Additional Board Member

Angela Aguilar

Website and Digital Communication Lead
Marikina, Philippines

Professor 3 and University Scientist 1, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital

Board Member, Asian Society of Endometriosis and Adenomyosis (ASEA)
Chair, Special Interest Group for Endometriosis, Asia Pacific Initiative in Reproduction (ASPIRE)

Board Member and Treasurer, Asia Oceania Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (AOSPAG)

Advocacy Committee Member, International Federation Of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (FIGIJ)
Past President, Philippine Society for Reproductive Medicine (2021) , Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Society of the Philippines (2020), and Philippine Society for Gynecologic Endoscopy (2015-2016)
Education, Training and Certifications:
Doctor of Medicine,  University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine

Obstetric and Gynecology Residency and Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility,  Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Philippine General Hospital

Master of Science (MSc) in Reproduction and Development, University of Bristol, United Kingdom with clinical attachment at the Bristol Center for Reproductive Medicine

Master’s Degree in Business Administration (Health), Ateneo Professional Schools

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Additional Board Member

Sawsan (Suzie) As-Sanie

Membership
Ann Arbor, USA

Associate Professor (with tenure) of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, USA Director, University of Michigan. Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Programme, USA Director, University of Michigan. Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery and Fellowship, USA

Dr Sawsan As-Sanie is an associate professor at The University of Michigan, where she is a director of the Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Programme and Fellowship, and the director of the Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Programme.

Dr As-Sanie received her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1998 and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynaecology at MetroHealth Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 2002.  Following residency, she completed a three year clinical and research fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopy and Chronic Pelvic Pain at the University of North Carolina.  During this time, she also received her MPH in epidemiology from The UNC School of Public Health.

Dr As-Sanie is committed to promoting improvements in the healthcare of women with chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis by pursuing clinical and translational research in the epidemiology, physiology, and treatment of endometriosis and other pelvic pain disorders.

She is an NIH-funded clinician scientist and has published and lectured widely on the mechanisms involved in the initiation and maintenance of chronic pelvic pain and post-surgical pain, with a focus on endometriosis-associated pelvic pain.

Through collaborations with Dr Daniel Clauw and the University of Michigan Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, her team has published many of the first studies to demonstrate the role of central nervous system sensitisation in the initiation and maintenance of chronic pain in women with endometriosis-associated chronic pelvic pain, which is independent of the presence and severity of endometriosis.

These studies have shifted the paradigm in the care of women with chronic pelvic pain and have been sited extensively to explain why the degree of endometriosis does not correlate with the severity of pain symptoms. She is the principal investigator of an NIH-funded prospective observational study to identify peripheral and central nervous system factors, which may predict persistent chronic pelvic pain following hysterectomy, including the influence of chronic overlapping pain conditions on endometriosis and hysterectomy outcomes.

She is the past-president of the International Pelvic Pain Society (IPPS) and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology.  She was recently appointed to the Society of Women’s Health Research Interdisciplinary Network on Female Pelvic Health, and has worked on multiple additional national and international committees dedicated to advancing the access, knowledge, and high-value care of women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain.

Dr As-Sanie was the recipient of the 2011 Rodolphe Maheux Award for presenting the best clinical abstract at the 11th World Congress on Endometriosis.

Sawsan As-Sanie was appointed a WES Ambassador in August 2019.

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Additional Board Member

Adrienn Salamon

Global Societies Outreach
Budapest, Hungary

President, Női Egészségért Alapítvány, Hungary

A 40-year-old woman who has been living with endometriosis for the past 14 years and whose life completely changed after a 7-hour surgery. Today she is a happy wife and, thanks to IVF treatment, also the proud mother of two beautiful children: the 8-year-old Abigel Zora and the 4-year-old Zakariah Lenard.

She is also the President of the Női Egészségért Alapítvány, which is the only official NGO in Hungary to raise awareness and educate about endometriosis and support women suffering from the disorder. She has started the Foundation in 2010 after being diagnosed with endometriosis and she has been advocating for women’s health ever since. Learning to live with the disease has undoubtedly been a great challenge, but now she has made it her mission to support endometriosis patients and their families. Her driving force is her dream that not a single woman has to go through the same struggle she experienced due to endometriosis.

She and her foundation is one of the consortium partners of FEMaLe. The Finding Endometriosis using Machine Learning project (FEMaLe) will develop and demonstrate the Scalable Multi-Omics Platform that converts multi-omic person population datasets into a personalised predictive model to improve intervention along the continuum of care for people with endometriosis. They will design, validate and implement a comprehensive model for the detection and management of people with endometriosis to facilitate shared decision making between the patient and the healthcare provider, enable the delivery of precision medicine, and drive new discoveries in endometriosis treatment to deliver novel therapies and improve quality of life for patients.

Adrienn is also the organizer of the EEL Masterclass places in Budapest at the request of Dr. Attila Bokor

Two of the many great achievements of her Foundation in Hungary:

• the diagnostic delay has been reduced to 4 years in Hungary
• rules and laws have been changed in Hungary (Hungarian Endometriosis Guideline signed by the Secretary of State for Health; tax reductions for women affected by endometriosis)

She believes in the power of collaboration that “Together it’s easier”.

