Program

Ranee Thakar

Ranee Thakar is a Subspecialist in Urogynaecology and Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Croydon University Hospital as well as a honorary senior lecturer at St George's University of London. She completed her basic medical training in India prior to moving to the UK. She obtained her MRCOG degree in 1994. Subsequently she took up a research post in St George's Hospital and Medical School. The research involved studying bowel, bladder and sexual function following hysterectomy. This led to a landmark paper which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and to a Doctorate (MD) from the University of London. During 1999 to 2001 she was a subspecialty trainee in urogynaecology under the auspices of Professor Stuart Stanton.

She is the immediate Past President of the International Urogynaecological Association (IUGA) and the South Asia Fellows representative of the RCOG council. She has previously served as the Honorary Secretary of the British Society of Urogynaecology (BSUG) and the chair of the education committee of IUGA.

She is a consultant in a busy tertiary referral urogynaecology department at Croydon University Hospital, with a large clinical workload, dealing with complex urogynaecological problems, teaching medical students, training junior doctors and undertaking clinical research. Her publications include many original papers in peer review journals and chapters in books. The Croydon continence team was awarded The UK Continence Team of the year in 2005. Ranee Thakar is actively involved in the conservative and surgical management of pelvic floor disorders (bowel and bladder incontinence, prolapse and sexual dysfunction).

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Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent

Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent has vast experience in healthcare provision. She is a registered nurse and midwife and is the Chief Midwifery Officer for the NHS in England. She is one of two National Maternity Safety Champions, visiting Professor of Midwifery at Kings College London and
London South Bank University. Jacqueline has held senior positions in clinical practice, education, leadership and management including: Consultant Midwife, Director of Midwifery and Nursing positions for Women’s and Children’s services at Imperial College Healthcare and Trust & Guy’s
Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
Academic roles have included: Senior Lecturer, Curriculum Leader, LME and Professor of Midwifery.  Her experience has seen her leading and influencing national maternity standards and guidance. She also influences healthcare nationally and internationally through, education and publications and is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences. She is a member of Tommy’s Charity National Advisory Board as Midwifery advisor, Women of the Year management committee. Her voluntary work currently includes Midwifery Ambassador for the ‘Saying Goodbye’ charity and trustee for the RCN Foundation.  In 2020, she has been noted as the HSJ80, one of the influential people in health and the 2020 HSJ’s BAME List, which comprises of the 50 most influential individuals health care. She also received the HSJ, BME Pioneers and she was selected from over 100 nominations for inclusion on the Nursing Times’ Leaders 2015 list that celebrates nurses and midwives who are pioneers, entrepreneurs
inspirational role models in their profession.

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Luce Brett

Luce Brett is a UK based author, public speaker and patient advocate and campaigner. PMSL is her first book. She wrote it to highlight the patient experience in urogynaecology, and related areas, to challenge stigma, untruths and taboo around this area of healthcare, and to explore the wider social, political, comic, scientific, emotional, economic impacts.

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Dudley Robinson

Dudley Robinson trained at the Royal London Hospital qualifying with MBBS in 1991. Throughout his training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology he has worked in and around London prior to undertaking a 3 year research fellowship with Professor Linda Cardozo in the Department of Urogynaecology at Kings College Hospital, London.

He has published widely in the field of urogynaecology and research interests include the effect of hormones and drugs on the lower urinary tract. His MD thesis at the University of London is entitled ‘Anti-diuresis in the management of daytime urinary incontinence’ and investigated the use of desmopressin nasal spray as a ‘designer drug’ for women with daytime urinary incontinence.

Subsequently he completed a two-year sub-specialty training programme in Urogynaecology at Kings and was appointed as a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with a subspecialty interest in Urogynaecology at Kings College Hospital in July 2005.

He continues to have an active role in research in lower urinary tract dysfunction within the department and supervises a subspecialty trainee and two research fellows. Currently he is Research and Development Lead in Women’s Services at Kings College Hospital.

In addition he has an active role teaching both undergraduates and post graduates.
He regularly gives invited lectures both nationally and internationally and is a section editor of the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology and on the editorial board of the International Urogynaecology Journal and Case Reports in Women’s Health.

He has published over 130 peer review papers, 90 published abstracts and 37 book chapters. In addition he has co-authored two books on urinary incontinence.

