Successful fertility treatment is all about teamwork. From the first consultation right through to the treatment process and afterwards, an experienced, highly skilled and committed team is here to ensure the best possible advice, treatment and care.

In the background, our embryologists and technical staff apply equal dedication.

Everyone at Bridge is committed to your success.

 

Our Medical Team

 

Chairman of Medical Advisory Committee

Professor Ovrang Djahanbakhch, FRCOG, MD (London)
Professor Djahanbakhch is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He has been involved in assisted reproductive technology since the late 1970s. In 1979, he was appointed as a Clinical Research Fellow at the Medical Research Council Reproductive Biology Unit in Edinburgh to study the safety of IVF, together with a team of scientists. In addition to a close involvement in the technical development of IVF, he has studied ovulation timing in women in-depth and, in 1984, was awarded an MD by the University of London, for a thesis entitled "Prediction of Ovulation and oocyte recovery for IVF". In addition to setting up the second NHS IVF unit, together with colleagues in 1987, he is one of the three founders of The Bridge Centre.

In January 2000, he was awarded the title of Professor of Reproductive Medicine (Personal Chair) by the University of London for his outstanding contribution to advances in reproductive medicine.

Until recently, he was head of the Academic Unit for Women's Health at Barts and The London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London.

Senior Fertility Specialist

Michael C. Summers MD PhD FACOG
Michael Summers is a leading international specialist in infertility and assisted reproduction. He was educated at Cambridge University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed a clinical fellowship in infertility and reproductive endocrinology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. In addition to his clinical interests, Dr. Summers also holds degrees in chemistry and structural biology. This has enabled him to pursue a wide area of research, gaining numerous awards and culminating in advanced studies in embryology and PGD.

Michael has held high-level teaching positions on both sides of the Atlantic and practised at several leading American academic institutions and fertility centres. His first love is patient care and he returns to the UK to be more closely involved with Bridge’s UK caseload and with our Donor Egg IVF programme in the USA.

Consultant Fertility Specialist

Daniel Imoedemhe FRCOG FMCOG
Daniel Imoedemhe trained in Reproductive Biology and infertility at the Academic Department of The Royal Free Hospital in London. Since 1982 he has been in continuous practice in Assisted Reproductive Medicine, gaining nearly 30 years of experience. As the Clinical Administrator of the Assisted Conception Unit of the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead between 1983 and 1986, he was involved in the early research and development of many of the established treatment techniques in regular use today. He subsequently pioneered the first successful Assisted Conception centre in the Arab world and was instrumental in the establishment of several centres in that region. He returned to the UK to practice in 2004 and has joined Bridge from the Herts and Essex Fertility Centre.

In addition to his extensive clinical involvement, Daniel Imoedemhe is a keen researcher in the field of Assisted Reproduction, is responsible for over 100 publications and abstracts and has given more than 50 presentations at international and regional conferences. His special interest is in ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and its prevention – an area in which he has carried out pioneering research. Other clinical and research interests include ovarian reserve and its influence on reproduction, early pregnancy failure and methods of preserving human gametes.

Fertility Specialist

Dr Ghazala Basir
Dr Ghazala Basir completed her medical studies at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Hong Kong and moved to the UK in 2005 to further develop her clinical and research interests in reproductive medicine. She has worked at the Centre for Fetal Care, Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital, as Clinical Fellow Research and IVF Coordinator at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and, most recently, as a Fertility Specialist at the London Fertility Centre, joining Bridge in May 2011.

Her research and publishing interests cover endometrial, implantation failure and ovulation induction and she has extensive experience in the use of ultrasound and colour Doppler in ART and Obstetrics.

Consultant in Pre-implantation Genetics
	Professor Alan Handyside MA PhD Leading scientist in human embryology and the genetics of early human development who has pioneered the development of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) and Genetic Embryo Testing for chromosome aneuploidy - two groundbreaking techniques for identifying genetic abnormality and for assisting embryo selection which are both now available at Bridge. Professor Handyside supports the Bridge team in all aspects of patient care and has led an international development team to a major breakthrough with the recent launch of Karyomapping.
Consultants
	Senior Fertility Specialist Professor Martha Dirnfeld MRCOG MSc PhD Martha Dirnfeld is a consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, trained at the Free University of Brussels and the Carmel Medical Centre in Haifa, Israel. Since 1985 she has been the founder and Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and IVF Division at the Carmel Medical Centre, affiliated to the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion. Professor Dirnfeld spent a year at St Bartholomew's Hospital and was General Manager at Bridge in 2003-2004. She has more than 25 years of experience in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) and egg donation, has authored more than hundred scientific papers and chapters in books in the field of fertility and is an invited speaker to many international conferences. She is a member of the Committee of National Representatives at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Genetics (ESHRE). She is President of the Israeli Fertility Society (IFS).
	Associate Director Mr Laurence M A Shaw MB BS (LOND) FRCOG Laurence Shaw qualified at St Bartholomew's Medical School and held a consultant post at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust until September 2005. He has served as Clinical and Medical Director in the NHS. His main interests are the diagnosis of infertility, menopause and endoscopic surgery. He maintains his links with Kent through regular surgeries in Thanet and Canterbury.
	Fertility Specialist (Male Factor) Dr. Richard Balet MD Richard Balet trained as an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the University of Paris. After ten years at the Polyclinique in Deauville, where he was responsible for directing the IVF programme, Dr Balet moved to London as Senior Research Fellow at the Royal London Hospital and subsequently joined Bridge as a specialist in Male Infertility. Dr Balet has published articles relating to infertility in men with spinal injuries, transport IVF and male infertility in general.
	Fertility Specialist   Mr Kamal Ojha MD FRCOG Kamal Ojha trained in India and completed his MRCOG in Britain in 1995. He specialises in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and is currently a consultant at the St. George's Medical School in London. His specialised interest is in scanning and, in particular, the new 3D and 4D Doppler imaging techniques now available at Bridge.
Scientific Team
	Scientific Director Alan Thornhill BSc (Hons) PhD State Registered Clinical Scientist, High Complexity Laboratory Director - (American Board of Bioanalysis) One of the UK's leading specialists in diagnostic genetics who has joined Bridge as Scentific Director following periods as Director of the Andrology, IVF and PGD laboratories at Mayo Clinic, USA, and as Scentific Director of the London Fertility Centre. Author of over 100 articles on fertility and genetics. Alan has a PhD in Genetics from the University of London, with post graduate training in single cell diagnostics at the Institute of Child Health.
	Genetic Counsellor Karen Sage BSc (Hons) MSc Karen is the UK's first Genetic Counsellor specialising in fertility. Karen supports all Bridge patients and all egg, sperm and embryo donors by translating medical and genetic information into knowledge that is useful, understandable and clinically relevant. Karen works closely with patients undergoing Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis providing genetic education, counselling and risk assessment. Karen has a Master’s degree in Genetic Counselling (Cardiff University, Wales), a first degree in genetics and a background in education and industry.