Ambassador

CHODANKAR Rohan

NHS Lothian and University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

MD MRCOG. Doctor, Specialty trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health, NHS Lothian and University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Rohan Chodankar obtained his medical degree from Goa University in 2005 and received basic training in obstetrics and gynaecology at Goa Medical College, India.  He was awarded membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG) in 2013, following which he moved to the United Kingdom. He is undertaking postgraduate training in obstetrics and gynaecology in Edinburgh.

He undertook a clinical research fellowship at the MRC Centre for Reproductive health under the supervision of Professor Hilary Critchley in 2018. His MD thesis focused on the effects of selective progesterone receptor modulators on the endometrium and the reversibility of these effects. He was also a co-investigator for a clinical trial, an industry-funded collaboration with Edinburgh University. His medical interests include chronic pelvic pain and abnormal uterine bleeding and minimal access surgery to manage these conditions. He is well-published in the field of reproductive medicine.

He is involved in the training, examination and academic supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students and specialists. He is currently the trainee representative to the RCOG academic board and the gynaecology lead for the RCOG e-Learning board. He is also an associate editor for an open-access peer-reviewed journal, Reproduction and Fertility.

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Early Career Ambassador

SHAFRIR Amy

Merrimack College
North Andover, USA

Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition and Public Health, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts, USA

Amy Shafrir, ScD is an epidemiologist with a research focus on biological markers and participant characteristics in relation to endometriosis diagnosis and persistent pelvic pain. Her current research focuses on blood and peritoneal fluid-based markers of endometriosis-related pelvic pain and the chronification of pelvic pain among patients with endometriosis, particularly among adolescents. Additionally, she is currently investigating trajectories of pelvic pain symptoms and quality of life to understand predictors of poorer health outcomes and potential areas for intervention among participants with endometriosis. Recently, Dr Shafrir has utilized qualitative methods to investigate health disparities in endometriosis particularly in relation racial and ethnic differences in reaching a diagnosis of endometriosis.

She was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2023.

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Early Career Ambassador

SCHREURS Anneke

Amsterdam University Medical Centre
Amsterdam, Netherlands

OBGYN resident and postdoctoral researcher at the Amsterdam University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Anneke Schreurs successfully defended her PhD thesis on quality of care and quality of life in women with endometriosis in June 2023. Anneke is part of the research team of multiple Dutch RCT’s on endometriosis (TUBIE, SOMA, COPIE), but also focusses on patient preferences (in ART) and alternative therapies for endometriosis (dietary interventions). In 2021 she started her residency in OBGYN with the hope of specializing in the field of endometriosis care in the future.

She was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2023.

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Early Career Board Member

Mira Mousa

BSc, MSc, PhD
Mentoring Lead
Abu Dhabi, UAE

Assistant Professor in Public Health and Epidemiology, Khalifa University

Mira is a genetic epidemiologist specializing in women’s health, diabetes, cancer, and translational medicine. Mira is leading the ‘MAR’A Project: Middle Eastern Women Research Association,’ an epidemiological study on women’s health conditions in the Middle East that aims to develop a better understanding of cultural and regional gynecological health patterns.

Mira serves as Deputy Program Manager of the Biomedical Science Discovery (BISDI) Program, and a member in the Emirati Genome Program, contributing to national efforts to enhance genomic research and precision medicine in the UAE.

Her research spans multi-omics approaches, genetic risk profiling, and genotype-phenotype mechanisms with a strong focus on reproductive health conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Email: mira.imousa@ku.ac.ae

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Early Career Ambassador

OPOKU ANANE Jessica

Columbia University Medical Center
New York, USA

Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeon at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Director of the Comprehensive Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Program and a provider in the Center for Research and Advanced Fibroid Treatment. She is also a Co-Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Department of Ob/Gyn.

Jessica Opoku-Anane obtained her medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and went on to complete her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Harvard Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals. She subsequently completed an AAGL fellowship in advanced minimally invasive gynecologic surgery at George Washington University and trained at the Center for Endometriosis Care in Atlanta. Prior to joining Columbia University in January 2022, Dr. Opoku-Anane was as an associate professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) where she served as the Chief of Minimally Invasive Gynecology and Urogynecology and founder and Director of the UCSF Multidisciplinary Endometriosis Center.