He was appointed as honorary senior lecturer at Kings College London in 2009 and as a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 2010. He was President of the Royal Society of Medicine Obstetrics and Gynaecology Section in 2017 -2018.

He is also a member of the International Continence Society (ICS), British Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (BSCCP), UK Continence Society (UKCS), British Society of Urogynaecology (BSUG) and International Urogynaecology Association (IUGA) and European Urogynaecology Association (EUGA). He is a Committee Chair of the International Consultation on Incontinence (ICI) and the International Urogynaecology Consultation (IUC).

He is the past Treasurer of UKCS, past Scientific Chair of IUGA and past Trustee in ICS. Currently he is IUGA Secretary, Research Committee Chair of BSUG, and co-chair of the Educational Committee in EUGA.

In addition he was the Abstract Chair for the RCOG Global Conference in London in 2019 and the co-chair of the RCOG Virtual Global Congress in 2021.

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Daila Saidan

I am a consultant subspecialist Urogynaecologist working at Croydon University Hospital. I did general O&G training in the North East and my subspecialist training in Glasgow, before moving to London for my consultant job. As well as my work in the NHS, I am passionate about Global Health and I have been involved in obstetric fistula and FGM prevention projects. I enjoy teaching and have taught at home and abroad.

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Sacha Newman

Sacha trained as a registered nurse St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London in 1995. She has worked in the field of Urogynaecology since 2009 and has experience in both the hospital and community settings. She is currently the Lead Urogynaecology Nurse at Kingston Hospital. Sacha is an independent prescriber, gained a BSc Hons in Women’s Health in 2014 then went on to complete an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice in 2021, both from Kings College London. Her clinical role involves running nurse-led clinics for pelvic floor dysfunction, including diagnosis and treatment for pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence, urinary tract infection and bladder pain. She is works closely with the maternity department and is active in producing guidelines and protocols. She is passionate about teaching and has developed a training and competency programme for Urogynaecology nurse specialists.

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Hedwig Neels, MSc, MPT, PhD

Hedwig Neels is a physiotherapist with a PhD in women’s pelvic health. She is specialised in pelvic floor rehabilitation,  perinatal physiotherapy and in manual therapy. She combines scientific research, education in physiotherapy and clinical work at the Antwerp University (Hospital), Belgium. Hedwig is a committed member and ambassador in several committees and special interest groups of  the international Urogynecological Association IUGA and national associations in Belgium. She was a visiting scholar at Sydney University in 2019, and since then has been working with 3D/4D transperineal ultrasound with a strong passion to improve the prevention of pelvic floor dysfunction in women.  

https://www.uantwerpen.be/nl/personeel/hedwig-neels/

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Professor Debra Bick

Debra Bick is Professor of Clinical Trials in Maternal Health at Warwick Clinical Trials Unit and Deputy Pro Dean for Research at Warwick Medical School. Her research has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research, Department for International Development, The Health Foundation and Burdett Trust for Nursing. She is currently leading research on women’s and clinicians’ views and experiences of postnatal care following hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, a multi-centre cohort study of postnatal morbidity, postnatal weight management for women who had higher BMIs at pregnancy commencement, pathways for women with medically complex pregnancies, breastfeeding as an early intervention to prevent child obesity and midwifery training to support women to perform pelvic floor muscle exercises in pregnancy to prevent postnatal urinary incontinence.  In addition to leading research as a chief investigator, Debra is collaborating with colleagues on several large multi-centre trials and programme grants for applied research.

Debra is lead and/or co-author of systematic reviews for the Cochrane Library and Joanna Briggs Institute. She is Chair of the RCOG Intrapartum Clinical Studies Group, a steering group member of the NIHR 70@70 programme to support senior nurse and midwife research leadership, a member of the NIHR Health Services Delivery and Research Priorities Committee and independent panel member of the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit.  She is currently supervising several PhD students funded by NIHR fellowships and midwives awarded NIHR pre-doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowships. Debra has contributed to major policy reviews of maternity care in the UK and internationally, and guidelines developed by NICE and the WHO.  She was awarded an OBE for her services to midwifery in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020.

