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Fetal Medicine Study Day featuring world-leading experts hosted at University College Cork
Two hundred delegates attended a Fetal Medicine Study Day delivered by world-leading experts at University College Cork (UCC) on Friday 27 September. The event was hosted by the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, in collaboration with the International Fetal Medicine & Surgery Society (IFMSS) and RCSI, with support from the Health Research Board.
Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, organiser of the Study Day, opened the event along with Professor Greg Ryan, IFMSS President, welcoming delegates and thanking the IFMSS Faculty for giving their time. The large multi-disciplinary audience included midwives, nurses, researchers, counsellors, social workers, obstetricians / gynaecologists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists, pathologists, trainees and medical students, amongst others.
Session One on Fetal Medicine featured talks from Professor Mahesh Choolani (National University of Singapore, Singapore), Professor Ken Moise (Director, Comprehensive Fetal Care Center, University of Texas at Austin, Texas) and Dr Elina Vlachodimitropoulou (Academic Consultant in MFM, Kings College Hospital, London). They presented on Screening in Pregnancy: Standards in 2024, RBC Alloimmunisation, and Fetal / Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia (F/NAIT).
Pictured L-R: Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, Professor Mahesh Choolani, Professor Greg Ryan, Dr Elina Vlachodimitropoulou and Professor Ken Moise during the Session One Q&A
Fetal Therapy was the focus of Session Two and covered a range of topics:
- Monochorionic Twin Complications: Professor Liesbeth Lewi, Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Katholieke Universiteit, UZLeuven, Belgium
- Fetal Thoracic Anomalies: Professor Glenn Gardener, Director MFM, Mater Health South Brisbane, Old Australia
- Fetal Surgery: fMMC & CDH: Professor Francois Luks, Co‐Director of Fetal Treatment Program of New England Professor of Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics, Brown University, New England, Rhode Island, USA
- Fetal Genetic Therapy: Professor Anna David, Director, EGA Institute for Women's Health, University College London, Deputy Director of Tommy’s National Centre for Preterm Birth Research, University College London.
L-R: Professor Sean Daly (Chair), Professor Anna David, Professor Glen Glenn Gardener and Professor Francois Luks pictured during the Session Two Q&A
After lunch, Session Three explored Doppler Ultrasound in Fetal Medicine, with two live scan sessions facilitated by Professor Rory Windrim (Ontario Fetal Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada) and Professor Greg Ryan (Director, Ontario Fetal Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada). Professor Ahmet Baschat, Director of the Center for Fetal Therapy at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, closed the session with a talk on Doppler in the Assessment of Fetal Wellbeing.
Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Anomalies was the focus of the fourth and final session of the day. Professor Keelin O’Donoghue opened the session with an Introduction to Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Anomaly in Ireland. Professor Femke Slaghekke, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands then discussed Counselling in Fetal Medicine. A lively panel discussion of Legislation & Clinical Practice Clinical Presentations and Complex Cases, Decision Making & Clinical Challenges closed out the event. The Session Panel included:
- Professor Femke Slaghekke, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Professor Mark Evans, Comprehensive Genetics, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, USA
- Professor Anthony Johnson, Director, Fetal Center at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
- Dr Lara Gotha, Ontario Fetal Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada
- Professor Anna David, University College London, London, UK
- Professor Peter Lindgren, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- Professor Shlomo Lipitz, Sheba Medical Centre, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, Cork University Maternity Hospital, UCC, Ireland.
Panel Session on Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Anomalies moderated by Dr Daniel Nuzum
The Fetal Medicine Study Day followed the 41st meeting of the International Fetal Medicine & Surgery Society (IFMSS) which took place at Castlemartyr, Co. Cork from 22-26 September. The 2024 meeting was organised by Professor Greg Ryan, President, IFMSS. A “hands-on” Fetal Therapy Simulation Course was also held at UCC on Friday, September 27, 2024, with 24 people taking part in the day-long course led by international experts.
Many thanks to everyone involved in making the Fetal Medicine Study Day a success –speakers, delegates, session chairs and moderators, staff at Devere Hall UCC, organisers at the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, medical students and trainees who assisted on the day, collaborators at the RCSI, and our sponsors, the Health Research Board. View social media activity from the event on Wakelet.