Expert group members

The HFEA has set up an Expert group to lead the evidence gathering part of the multiple births and embryo transfer review.

The role of the Expert group is to:

examine the incidence and impact of multiple births
understand the experience of single embryo transfer in other countries and its impact upon success rates and multiple birth rates
consider the availability of NHS funding for IVF in the UK and how funding might affect the implementation of policies to reduce multiple births and review the presentation of success rates and multiple birth rates in HFEA literature.
The group meets every two months and is expected to conclude the project and make recommendations to the HFEA in autumn 2006.

> More information about the Expert group meetings

Members of the group

The membership of the Expert group is broad-based and includes representatives from clinical IVF, embryology, the patient perspective, data collection, multiple births, neonatology and NHS commissioning. The members are as follows:

Chair

Professor Peter Braude - Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists

Members

Mr Sam Abdalla - The Lister Hospital / HFEA member
Professor David Barlow - University of Glasgow / HFEA member
Dr Siladitya Bhattacharya - University of Aberdeen
Kate Brian - Patient perspective
Clare Brown - Infertility Network UK / HFEA member
Jane Denton - Multiple Births Foundation
Dr Alun Elias-Jones - Leicester Royal Infirmary
Dr Jan Gerris - Middelheim Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium
Dr Patricia Hamilton - Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health
Helen Kendrew - British Fertility Society
Professor Bill Ledger - University of Sheffield
Dr Brian Lieberman - St Mary's Hospital, Manchester
Dr Dave Morroll - Association of Clinical Embryologists
Professor Karl Nygren - Sofiahemmet Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
Dr Claire O'Donnell - Cheshire and Merseyside Primary Care Trust
Member Biographies

Professor Peter Braude
Peter Braude is Head of the Department of Women's Health, part of the Division of Reproduction, Endocrinology and Development at King's College London. He directs the Centre for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, which is the most active and successful of the HFEA licensed programmes in the UK. He was member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority from 1999 to 2004, and is now chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Mr Sam Abdalla
Sam Abdalla is Clinical Director of the Lister Fertility Clinic at The Lister Hospital, London, one of the largest fertility centres in the country. In addition to his IVF work, he is a highly experienced gynaecological laparoscopic surgeon. Sam has published and lectured widely both nationally and internationally and he is a regular participant in the education of postgraduate students. Before becoming a member of the HFEA in 2005 he was for six years a member of the Executive Committee of the British Fertility Society. He has a keen interest in medical ethics and contributes to the debate regarding the ethical aspects of assisted conception treatment.

Professor David Barlow
David Barlow is Executive Dean of Medicine and professor of Reproductive Medicine at the University of Glasgow. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Human Reproduction and was leader of the Guideline Development Group for the NICE fertility guideline published in 2004. Other roles include the Chairmanship of the MRC Stem Cell Bank Clinical Liaison Committee and Vice-President of the European Menopause and Andropause Society. He has been a member of the HFEA since 1998.

Dr Siladitya Bhattacharya
Siladitya Bhattacharya is honorary consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology and sub-specialist in reproductive medicine at Aberdeen University. He is in his fourth year of a Wellcome Trust Research Leave Award, and his research interests include reproductive epidemiology, evaluation of interventions in subfertilty, and implementation of evidence based care. He is the principal investigator in a randomised multi-centre trial on single embryo transfer.

Kate Brian
Kate Brian is a former IVF patient, writer and journalist. She began her career at the BBC as a News Trainee, and went on to work on Panorama before joining ITN as a producer. Kate spent ten years at ITN, working mainly on Channel 4 News where she was Home Affairs Producer. Kate now works freelance. She was a trustee of CHILD, and is the author of ?In Pursuit of Parenthood', a book about patient experiences of IVF.

Clare Brown
Clare Brown is a former IVF patient who has two grown up adopted children. Having held various non-executive positions for some years, Clare became Executive Director of CHILD, the national infertility support network, in 1989, and later the Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK following CHILD's merger with ISSUE. Clare is a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, president of the National Infertility Awareness Campaign, Chair of the European Infertility Alliance and consumer representative on the NICE Fertility Guideline Development Group.