  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

@DebraBick

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Sushma Srikrishna

Miss Sushma Srikrishna is a Consultant Gynaecologist, subspecialty trained in Urogynaecology. She brings over 20 years’ experience as a Gynaecologist to benefit her patients. Sushma qualified MBBS in 1993 and MD in 1998, obtaining a higher degree in research as well as subspecialist accreditation in Urogynaecology in 2010. She is a member of the British Society of Urogynaecology, the International Continence Society and the International Urogynaecology Association. Her  NHS base is King's College Hospital, London, which is widely recognised as one of the premier Urogynaecology institutions worldwide.  

Sushma offers comprehensive treatment, non-surgical and surgical, for all forms of urinary incontinence, urogenital prolapse and other conditions such as recurrent urinary tract infections. She also specialises in post childbirth pelvic floor problems as well as issues surrounding painful sexual intercourse and menstrual problems.  

She strongly believes in non-surgical treatment as the first option and has close links with specialised women's health physiotherapists to offers pelvic floor rehabilitation and bladder retraining as first line therapy. However, where indicated, she provides a comprehensive range of surgical options, striving to be as minimally invasive as possible allowing a short hospital stay with quick return to normal life and activity. 

She has published widely in the field of Urogynaecology and presented in several regional, national and international meetings. Sushma firmly believes in a holistic approach to pelvic floor problems, looking at all aspects of care, including the psychological impact of pelvic floor problems. Her main interest is in the research related to achievement of patient orientated goals in pelvic floor dysfunction surgery. 

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Dr. Angie Rantell, PhD, RCN ALNP

Angie has been working in the Urogynaecology Department at King’s College Hospital since 2007 and is currently the lead nurse / nurse cystoscopist.  She is actively involved in research and was awarded a PhD in Urogynaecology in 2019 investigating sexual function in women with overactive bladder.  In 2019 Angie was also awarded RCN credentialing for advanced level nursing practice.

To date she has published over 45 articles in peer reviewed journals and has written book chapters and contributed to National guidelines.  As well as her clinical and research activities she provides advice to governmental bodies including NHS England and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG’s) throughout the UK.  She is the current chair of the Nursing and Midwifery special interest group within IUGA. 

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Ahmed Kamel

I completed my training rotating in two deaneries, London and East of England where I gained all medical, clinical and surgical expertise of both regions. I secured a consultant post in Croydon university hospital NHS trust. I developed special interest in treating various vulval conditions. Shortly after, I have created the vulval specialised services in our trust which I am currently leading. My approach to diagnosis and management of vulval condition is via multidisciplinary holistic care where the expertise of gynaecology, dermatology, genitourinary, physiotherapy, psychosexual, pain teams, support groups, local and national community all unite together in harmony to treat and support our patients.

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Professor Bob Freeman

Consultant in Urogynaecology University Hospitals Plymouth, and Hon Professor Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry.

Bob qualified in medicine from Dundee University in 1977 and then while working in Urology there researched the psychological aspects of overactive bladder for which he obtained his MD degree. He then worked at St George’s and Queen Charlotte’s/Chelsea Hospital for Women in London in the early 1980’s.

As a consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology In Plymouth he has set up a clinical and research Urogynaecology unit which has studied clinically important issues including the prevention of postpartum stress incontinence, the complications of incontinence surgery, the reasons for failure of prolapse surgery and the effects of weight loss on urinary incontinence. The unit is an RCOG approved centre for subspecialty training and is BSUG accredited.

Several team members have obtained MD’s and a PhD from Plymouth University and as a result of his supervision and work Bob was awarded an Honorary Professorship.

He, with others, raised concern about the rising incidence of OASI and helped the RCOG and RCM produce a ‘Care Bundle’ for prevention which was piloted in 16 centres with good results. Following this he helped set up a new collaborative group to identify women at-risk of obstetric pelvic floor dysfunction and was initially involved with the UR-CHOICE risk assessment.

He is a co-inventor of the Episcissors-60 which were developed in Plymouth.

Bob was a scientific editor for the International Urogynecology Journal and before that for the BJOG.

He helped form the British Society of Urogynaecology as founding Secretary in 2001, and subsequently became Chairman.

He was elected Vice-President of the International Urogynecological Association (IUGA) by its members in 2013, became President in 2015 and completed his term on the Board last year.

He is now education chairman for the MASIC Foundation helping to promote prevention of childbirth trauma and its consequences.

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Memuna Sowe

Memuna Sowe is a specialist Midwife for Vulnerable and marginalised women, caseloading Asylum seekers and homeless population in Croydon.

