CONCEPT FERTILITY - Key Persons
Brenda has gained a great deal of clinical knowledge after 20 years working as a Senior Healthcare Assistant, including 13 years working in a hospice. Brenda qualified as a Nurse Associate and acquired her diploma in 2017.
She joined our team in 2021 and has excelled in her role as Theatre Coordinator. Her roles include setting up and assisting with theatre procedures, regular auditing, assisting with Hycosys and is a trained phlebotomist.
She has a great rapport with patients and has become a valuable team member.
Job Titles:
- Fertility Specialist MD, FRM
We welcomed Dr Devi Ravikumar to Concept Fertility in September 2023. She is an expert in infertility treatment and has a special interest in helping women with poor ovarian reserve, PCOS, endometriosis and repeated IVF failures achieve pregnancy. She completed her graduation from Government Medical College, Cochin, and did her MS in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RGUHS) from the prestigious St. John's Medical College, Bengaluru passing as the topscorer in OBG. She also has a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Reproductive Medicine (RGUHS) and has undertaken RCOG accredited certified training in hysteroscopy and laparoscopy from the Institute of Medical and Minimal Access Surgery Training, Mumbai.
Dr Devi has delivered scientific talks as a faculty in many state and national conferences including the KISAR, ISAR, BSOG and Life conference. She has presented papers and posters in various national and international conferences. She has teaching experience of training MBBS, post graduate and post doctoral fellowship students from the last 11 years and has many publications in peer reviewed journals to her credit.
Through her ethical, evidence based, patient centered and personalized approach, she has enabled many couples to achieve their dream of completing a family. Dr Devi is already building relationships with our patients here at Concept and we are very happy to have her on board.
Qualifications:
MD, MRCOG
Dr Harleen Kaur qualified from medical college in 2000. She post graduated in Obstetrics & Gynaecology and received her MD in 2003. She started working in the field of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and obtained her membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists in 2005.
Dr Kaur's special interests are in the field of Reproductive Medicine and in 2006 she joined the Assisted Conception Unit at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton (later Kingston Hospital) where she stayed for 6 years and gained extensive experience in the management of patients suffering from infertility, and expertise in Assisted Conception treatments. She then gained further experience working in the IVF unit at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and the CREATE Fertility Clinic. She is well versed in all aspects of reproductive medicine and has special interest in the treatment of women with poor ovarian reserves and recurrent implantation failure.
Dr Kaur believes in medical treatment with compassion. She joined Concept Fertility as she believes in safe yet effective, individualised patient-centred and affordable fertility treatment.
Job Titles:
- Fertility Counsellor
- Specialist
Gosia Heeley is a specialist, BICA (British Infertility Counselling Association) and BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) accredited fertility counsellor. Since 2003 Gosia has been working with individuals, couples and groups impacted by fertility issues in licensed clinics as well as in private practice. She has a passion for ensuring people are well supported before, during and after assisted conception treatment, and donating eggs, sperm or embryos. She offers implications, supportive and therapeutic counselling using her knowledge and experience to help patients get greater awareness and support through their journey.
Joanna was one of the first to join us at Concept and quickly earned promotion to become manager of her department. She had previously worked in two large London fertility clinics managing administration and liaison. Joanna has many years of experience in dealing with all aspects of clinic administration and patient support. She works closely with the nursing team to ensure the smooth running of patient treatments.
Joanna is supported by her team members Zdenek, Esther, Sophie, Simone and Megan.
Katharine has been a nurse for over 20 years. She spent her first 2 years in the NHS Gynaecology and Surgical wards before being selected by the world-famous Professor Ian Craft for specialist training in fertility. After 5 years at his fertility centre, during which time she rose to the position of nurse-manager, Katharine felt it was time for a change and moved to be the nurse manager at London's largest private fertility centre. Eight years on, we headhunted Kath to join us at Concept Fertility.
After several years as a staff nurse in the NHS, followed by several years as a fertility nurse in the private sector, we are delighted that Mariana has joined our team.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Professor at the Technion Faculty of Medicine
- Professor
Professor Martha Dirnfeld is the Clinical Professor at the Technion Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, Israel and the Head of Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and IVF at The Carmel Medical Centre. She is the President of the Israeli Fertility Association (IFA)
Professor Dirnfeld has worked at some of the leading IVF Centers in Europe. She was part of the pioneering IVF team at St Pierre hospital and the Free University in Belgium and was General Manager of one of the largest London-based IVF centers for two years. More than 4000 babies have been born as a direct result of her IVF work and Oocyte Donation programs. She is world renowned in the field of human reproduction and has published more than 100 scientific papers and chapters in books and is often Invited Speaker at international conferences. Her busy schedule no longer allows her sufficient time to be able to treat patients in Britain but she visits London on a regular basis and is on our advisory panel.