Jane Denton
Jane Denton is Director of the Multiple Births Foundation. She is a former member of the HFEA. Her career in nursing and midwifery includes many years as a specialist infertility nurse. She joined the Multiple Births Foundation in 1991 to help raise awareness of the risks and implications of multiple births and has written and lectured widely on this subject.

Dr Alun Elias-Jones
Alun Elias-Jones is a consultant paediatrician and neonatologist at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital. He was also the Honorary Treasurer of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health between 2001 and 2006. Alun takes a keen interest in the ethical issues surrounding paediatrics and neonatal care, studying for a Masters in Medical Law at Cardiff Law School and founding the Paediatric and the Law Interest Group of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Dr Jan Gerris
An associate professor in obstetrics and gynaecology, Jan Gerris is head of the division of gynaecology of the department of gynaecology and obstetrics at University Hospital Ghent in Belgium. After his training, Jan quickly turned towards reproductive medicine and has been actively involved in IVF since 1982. In more recent years, he has become an advocate for single embryo transfer in appropriate cases and has led important research both in embryo quality and patient selection criteria.

Dr Patricia Hamilton
Patricia Hamilton is consultant in neonatal paediatrics at St George's Hospital in London. She is also president elect of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, taking up the post of president in April 2006.

Helen Kendrew
Helen Kendrew has been clinical nurse manager at the Bath Assisted Conception Clinic since 1997. Helen is an elected nurse member of the British Fertility Society (the organisation which she represents on the group), and sits on the Education and training sub-committee, taking responsibility for Embryo Transfer accreditation training coordinated by the Society. She recently became honorary treasurer of the British Fertility Society and has been an HFEA Inspector since January 2003.

Professor Bill Ledger
Bill Ledger is professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Sheffield and honorary consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The Jessop Wing, Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, where he is also Head of the Centre for Reproductive Medicine and Fertility. His research interests are in assisted conception, endometriosis, ovarian failure and ovarian reserve and in polycystic ovary syndrome. Bill is currently chair of the examinations committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Dr Brian Lieberman
Brian Lieberman is consultant gynaecologist and director of the Department of Reproductive Medicine at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester. The department was the first IVF service to be set up within the National Health Service and today has a budget of £1.6 million per annum. He is also director of Manchester Fertility Service, a private sector reproductive medical centre. A member of the HFEA from 1993-1999, Brian has been at the forefront of the move towards reducing multiple births following IVF, both through research and professional education.

Dr Dave Morroll
Graduating from the University of Sheffield, Dave Morroll spent a year in research before training as a Clinical Embryologist at Manchester Fertility Services, where he completed his PhD developing tests of sperm function. He joined the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in May 2004, overseeing the laboratories at both the General Infirmary and St James's Hospital. He is a Honorary Senior Lecturer at Leeds University, assisting on its MSc in Clinical Embryology. Dr Morroll is also the Chair of the Association of Clinical Embryologists, the organisation which he represents on the Advisory Group.

Professor Karl Nygren
Karl Nygren is professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the IVF Clinic at Sophiahemmet Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. He is also a consultant to the Swedish Board of Health and Welfare, Chairman of the EIMs consortium of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology, producing the annual European IVF reports, and Chairman of ICMART (the International Committee on the Monitoring of ART) producing the IVF World Reports. Over the past few years, Professor Nygren has been at the forefront of efforts to reduce the number of multiple births in Sweden and the other Nordic countries.

Dr Claire O'Donnell
Claire O'Donnell is a Public Health Specialist working in the Cheshire and Merseyside Specialised Services Commissioning Team. With a background in nursing and research, her area of work is in the evidence base supporting the commissioning of health services. She is a member of the UK Specialised Services Public Health Network.Over the past four years she has led the review of fertility services in Cheshire and Merseyside. This has resulted in a zonal policy and implementation plan for fertility services that incorporates both the NICE guidance and social criteria for access to services, the latter being based on the findings of a large public consultation.