Memuna currently works as the lead midwife at one of the first specialised female genital mutilation (FGM) clinics in England, Calabash Clinic in Croydon. They are part of a network of similar clinics that exist across the country working with non pregnant women to assess the type of FGM they’ve had and to make sure they get the further care they need – whether physical, psychological or otherwise.

Memuna also received the Chief Midwifery Officer Gold Award 2020 and the BJM Midwife of the year 2018 award.

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Christie Coho

Christie Coho is dedicated to increasing social justice for individuals and wider society. As a BABCP accredited and qualified EMDR psychotherapist, she currently provides therapy in several FGM/C clinics and NHS trauma therapy services as well as in private practice. Christie also provides clinical supervision and reflective practice facilitation with therapists and also with non-clinical staff at community-based organisations. Compassion and professionalism in equal measure are the key notes of her approach.    

In addition Christie has been a mental health social worker for over 20 years; many of these involved developing local and county-wide networks for youths struggling to transition into adulthood, whilst providing case management, therapy and education to youths and their families. She holds a Masters in Social Work and is a former National Chair/Co-chair of the progressive Social Welfare Action Alliance.  

Christie has a long history of voluntary work using both her professional training and passion for people’s well-being. For many years she has volunteered with charities working to improve the lives of people who are homeless and/or refugees; advocating for social change and peace; and reducing the impacts of violence, on women in particular. She is currently a volunteer Home Visitor for Refugees at Home.  

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Ellie Stewart

Clinical Nurse Specialist- Urogynaecology and Gynaecology Matron

Ellie trained as a registered nurse at St Bartholomews Hospital in London in 1993. Since qualifying she has nursed predominantly in the fields of urology and gynaecology. She has a keen interest in womens health and is on the RCN Womens Health steering committee.

She worked at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust as a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) in Urogynaecology for 15 years gaining significant experience in this area during that time. She is a nurse prescriber, undertakes independent urodynamics, runs the nurse-led part of the botox service, provides assessment and pessary fitting and support to those presenting with pelvic floor dysfunction. She also provides a link with the maternity department for bladder care. Ellie writes for the nursing press and speaks regularly on courses and education sessions nationally and internationally.

Ellie currently works as a CNS in Urogynaecology and has taken on the role of gynaecology matron at the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in Bury St Edmunds Suffolk.

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Elizabeth Bailey

I started as a clinical midwife after qualifying in 2004. I greatly enjoyed midwifery practice and became interested in data and improvement through supporting audit and project work, both in hospital and community midwifery settings. My first research job was recruiting women into a clinical trial for a new drug to delay preterm labour. This was a steep learning curve and I continued to support CRN portfolio studies as a clinical research midwife. During this time, I became interested in the physiology of contractions and preterm birth and was successful in securing a PhD Fellowship. My Phd study was on the physiology of contractions with a view to developing therapeutic targets for the prevention of pre-term birth and the treatment of post-partum haemorrhage. The study of this topic evolved from a motivation to support the women I had cared for in pre-term labour, and the emotional burden that comes with pre-term birth, a condition which is not declining, and which is subject to ongoing health inequalities. Following my PhD studies, I took up a Midwife Research Fellow post at Imperial College Healthcare Trust and then UHCW NHS Trust/Coventry University. Since working in my most recent role I have had the opportunity to supervise other midwives undertaking their own research projects and doctoral studies. I would say being able to support the interests and careers of others in this way continues to be a source of greatest professional satisfaction.

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Katherine Clark

Katherine Clark is a midwife researcher with interests in renal and hypertension disorders in pregnancy, particularly acute kidney injury.  A Kidney Research UK Stoneygate Allied Health Professionals Fellowship funds her current research, and she is a PhD student at King’s College London.  She is an NIHR 70@70 Senior Midwifery Research Leader at King’s College Hospital focused on promoting culture and opportunities that support nurses and midwives to undertake their own research. 

Katherine is a member of the Rare Renal Disease Registry (RaDaR) Pregnancy and CKD Study Group and was on the Renal Association guidelines committee for the Renal Disease in Pregnancy guidelines.  Katherine is active on twitter as @renalmidwife.

