Medicine award from the Santa Clara County Medical Society, and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for outstanding and invaluable service to the community. He has also received the Barbara Eck Founders Award from National RESOLVE, the Distinguished Surgeon Award from the Society of Reproductive Surgeons, the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine for outstanding achievements in advancing the practice of reproductive medicine, and numerous other national and international recognitions.

Dr Adamson has been a WES Ambassador since 2011.

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Ambassador

FALCONE Tommaso

Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, USA

Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, USA. Chairman of the Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, USA. Chief of Staff, Cleveland Clinic, London, United Kingdom

Tommaso Falcone MD, FRCS(C), FACOG, received his medical degree from McGill University School of Medicine in Montreal, Canada. While at McGill, he went on to complete a residency in obstetrics and gynaecology and a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology.

Dr Falcone is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in general obstetrics and gynaecology, as well as reproductive endocrinology. He is also certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Dr Falcone has published more than 500 original manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters.
He is co-editor of 8 books including a textbook on Clinical Reproductive Medicine and Surgery (Springer third edition 2017); Operative Techniques in Gynecologic Surgery (Wolters Kluwer, 2017).

He has served on the editorial board of several journals, including as associate editor of Fertility & Sterility and the editorial board of the Obstetrics & Gynecology (Green Journal). He is presently editor-in-chief of JMIG. He is past president of the Society for Reproductive Surgeons (SRS) and past chair of the endometriosis special interest group of the ASRM. He is vice president of the International Society for Fertility Preservation (ISFP). He has served on review committees for NICHD and MRC.

Dr Falcone has been the recipient of many awards for laparoscopic and robotic surgery at different societies. He was a senior author on the first publication on gynaecologic robot surgery and a member of the team that performed the first uterus transplant in the USA.

Dr Falcone has been a WES Ambassador since 2011.

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Ambassador

MILLER Charles

University of Illinois
Chicago, USA

Clinical Associate Professor, Department of OB/GYN, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA. Director of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery and Director of the AAGL/SRS Fellowship Program in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge (IL), USA.

Charles E Miller MD, FACOG is the current President of the International Society for Gynecologic Endoscopy (ISGE). He is Chairman of the AAGL’s Reproductive Surgery/Endometriosis Special Interest Group, and a Past President of the AAGL.

Dr Miller is a fellow in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Dr Miller’s interests include advanced minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, treatment of uterine fibroids, laparoscopic myomectomy, laparoscopic hysterectomy, single excision laparoscopic surgery, treatment of endometriosis (medical and surgical), robot assisted surgery, as well as the treatment of infertile couples, especially in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

Dr Miller has been a WES Ambassador since 2011.

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Ambassador

TSAI Shaw-Jenq

National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan

Distinguished Professor, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

Professor Shaw-Jenq (Sean) Tsai received his PhD degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA in 1997. He then joined the Department of Physiology at the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, as an assistant professor in 1998. He was promoted to distinguished professor in 2008 in recognition of his great academic achievements.

Professor Tsai’s research focuses on investigating molecular mechanisms underlying important human diseases including cancer, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and endometriosis. He has published more than one hundred papers in prestigious journals such as Nature, Nature Communications, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Pathology, Cancer Research, Nucleic Acids Research, and Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

In endometriosis research, Professor Tsai is the first person to demonstrate that ectopic endometriotic stromal cells can utilize cholesterol as the precursor to synthesize progesterone, which is then converted to 17β-estradiol exclusively in ectopic endometriotic cells. Professor Tsai’s group also demonstrates that prostaglandin E₂ is a master regulator that controls steroidogenesis and angiogenesis, promotes endometriotic cell proliferation, and suppresses phagocytic ability of macrophage.

Recently, his team reported that endometriotic cells are much more sensitive to proinflammatory cytokine’s stimulation because of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)- mediated ERK activation. They demonstrate that HIF-1α is over-expressed in ectopic endometriotic stromal cell, which inhibits the expression of dual specificity phosphatase-2 (DUSP2), a negative regulator of ERK and p38 MAPK. Reduced expression of DUSP2 by HIF-1α results in prolonged activation of ERK and p38 MAPK, which ultimately leads to the hypersensitivity of ectopic endometriotic cells. They also discovered that hypoxia alters DNA methylation, histone modification, and translational switch to regulate critical genes in endometriotic cells. Most recently, his lab reported that hypoxia de-represses Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) and ultimately activates many biological processes. By blocking the hypoxia-regulated gene network, his lab demonstrated that endometriotic lesion can be efficiently reduced without compromising maternal fertility and the growth of offspring. These findings provide new insights of molecular pathology in the development of endometriosis and point to a new direction of endometriosis research.

Professor Tsai was appointed a WES Ambassador in 2011.

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Ambassador

CRITCHLEY Hilary

University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Head of Deanery of Clinical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Clinical Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Professor Critchley is a medical graduate from University of Manchester and undertook Postgraduate clinical training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Manchester and Edinburgh. Her research training was with Professor David Baird in Edinburgh; Professor David Anderson in Manchester; and Professor David Healy in Melbourne, Australia.

Her research programme focuses upon local uterine mechanisms involved in menstruation and implantation and addresses mechanisms common to these reproductive processes – injury and repair, endocrine-immune interactions, and regulation of inflammatory mediators. A particular area of interest has been the local endometrial response to withdrawal of progesterone, both physiological and pharmacological.

Her fundamental studies have made major contributions to the understanding of mechanisms regulating the onset of menstruation and established local effects of pharmacological steroid receptor modulation in uterine tissues with a view to development of novel treatment strategies for menstrual complaints. Testimony to her research contributions are over 250 peer reviewed publications.

She has co-chaired an International Agreement Process for terminologies/definitions and a classification system for abnormalities of menstrual bleeding supported by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and remains a member of the FIGO Menstrual Disorders Committee.

Her expertise in the field of endometrial biology/reproductive medicine has been nationally and internationally recognised. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences (UK) (elected 2009) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (elected 2012).

Professor Critchley served on the Board of the World Endometriosis Society from 2011-2017, and became a WES Ambassador in May 2017.

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