Executive Board Member

Andrew Horne

MB ChB, PhD, FRCOG, FRCP Edin, FRCSEd, FRSE, FMedSci
President 2025-2027
Edinburgh, UK

Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh; Professor of Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Honorary Consultant Gynaecologist, NHS Lothian, United Kingdom; Co-Director of EXPPECT Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Andrew is Professor of Gynaecology and Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh.  He is a leading researcher in women’s health problems, with a focus on endometriosis and pelvic pain, and has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles. He is Specialty Advisor to the Scottish Government’s Chief Medical Officer for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Trustee to Endometriosis UK. He co-authored the patient book “Endometriosis: the experts’ guide to treat, manage and live well with your symptoms”.

Email: andrew.horne@ed.ac.uk

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Ambassador

SAUNDERS Philippa

Edinburgh, UK

Philippa Saunders’ research is focused on increasing our understanding of the ways in which sex steroids, their receptors and downstream signalling pathways, regulate reproductive and other tissues. Her studies have included seminal findings on the role of androgen receptors in male fertility and the role of oestrogens in endometrial function and malfunction. Her studies on endometriosis include development of novel model systems and their application to finding new therapeutic targets that can reduce endometriosis-associated symptoms including pain.
The excellence of her research contribution has been recognised by prestigious Fellowships of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) and a prestigious Fellowship ad eudeum of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG) an honour only rarely bestowed on Scientists who are not active Clinicians.

She served as Registrar and as a member of Council for Academy of Medical Sciences (2016-2021) where she oversaw the election of more than 250 new fellows. She has served on numerous grant and fellowship boards nationally and internationally and was co-chair of an influential Academy report on careers in ‘Team Science’. She is passionate about supporting career development in biomedical sciences and has trained and mentored more that 50 students and fellows. She is active on social media and has been recognised for her contributions to public engagement.

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Past President

Luk Rombauts

MD, PhD, FRANZCOG, CREI
President 2021-2023
Melbourne, Australia

Group Medical Director, Monash IVF Group, Melbourne, Australia; Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

After the completion of his PhD at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 1994, Professor Rombauts completed a 2-year International Fellowship at Monash University in Melbourne. He was then appointed as a staff specialist at the Leuven Institute of Fertility and Embryology (Belgium). He returned to Melbourne in 1998 to join Monash IVF. He obtained his subspecialty Certificate of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (CREI) in 2001 and is now accredited by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists as a training supervisor for the CREI.

Professor Rombauts is the Group Medical Director of Monash IVF and previously served on the Monash IVF Board of Company Directors. He is a Research Fellow of the Hudson Institute. He has published over 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals and his main research interests include endometriosis and embryo implantation.

Professor Rombauts was elected a Trustee of the World Endometriosis Research Foundation in 2008 and served until 2024. He is the immediate Past-President of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand. He was the scientific programme chair of the 10th World Congress of Endometriosis in 2008 and of the 14th World Congress on Human Reproduction in 2011.

Professor Rombauts was elected a board member of the World Endometriosis Society in 2008, and served as its president between 2021-2023.”

Email: luk.rombauts@bigpond.com

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Previous WESinars

WESinar: Qualitative research in endometriosis – 21 January 2025

Moderator: Jacques Maas
Speakers: Merel Kimman, Sharon Dixon

View the Recording (Members Only)

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Previous WESinars

WESinar: Endometriosis Surgery: Tips and Tricks – 3 December 2024

Moderators: Engin Oral TUR, Taner Usta TUR
Panellist: Mario Malzoni ITA, Gaby Moawad USA, Mohamed Mabrouk UK

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Previous WESinars

WESinar: Looking for non-nociceptive components of endometriosis-associated pain – 21 November 2024

Panellists: Paul Yong, Sawsan As-Sanie, Katy Vincent
Moderator: Andrew Horne

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Previous WESinars

WESinar: Not All Patients Are The Same – An Individualized Approach To Treat Endometriosis Pain-Related Symptoms – 22 October 2024

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Previous WESinars

WESinar: Revolutionise your research using standardised tools for global collaboration – meet the innovators of EPHect – 24 September 2024

Moderator: Lone Hummelshoj
Panelists: Professor Krina Zondervan
Professor Stacey Missmer
Professor Christian Becker
Dr Mette Madsen

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Early Career Ambassador

DERIHACI Petru Razvan

Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital
Dresden, Germany

Minimally invasive gynecological surgeon and sonologist, Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, Dresden, Germany

Razvan Petru Derihaci received his medical degree from Carol Davila University in Bucharest, Romania and then completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology in Germany.

He now works in one of the largest endometriosis centers in Germany with around 1000 patients with endometriosis per year. His clinical focus is on endometriosis, fibroids and infertility, particularly in complex surgery of fibroids, uterine malformation and deep endometriosis including bowel involvement. He is also an expert in sonography for deep endometriosis.

He is a young but very experienced gynecologist with a lot of experience in endoscopy and has performed more than 2000 laparoscopies and 1500 hysteroscopies. At the age of 35, he achieved the highest certification of minimally invasive surgery in Germany (MIC III Certification) and the international GESEA MIGS Level 2 Certification.

As head of the endoscopic traning center of the Gynecologic Endoscopy Working Group (AGE) in Dresden, he organizes endoscopy training meetings twice a year and is responsible for patient recruitment, carrying out complex live surgery and organizing lectures, workshops and surgical skills.

He initiated a randomized clinical trial for the prevention of female infertility after the resection of endometrioma and is also involved in several other national and international studies for endometriosis.

He was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2024.

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Early Career Ambassador

COPE Adela

Mayo Clinic
Minnesota, USA

Dr. Adela Cope is an Assistant Professor and Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

She completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and an AAGL-accredited fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic Rochester.  She has a Postdoctoral Masters of Biomedical Science in Clinical and Translational Science with a thesis project evaluating the microbiome and immunological factors in endometriosis.  Her clinical and translational research efforts have resulted in multiple presentations at national and international conferences as well as peer-reviewed publications and videos.  She is a complex minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon in the MIGS division at Mayo Clinic Rochester where she specializes in medical and surgical management of endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain.

She is the Associate Program Director for the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program at the Mayo Clinic Rochester and is actively involved in resident and fellow education including leading didactics sessions on endometriosis, adenomyosis, and pelvic pain, and simulation sessions for excision of endometriosis.

She is involved in advocacy efforts through local patient-centered groups and was featured as an expert in endometriosis care for the Curbsiders podcast, an internal medicine-focused podcast with more than 25,000 downloads of the endometriosis episode within the first week of release.

Dr. Cope was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2024.

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