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Professor Bary Berghmans, PhD MSc RPT

Bary is a clinical epidemiologist, health scientist, and pelvic physiotherapist. He is an Associate professor and head of research at the Pelvic care Center in Maastricht, The Netherlands. He also works with the Department of Urology, MUMC and the Department of Epidemiology, FHML. At Maastricht University, he is a Co-promotor of PhD students and project leader for PhD projects. He is also a visiting professor at University of Campinas, Department of Surgery, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil and at Faculdade Inspirar in Brazil.

 

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Gillian McCabe

Hi! I'm Gillian, I qualified as a physiotherapist at the University of the West of England, Bristol in 2004, and then worked in the NHS in Cardiff & Vale University Health Board. From 2006, I specialised in Pelvic Health Physiotherapy, working with the team in the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. In 2015, I gained an MSc in Pelvic Health Physiotherapy from the University of Bradford. In 2017, I decided to leave the NHS to focus my energy on establishing my private physiotherapy clinic in Cardiff. I provide specialist physiotherapy services for women of any age who are experiencing, or are concerned about, pelvic health problems such as incontinence, prolapse and pain. I have also created the RE-CORE-NECT series of online courses, designed to help women reconnect with their bodies and take them on a journey to better pelvic health.

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Wendy Ness

Wendy Ness has been a Colorectal Nurse Specialist within Croydon’s award winning integrated continence service since 1999 and her clinical role involves running nurse led clinics for patients with complex pelvic floor disorders and bowel dysfunction. Care pathways for these patients include neuromodulation, electrical stimulation, PTNS, rectal irrigation, biofeedback and behavioural interventions.

She works closely with a variety of consultants from many specialities which includes Urogynaecology, Colorectal, Gastroenterology and Neurology. She co-ordinates 2 joint pelvic floor clinics a month where patients with both bladder and bowel dysfunction are seen by a Urogynaecology and Colorectal consultant which reduces clinic visits and if they require surgery for both problems this is carried out jointly. Her role also involves managing the busy continence and pelvic floor service, running courses on constipation including DRE and DRF locally and nationally. She presents at national and international conferences on bowel dysfunction and writes for the nursing press. She obtained her MSc in Health Studies in 2005.

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Cathy Davis

Cathy is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Urogynaecology working in Kings College Hospital, London. She trained in Ireland and once qualified moved to the UK in 2011. She began her career working on the gynaecology ward. Two years later she went on to become the lead nurse of the Gynae Ambulatory service coordinating clinics and carrying out minor procedures. She also ran a Hyperemesis outpatient service. Having gained management experience she went on to become a CNS in Urogynae and has been in post for over 4 years. Her role involves patient assessment, diagnostics and management. She has published in nursing journals and has presented nurse-led research at national and international level. She also contributes regularly to educational events. Her qualifications include BSc (Hons) in Nursing Studies, Certificate in Gynaecology Nursing, Certificate in Urodynamics, Certificate in Basics of Sexual Health, and she is  GCP trained.

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Maura Seleme PT, PhD

Maura is the Coordinator in the Specialization in Pelvic Floor Dysfunctions for Physiotherapists in Brazil  - Faculdade Inspirar, and the Director of abafi- HOLLAND and abafi – BRASIL. She is also the Project leader – Aplication iPelvis and has served as the IUGA Chair SIG Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation since 2020. Maura is a pelvic physiotherapist in Brazil, France and Netherlands.

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John O. L. Delancey, MD

John O. L. DeLancey, MD is the Norman F. Miller Professor of Gynecology and Professor of Urology at the University of Michigan.  Dr. DeLancey has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine and named an Honorary Fellow ad eundem in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for pioneering work in advanced imaging and biomechanics that has elucidated basic mechanisms of pelvic floor disorders.  He has published over 240 scientific articles, received over $20 million in NIH funding and lectured in over 30 countries on 5 continents.  A former President of the American Urogynecologic Society and the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, he has an active surgical practice for complex and refractory pelvic floor problems and is listed in Best Doctors in America and received Marquis Who’s Who in the World Life-time Achievement Award.

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Suzanne Hagen

I am a researcher with an international reputation in systematic reviewing, trials and outcome measure development, particularly in relation to the interventions provided by nurses and allied health professionals. I have a long-standing interest in the conservative management of pelvic floor disorders such as incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. My research experience has been gained over 30 years working in the NHS and academia as a chartered statistician and health services researcher. I am lead author of the Cochrane systematic review on the evidence for conservative management of prolapse, co-author on the International Consultation on Incontinence adult conservative management chapter (2004-2020) and was Chief Investigator of the POPPY and OPAL trials.  My PhD focused on the clinical application of repeated measures statistical models in a study of women with urinary incontinence.