Job Titles:
- Counsellor
- Fertility Counsellor
Mary-Anne has a vested interest in Fertility issues - herself affected by endometriosis, fibroids and premature ovarian failure. She has experienced fertility treatments personally and therefore understands the journey first-hand.
She worked for endometriosis UK in a voluntary capacity and Fertility Network UK providing online support and training. She also was on the executive committee for BICA (British Infertility Counselling Association) for several years. Currently working part-time for a variety of clinics in London, as well as the counsellor for Hertility Health who provide education and services to younger women who wish to test their fertility and does much to raise awareness for women's fertility.
Mary-Anne trained as a counsellor/psychotherapist after completing her post graduate diploma at Guildford College of Higher education back in 2006.
Job Titles:
- Patient Co - Ordination Team Manager
Melissa joined us in 2015 with an impressive background in various healthcare environments. She initially worked as a Healthcare Assistant for 8 years; known for always having a smile on her face, helping our doctors and nurses and assisting our patients. With her strong focus on patient care and service, along with her assisting in the Quality Management side of the clinic, Melissa earned a promotion in 2022 and is now Manager of our Patient Co-ordination Team. Her role is managing the patient journey from start to finish and she is extremely dedicated to this and passionate about our patients having the most positive experience they can on their fertility journey with us.
Miriam completed her Master degree in Clinical Embryology and Assisted Reproduction Technology in Barcelona after graduating with a BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. After training in a couple of laboratories in Spain, she commenced working in London in 2018 where she gained experience in all the different techniques used in an IVF laboratory before joining us early in 2022. She is focused in providing the best patient care.
Job Titles:
- Formerly Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St Bartholomew
Mr Grudzinskas, formerly Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St Bartholomew's & The Royal London Hospital School of Medicine and Dentistry, and formerly Medical Director of The Bridge Fertility Gynaecology and Genetics Centre, with more than 20 years experience, is continuing his clinical and surgical activities as an independent practitioner at the Concept Fertility Clinic where he is also Chairman of our Medical Advisory Committee.
Qualifications:
MD, FRCOG
Kamal Ojha is a Consultant Gynaecologist and Honorary Senior lecturer at St George's Hospital, UK where he was also, until early 2016, the Gynaecology Care Group Lead. He qualified in Kolkata and obtained specialist qualifications in obstetrics and gynaecology from the famed Benares Hindu University. A sponsorship from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists brought him to the UK in 1994 where he completed his specialty training. He became a member of the Royal College in 1995 and in 1998 moved to London as a research fellow at St George's to pursue his passion in the field of subfertility and ultrasound.
Kamal's special interests are in fertility treatment, oocyte donation and advanced ultrasound. He has published extensively in national and international journals as well as authoring chapters in textbooks. He maintains a keen interest in teaching medical students and junior doctors and has completed a successful tenure as college tutor. Kamal was a founder member of the International Society for the Fallopian Tube and Reproductive Surgery (ISFT-RS) and has been a member of the executive since its inception. He is an active member of the European Society for Human Fertility and Reproduction (ESHRE), the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynaecology (ISUOG) and the British Fertility Society (BFS). He speaks English, Bengali, Urdu and Hindi.
Kamal is the Medical Director of Concept Fertility.
Qualifications:
FRCOG FICOG
Mr Parijat Bhattacharjee FRCOG FICOG, is a Consultant Gynaecologist with more than 25 years experience in the field.
Job Titles:
- Patient Co - Ordination Team Administrator
Since February 2022, Nadia has enlivened Concept Fertility. Having joined us initially as a patient services administrator, Nadia was promoted to the patient co-ordination team after 9 months. Nadia draws from her 8 years of customer-focused employment in order to enrich the journey of all our patients. Alongside her extensive public-facing and customer service experience, Nadia achieved a degree in 2020, further consolidating a plethora of skills including time management, analysis and commercial awareness.
Job Titles:
- Laboratory Manager
- Manager
Oriol Oliana has been our Laboratory Manager since 2021. He is a State Registered Clinical Scientist and an ESHRE certified Senior Embryologist. Oriol began his fascination with reproductive biology during his biotechnology degree and, shortly after, began his embryology career in 2006 where he completed his post graduate studies and embryology training. During that time, he completed an MSc in Cytogenetics and a second MSc in Assisted Reproduction which reinforced his passion towards genetics and IVF. He has been working in London since 2010 and has been involved with the management of different IVF laboratories since then, including the role of Deputy Head of Laboratories from a large international group of IVF clinics where he led the pre-implantation genetic testing program.
During his career, Oriol has contributed towards national and international IVF congresses and courses, he has become a Cambridge author, lead embryo biopsy workshops and has provided training for trainee and junior embryologists. His main focus at Concept Fertility has been to reach the highest standards for the IVF and andrology laboratory, focusing on attention to detail and success rates.
His next targets are stablishing Concept Fertility as a leading unit for embryo genetic testing and to excel on patient satisfaction.