In addition to her clinical activities, she has been active in research and spent two years with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) both locally and in sub-Saharan Africa. Her more recent research includes a randomized control trial to test the ability of antifibrinolytics to decrease blood loss during myomectomy, a study accessing cancer associated mutations in deep endometriosis, and several studies on health equity among historically marginalized patients with endometriosis.  Additionally, she directs the Community Outreach and Education Core for the UCSF-Stanford P01 Endometriosis Center for Discovery, Innovation, Training and Community Engagement (“ENACT”). This Core trains and mentors new investigators in endometriosis research and empowers people with endometriosis to understand their symptoms and options for care and to inform the research community, from the patient’s perspective, about their needs and goals.  Dr. Opoku-Anane also has a longstanding interest in global health and spends extended periods of time throughout Africa on clinical and research programs. She has published a systematic review article on increasing laparoscopic surgery in developing countries and assists with the development of laparoscopic programs throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

She was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2023.

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Early Career Ambassador

HARRIS Holly

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Seattle, USA

Associate Professor, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, USA

Holly Harris is an epidemiologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center with expertise in nutrition, gynecologic conditions, and female cancers, with a particular interest in endometriosis. Since receiving a MPH from the University of Southern California and a ScD from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, her work has focused on dietary factors and endometriosis as well as the co-occurrence of endometriosis and other conditions (e.g., autoimmune conditions, ovarian cancer). Much of her research has used the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII) prospective cohort. In addition, Dr. Harris is currently leading a NIH-funded randomized intervention study to examine the impact of diet on pain and quality of life among people with endometriosis.

She was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2023.

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Early Career Board Member

Tatjana Gibbons

WESinar/ Educational materials
Oxford, United Kingdom

Clinician and DPhil student at the Nuffield Department of Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

Tatjana Gibbons holds an MBBS (2019) and BSc in Reproductive medicine (2017) both from Imperial College London. In 2021, she embarked on a DPhil programme with the renowned Endometriosis CaRe Centre at the University of Oxford, where she is leading a clinical study investigating novel non-invasive imaging tests for endometriosis.

As a Cochrane author, Dr Gibbons has contributed to several reproductive medicine publications. Currently she is the co-first author of the first-ever network meta-analysis comparing and ranking all available treatments for endometriosis. This research aims to facilitate evidence-based clinical decision-making and guidelines in the field. Moreover, currently she is collaborating with the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART) on the first scoping review to assess global endometriosis policy, delivery systems and rights.

She was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2023.

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Early Career Ambassador

DE SILVA Praveen

North Shore Hospital
Auckland, New Zealand

Clinical Lead of Endometriosis and Minimally Invasive Surgery Waitemata Health District, Auckland

Praveen is an Endometriosis specialist and completed an AGES Surgical Fellowship through Sydney Women’s Endosurgery Centre. He is an active member of AGES and FRANZCOG and has given lectures on pelvic pain, nerve blocks and robotic surgery at their scientific meetings.

He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery through the University of Otago in New Zealand. He has additionally completed a postgraduate thesis in medical cost effectiveness, for which he received first class honours. More recently Praveen has been the principal investigator in a published randomised controlled trial investigating post-operative pain control using a hypogastric nerve block. He continues to have research interests in pelvic pain and regularly collaborates with colleagues in Australia and the Middle East.

He was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2023.

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Early Career Ambassador

EVANS Devon

University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Canada

Assistant professor at the University of Manitoba. Head of the University’s Section of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS)

Devon Evans is a gynaecologist with fellowship training in MIGS. He is passionate about the provision of high-quality, comprehensive care to people with endometriosis/adenomyosis and pelvic pain and opened the Section of MIGS as well as the Saint Boniface Hospital Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis clinic to coordinate care and advocate for a historically under-serviced population. He completed his MPH at the Harvard Chan School for Public health and is involved in research collaborations with the team at the Boston Center for Endometriosis, the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS), and the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART).

He is also an active member of the Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Canada (SOGC) clinical practice guideline committee and was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2023.

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Previous WESinars

WESinar: Understanding the Endometriosis Diagnostics and How to Address Pain-Related Treatment – an Updated View – 20 June 2024

The World Endometriosis Society mission is to advance evidence-based standards and innovations for education, advocacy, clinical care, and research in endometriosis and adenomyosis.

As part of this goal, we are proud to announce our next WESinar.

View the Recording (Members Only)

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