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Chantale Dumoulin

Chantale Dumoulin is a Professor at the School of Rehabilitation, University of Montreal, where she developed and currently direct the only post-graduate university-based pelvic floor rehabilitation program for physiotherapists in Canada. Concurrent to this, she is a published researcher, specializing in pelvic floor dysfunctions, with the Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montreal and as the holder of the Canadian Research Chair on Urogynecological Health and Aging. Earlier this year, she became a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Science. Finally, she still is a practicing physiotherapist specialized in pelvic floor dysfunction, a key influence informing her patient-oriented research.

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Anna Clements

Anna Clements is The MASIC Foundation’s Administration-Coordinator and a mother of three children.

Anna received 4^th degree tears after the birth of her third child in 2008. The injury was picked up immediately after the birth of her daughter and she was taken to theatre for the repair. A Sacral Nerve Stimulator (SNS) was implanted after many invasive tests found that the muscles were not responding to any other treatments. The stimulator works at around 60%, so to manage her symptoms she uses a daily balloon irrigation system, pelvic floor exercises, exercise, mindfulness and is on a Low FODMAP Diet.

Anna started to work for The MASIC Foundation in January 2020, she is dedicated to supporting women and their families with birth injuries. Recently she has started to co-apply for research grants to increase knowledge within the primary care settings about the devastating impact that these injuries have on a woman’s life, both physically and psychologically. She is passionate about finding ways for women to cope with the taboo disability and helping to bring awareness to a mainstream audience.

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Fred Milani

Fred Milani is Subspecialist in Urogynecology and has worked in the Reinier de Graaf Hospital, Delft, Netherlands. He completed his medical training at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. His first professional experience was as a Medical Officer at a rural hospital in Tanzania, East Africa, for 4 years. After returning to Europe, he started his training in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Erasmus University Medical Hospital and was registered as consultant gynecologist in 1993. During the last part of his training, he wrote his first medical paper on a urogynecological subject together with professor Mark Vierhout, who has inspired him to further focus on Urogynecology. Later in his professional career he became more passionate in urogynecological research and wrote his PhD thesis: ‘Optimizing Outcomes of vaginal prolapse Surgery with and without Mesh’. He has since written various papers on the subject and was selected to be an external expert for SCENIHR to contribute to a report on the safety of urogynecological meshes for the European Commission. He has been actively involved in the Dutch Urogynecological Research Consortium, has been secretary and chair of the Dutch Pelvic Floor Society, member and chair of the Scientific Committee of IUGA and is at present elected Vice President of IUGA, and is passionate about improving skills and the worldwide scientific spread of knowledge in Urogynecology.

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Jonathan van Dellen- MBBS MD (Res) FRCS (Gen)

Jonathan is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at Croydon University Hospital with a special interest in pelvic floor disorders. He trained in the South West London and Surrey area and has undertaken research towards a thesis in the field of perioperative care and Enhanced Recovery After Surgery at King’s College London, publishing and presenting his work both nationally and internationally. He completed a year fellowship at St. Thomas’ Hospital undertaking subspecialty training in pelvic floor disorders, inflammatory bowel disease and locally advanced and recurrent pelvic cancers.

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Paula Igualada- Martinez

Ms Paula Igualada-Martinez initially trained as a Physiotherapist in Spain (1995-1998) and qualified in 2000 with a BSc degree in Physiotherapy at Manchester University. In 2011, she completed her master’s degree in Women’s Health Physiotherapy at Oxford Brookes University. 

Since graduation she has worked in various hospitals across the UK. Since 2007 she has been the Lead for the women’s and men’s health physiotherapy service at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (London). This has allowed her to work with the urology, urogynaecology and colorectal teams giving her a great insight into the advanced assessment and treatment of pelvic floor related disorders. She is a member of the International Continence Society Physiotherapy and the Education Committees. Her main research interest is the effect of physiotherapy on pelvic floor dysfunction following childbirth.