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Additional Board Member

Idhaliz Flores

PhD
Social Media Oversight in support of Mathew Leonardi
Ponce, Puerto Rico

Department of Basic Sciences, Department of ObGyn, Ponce Health Sciences University, Chair, Division of Women’s Health, Ponce Research Institute

Idhaliz Flores, PhD, is molecular biologist with 20 years of experience in research on Women’s health, endometriosis, pelvic pain and infertility. Dr. Flores is Professor of Basic Sciences and Ob-Gyn at Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) in Puerto Rico and Director of the Endometriosis Research Program at the Ponce Research Institute.

Her research focus includes discovery of molecular biomarkers, genetics/epigenetics, immune mechanisms, psychosocial impact, health disparities, stress and stigma associated with endometriosis.

Accomplishments of her research program including documenting epidemiological patterns, identification of potential immune diagnostic/therapeutic markers, discovery of genetic and epigenetic drugable targets, investigating central mechanisms of pain in the rat model and the HPA axis in patients, and pioneering studies of the effects of stress on disease progression, pain mechanisms, and inflammatory correlates.

Dr. Flores has received multiple NIH grants, has published over 60 scientific papers, and has mentored dozens of students in the biomedical sciences.

Dr. Flores is member of the Board of Directors of ENDOPR (Fundación Puertorriqueña de Pacientes con Endometriosis), a member of UNIENDO (an alliance of endometriosis patient associations in Latin America/Spain), Board Member of the World Endometriosis Society (WES), Co-founder and Chair of the Scientific Board of Sur 180 Therapeutics, and Chief Scientific Officer for Nura Health, a start-up company that develops non-invasive diagnostics for endometriosis.

Email: iflores@psm.edu

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Additional Board Member

Kaori Koga

MD, PhD
Global Outreach (in support of Adrienn Salamon and Luk Rombauts)
Tokyo, Japan

Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan

Kaori Koga has been the Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan since 2023.

She received her M.D. degree from Chiba University in 1996, and her Ph.D. degree from the University of Tokyo in 2003. She then worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Uterine Biology Group (Lois Salamonsen’s laboratory) at the Prince Henry’s Institute, Australia, and in the Reproductive Immunology Unit (Gil Mor’s laboratory) at Yale University. Her expertise is in the management of endometriosis, including MIS and ART. She is the author or co-author of more than 200 scientific articles published in peer-reviewed international journals.

Prof. Koga is a board member of the World Endometriosis Society and the Society of Endometriosis and Uterine Disorders, and a member of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, the American Society for Reproductive Immunology and the International Society for Immunology of Reproduction.

Email: kaorikoga@chiba-u.jp

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Additional Board Member

Ezekiel Mecha

BSc, MSc, PhD
Global Outreach (in support of Adrienn Salamon and Luk Rombauts)
Nairobi, Kenya

Reproductive Biochemist/Endocrinologist and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Nairobi; Coordinator of International Collaborations and Linakges, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Nairobi; University of Nairobi Internationalization committee

Dr. Mecha holds a PhD in Reproductive Endocrinology (Dr. Hum Biol) from Justus- Liebig University, Giessen Germany and has done two Post-Docs from the same institution. Dr Mecha has more than 30 publications in the field of endometriosis and other related reproductive conditions in peer reviewed international journals.

Dr Ezekiel Mecha is the director of Endometriosis East Africa, an organization involved in advocating for Endometriosis awareness campaigns, Progress in understanding the pathogenesis of endometriosis, different diagnostic approaches to endometriosis, treatment options of endometriosis and understanding of the Co-existence of the other uterine disorders (e.g. adenomyosis and uterine fibroids) in East Africa.

Dr. Mecha is among the founding members of Pan- African Society of Endometriosis (PASE) and currently he serves as the board member of PASE. Dr Mecha was instrumental in the formation of PASE whose inaugural congress (1st PASE Conference) took place in Cape Town, South Africa in 2025.

Dr Mecha’s research interests include identification of earlier diagnostic biomarkers of endometriosis, adenomyosis and cancer using metabolomics, proteomic and transcriptomic approaches. His research in endometriosis focusses in understanding the roles of Transforming Growth Factor betas/receptors superfamily molecules in pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Dr. Mecha is an associate editor of the Journal of Reproduction and Fertility since May 2021. Before Joining WES as a Board member in 2023, Dr. Mecha had served as the WES ambassador for two years (2021-2023). Dr Mecha has been involved in organizing a number of workshops and conferences promoting endometriosis awareness and research in Kenya and Africa. In May 2021 and June 2022, Dr. Mecha organized the inaugural 1st and 2nd East African Endometriosis Conference respectively (https://east-african-endometriosis-conference.org/ and https://east-african-endometriosis-conference.org/) which attracted participants and speakers from all over the world in the field of endometriosis whereby a number of topics covering endometriosis awareness, research and treatment were discussed. Dr. Mecha has initiated long term collaborations in endometriosis research with a number of Universities in Europe, USA and UK.

