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.
Director
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 Screening (PGS) for chromosome aneuploidy - two groundbreaking techniques for identifying genetic abnormality and for enabling better embryo selection which are both now available at Bridge.
As Director of Bridge, Professor Handyside is responsible for leading the Bridge team in all aspects of patient care, including medical, clinical, scientific and administrative services.
Medical Director
Mohamed Menabawey MBBCH, FRCOG Mr Menabawey qualified at Cairo University, completing his specialist training in the UK. He has held a Rockefeller Foundation Research Fellowship at The Department of Reproductive Physiology at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College and was subsequently appointed Lecturer and Senior Registrar at St Bartholomew's Hospital.
Mr Menabawey joins Bridge after ten years as Consultant Infertility Specialist and Gynaecologist at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust and Person Responsible for the Assisted Conception Unit services at The University Hospital of Hartlepool during which time he introduced the Quality Assurance System ISO 9002 to the maternity service.
Mr Menabawey has long experience in infertility management and in-vitro fertilisation embryology, is an accomplished gynaecological surgeon in the area of the management of infertility and is an expert in fertility restoration surgery.
Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee and Senior Consultant
Emeritus Professor Gedis Grudzinskas, MD, FRCOG,
'Prof' has been Medical Director for as many years as we can remember but is now free of the burdens of day-to-day management responsibility and able to concentrate on treating patients with severe fertility problems and guiding Bridge into new clinical ventures.
Professor Grudzinskas is a past Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St Bartholomew's. His research interests include studies of the treatment of patients with a history of multiple IVF failures, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, implantation, the prediction of miscarriage, the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy and screening for problems in early pregnancy. Professor Grudzinskas is the author or editor of over 250 publications and fifteen books.
Deputy Medical 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. He became Deputy Medical Director of Bridge in 2005. 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.
Medical Team
Infertility Specialist Professor Martha Dirnfeld
Martha Dirnfeld trained as an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Free University of Brussels and at the Carmel Medical Centre at Haifa, Israel. She is a consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and has been the Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and IVF at the Carmel Medical Centre since 1985. Dr Dirnfeld spent a year as a clinical Senior Research Fellow at St Bartholomew's Hospital, is the author of many scientific papers in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technologies and has been a member of the Bridge team since 2003.
Infertility Specialist
Ms. Elisabetta Iammarone Ms. Iammarrone qualified as a Specialist in Obstetric and Gynaecology in Italy. She has been working in Reproductive Medicine since 1999, being appointed as Clinical Research Fellow at St Bartholomew's and The Royal London. In 2000, Ms. Iammarrone worked as a Clinician in the IVF Unit of Dr. Gianaroli in Bologna. From January 2007 she has a Clinical Fellowship at St. George’s Medical School in London. Ms. Iammarrone combines extensive experience, particularly of transvaginal ultrasound, oocyte recovery and embryo transfer, with research interests in the field of infertility.
Consultants
Infertility 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.
Infertility Specialist
Ms Amanda Jane Tozer MB, BCh, MRCOG
Amanda Jane Tozer is the lead clinician at St Barts Fertility Centre. One of the UK’s leading fertility specialists and a valuable addition to the Bridge team, Ms Tozer qualified at the University of Wales College of Medicine. She brings special expertise in menopause, transvaginal scanning and minimal access surgery, directs training and development programmes in reproductive medicine and has published extensively on a wide range of fertility-related subjects.
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.
Miss Dayo Abayomi, MB BS, MSc (Lond), FRCOG
Dayo Abayomi is a Consultant Gynaecologist with a special interest in fertility service management. She trained under Professor Lord Robert Winston at Hammersmith Hospital London where she also did a research fellowship with the WHO in 1982, and with Mr John Parsons in the Assisted Conception Unit at King's College Hospital, London, participating in the establishment of a fertility unit in Singapore which she managed for 5 years until 1991.
Scientific Team
Scientific Director
Alan Thornhill BSc (Hons) PhD
State Registered Clinical Scientist, HCLD (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 from the University of London in Genetics, with post graduate training in single cell diagnostics at the Institute of Child Health.
Lab Manager (Research)
David Gillott BSc (Hons) PhD
David Gillott obtained his PhD from St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School ( Queen Mary College, University of London) in 1998. As a biochemist specialising in infertility research it is his objective to investigate the expression, molecular interactions and clinical significance of the principal players in biological systems - the proteins. Dr Gillott retains an honorary lectureship in the University of London, co-ordinates research at Bridge and is actively teaching and publishing. He utilises the expanding field of proteomics to address a variety of fertility-related issues such as follicular development, uterine receptivity and embryo stem cell differentiation.
Emeldah Thema RN, RGM DipHE in Nursing Studies, Fertility Nurse
Marta Espejo RN
Fertility and DCU Nurse
Alice Chipendo RN, ENB DipHE in Assisted Conception Fertility Nurse
Julius Aganga
Operating Department Practitioner NVQ Level 3
Martin Alegata
Registered Nurse
Day Care Unit
Amanda Hopton
Nursing Administrator
Justine Bond RN
Fertility Nurse
Shelly Tse
Sonographer
Amanda Rosenbrock
RGN, DCU Nurse (Weekend)
Yoshanta Wade RN
Fertility Nurse
Yolanda Wade
Medical Records Officer
Healthcare Assistants
Deborah Sherwood
Senior Healthcare Assistant
Lucy Smith
Healthcare Assistant
Elrich Bezuidenhoudt
DCU Healthcare Assistant
Candice Bryan
Healthcare Assistant
Egg Donation Team
Ema Locker BSc (Hons) Programme Manager
Sharon Walster
Programme Co-ordinator
Claire Pattenden
Programme Co-ordinator
Vita Anderson BA
Programme Co-ordinator
Elly Mathews
Programme Co-ordinator
Counselling
Pip Reilly MA
Advanced Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling Studies.
Pip is a BSCP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy), accredited practitioner and has extensive experience in all aspects of counselling and psychotherapy. He is a Board Member of the following:
INUK (Infertility Network UK)
ICSI (International Consumer Society for Infertility)
NIAC (National Infertility Awareness Campaign)
and is a member of BICA (British Infertility Association)
Bridge is open from 8.30am to 6.00pm on weekdays and 9am to 12.30pm at weekends.
Consultations are available from Monday to Friday inclusive and by special arrangement - out of normal hours on Thursday evenings (last appointment at 19:45) and on two Saturday mornings each month from 09:00 to 12:00 (last appointment at 11:00).
To arrange an appointment to see one of our Gynaecologists for a consultation, please email us here or call Reception on 020 7403 3363.
A referral letter from your GP or specialist would be helpful but is not essential. If available, your referral letter can be sent to us prior to consultation or brought with you on the day. Please make sure you bring any relevant medical reports or test results with you if these have not already been forwarded to Bridge by your referring doctor.