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Sara Webb

Sara was appointed Specialist Midwife – Perineal Trauma, Birmingham Women’s Hospital, in 2004, developing both the service and midwife specialism in this area.  Sara specialises in childbirth related perinea trauma with a special interest in obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASI).  Awarded an NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship then PhD in 2017 into the effect of subsequent birth for women with previous OASI.  Sara is a Fellow of the RCM Midwives - awarded for her contribution to research and evidence based care into childbirth related perineal trauma - midwifery advisory member of the RCOG Pelvic Floor Clinical Skills Group and a founding Trustee of the MASIC Foundation.  Sara is also is a lead researcher for ARC-WM Maternity and established the UK Specialist Perineal Midwife network.  Sara has now joined the RCM as Head of Midwifery Information and Research Services but remains an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham.

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Adelaide Aduboffour

Adelaide is currently a senior midwifery lecturer at University of West London. Alongside her role as a lecturer, she is also the Perineal Specialist Midwife at West Middlesex Hospital. She established a successful and thriving perineal clinic in 2014, to provide care and treatment for women struggling with perineal trauma complications following childbirth. She also set up Peri Health London in 2015, to provide perineal suturing training for midwives, student midwives and junior doctors. The programme, which attracts national and international delegates, has been accredited by CPD certification service, Royal College of Midwives UK, and the Midwifery Accreditation board USA. Peri Health has recently been awarded the most innovative in perineal trauma training in 2020 by Southern Enterprise Awards UK. Adelaide is an advisory group member for the OASI2 project. 

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Adanna Okeahialam

Adanna Okeahialam obtained her medical degree at the University of Birmingham. Currently she is a Urogynaecology Clinical Research Fellow at Croydon University Hospital (CUH), London, United Kingdom. Under the supervision of Mr. Sultan and Miss. Thakar she is currently conducting research on Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries and perineal wound infection. In addition, she is gaining clinical experience in urogynecology, working at the highly specialised Pelvic Floor & Reconstruction Unit at CUH.

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Jilly Bond

Jilly Bond is a pelvic health Physiotherapist based in Wales, UK, with a specialist interest in pelvic pain.

After nearly a decade in the NHS she led a private hospital pelvic health service and then developed her own clinic.  She received her masters degree in pelvic health physiotherapy in 2017, looking at self-efficacy in pelvic floor treatment. Her research interests include understanding neurocentric treatment mechanisms in visceral pain and somatoperceptual distortions.

She has sat on both the executive committee for the UK Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy specialist interest group, the POGP Journal committee, is a regular speaker at international conferences, runs live and online professional development courses for physios and her Youtube channel has free resources for patients and clinicians. If you're interested in pelvic pain she'd love to hear from you. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Lori Forner, BScH, MPhtySt, PhD Candidate, APAM

Lori is a private practice physiotherapist working in the field of pelvic health. She has degrees in science and physiotherapy and has worked as an exercise physiologist and physiotherapist in musculoskeletal private practice clinics for the past 20 years. Her clinical interests are in treating complex persistent pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction in exercise and sport. Along with loving the time she spends with her family and engaging in exercise herself, she produces and interviews academics and experts for The Pelvic Health Podcast, is an invited conference speaker, and a casual lecturer at The University of Queensland, She is currently working on her PhD with the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland where she is using transperineal ultrasound to investigate the effects of heavy weight lifting on pelvic organ support.

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Abdul Sultan

Abdul Sultan is a Consultant Obstetrician and UroGynaecologist with a special interest in  Pelvic Floor and Anal Sphincter Dysfunction at Croydon University Hospital, London and is a Honorary Reader at St George’s University of London. He completed his postgraduate training at St George’s Hospital with Professor Stuart Stanton. His research at St Mark’s and the Homerton Hospital involved studying the effects of childbirth on the anal sphincters. This led to a landmark paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine and to a Doctorate. His pioneering work highlighted the deficiencies in training of doctors and midwives in detecting and repairing obstetric injuries to the anal sphincter.

He is the co-director of a tertiary referral urogynaecology Unit at Croydon University Hospital with subspecialty training and has an active research programme. He has over 200 publications in journals and textbook chapters. He has co-produced the first comprehensive textbook on perineal and anal sphincter trauma and is the co director of the popular Perineal Trauma and Pelvic Floor Ultrasound courses.

He was awarded the prestigious overall “UK Hospital Doctor of the Year” award and is the past President of the Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine.

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