Dr Mecha has a long standing commitment in advancing endometriosis awareness and research in Africa. He has been awarded a number of grants to conduct endometriosis research and awareness campaigns in the Africa. He has also been involved in creating endometriosis awareness in Kenya through organization of meetings with the communities, endometriosis patients, gynaecologists, Kenya ministry of Health and other NGOs involved in endometriosis awareness campaigns in Kenya. He has published a number of articles in the Kenyan daily newspapers and actively given talks on endometriosis awareness in the various TV stations in Kenya. In keeping the Kenyan population to know the current status of research and management of endometriosis globally, Dr. Mecha has been organizing media interviews for WES senior members whereby they are interviewed about their research and this is published in the leading Kenyan Newspapers to reach out to the wider Kenyan population

Dr. Mecha feels that it is extremely important to have global collaborations in endometriosis research especially from the angle of metabolomics, proteomic and transcriptomic approaches. These approaches will be important in the identification of earlier diagnostic markers for endometriosis for effective therapeutic intervention. He is both an endometriosis research scientist and a great advocate for endometriosis research, awareness and better management.

Email: emecha@uonbi.ac.ke

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Additional Board Member

Marina Kvaskoff

INSERM
Villejuif, France

Epidemiologist, INSERM, France

Marina Kvaskoff is an epidemiologist and tenured scientist at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) where she is leading a research group focused on the epidemiology of endometriosis. She has close to 20 years of experience in endometriosis research and is the author of over 110 publications. She is the PI of endometriosis research in several French population cohorts and is coordinating ComPaRe-Endometriosis – a patient cohort following-up >7000 endometriosis patients in France. She has been actively involved in the research arm of the national strategy against endometriosis in France and is chairing the scientific committee of the French Foundation for Research on Endometriosis.,

She was selected as a World Endometriosis Society Early Career Ambassador in 2018 and an Early Career Board member in 2019 which she chaired between 2021 and 2023 and has launched the WES Mentoring Programme.

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Additional Board Member

Erin Greaves

University of Warwick
Warwick, United Kingdom

Assistant Professor and MRC Career Development Award Research Fellow, University of Warwick, Warwick, United Kingdom

Dr Greaves is an MRC Career Development Award Fellow and Principal Investigator and assistant professor with 12 years experience in reproductive health research. She has more than 10 published original research articles (8 in the field of endometriosis and endometrium). Dr Greaves pioneered the development of a unique mouse model of endometriosis and has implemented a number of innovative in vitro systems. She won the David Healy Award at the 13^th World Congress on Endometriosis (2017) and a New Investigator Award at the 62^nd SRI Annual Conference (2015). She has delivered invited lectures at national/international conferences as well as seminars at universities and networking events.

Dr Greaves was appointed a WES Junior Ambassador in December 2018 and serves on the Young WES Board.

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Additional Board Member

Jacques Maas

WESinars and Education Lead
Veldhoven, The Netherlands

Máxima Medical Center

Gynaecologist, sub-specialist in reproductive medicine, and principal tutor for residents, Máxima Medical Center, Veldhoven, The Netherlands

Jacques Maas studied medicine in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Thereafter he commenced research in endometriosis and wrote his thesis ‘Invasion and angiogenesis in endometriosis; experimental studies in the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane ’.

In 2007, he was registered as a gynaecologist and sub-specialist in reproductive medicine. For several years he worked at the endometriosis expertise centre of the department  of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Maastricht University Medical Centre.

Since 2011 he has worked at the woman, mother and child centre of the Máxima Medical Centre of Veldhoven. It was in this hospital that he got the opportunity to establish a multidisciplinary team for endometriosis care. Other aspects of his clinical work include endoscopic surgery, benign gynaecology, reproductive medicine, psychosomatics, and sexual medicine. His research interests focus on these aspects as well. In the field of endometriosis the main research topics are currently treatment of endometrioma, shared decision making, and pain. Jacques serves as a reviewer for national and international journals including the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Fertility and Sterility, and Human Reproduction.

Dr Maas is a co-founder of the Academy of Psychosomatics in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and co-founder and president of the SIG Endometriosis of the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He is a member of the advisory board of the Dutch Endometriosis Society, and recently a member of the Endometriosis Guideline Group of ESHRE.

Jacques Maas became a WES Ambassador in 2018

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Additional Board Member

Ertan Saridogan

WCE2027 Co-Presidents
Istanbul, Turkey

Ertan Saridogan is a Professor of Gynaecological Surgery at University College London and a Consultant in Reproductive Medicine and Minimal Access Surgery at University College London Hospitals.  He is a former President of the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy and is the current President of the European Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of Facts, Views and Vision: Journal of the European Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy. He has been a member of the ESHRE Endometriosis Guideline Development Group, and is one of the authors of the 2005, 2013 and 2022 guidelines. He has co-authored more than 170 peer-reviewed publications, edited 3 books and written more than 30 book chapters.

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