Board
The 2010/2011 ISA board is made up of 12 members. Together, board members have a range of clinical, scientific and bereavement knowledge and come from countries around the world.
The ISA Board Members for 2010/2011 are:
ISA would like to warmly thank Deb Boyd, Dr Ruth Fretts, Prof Frederik Froen, Prof Robert Pattinson and Leanne Raven for their time, effort and commitment to preventing stillbirth during their time serving as members of the
2009/2010 ISA board. Their hard work and persistence is appreciated to the board and the ISA community.
Dr Penny Brabin
After the stillbirth of her second baby in 1984 Penny began a long career in parent advocacy through Sands (peer support after miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death) initially in Victoria and, subsequently, nationally in Sands Australia in leadership roles. Her initial task was to spearhead changes in stillbirth registration in Victoria which subsequently followed in other states for birth certification modelled on live birth registration. But it was not until 2000 that she obtained her son’s stillbirth certificate after a letter to the Registrar, on behalf of Sands(Vic), requesting retrospective registration. In 1986 she co-authored the successful Your baby has died: a guide for parents whose baby has died before, during or soon after birth of which more than 30,000 copies have been sold after several revisions and reprints; and made a significant contribution to Sands(Vic) publications and developing and running peer support training. Nationally she has represented the parent view on two Ministerial committees regarding the ethical and practical issues on Organs retained at autopsy (2001) and Ashed bones from the Commonwealth of Australia’s Strontium 90 program 1957-1978 (2002). Further achievements through Sands Australia include the provision of the maternity bonus for mothers after stillbirth and obtaining significant government funding to provide Sands’ support across Australia.
He is currently a member of the ANZSA board, and the Clinical Practice & Education and Research Committees. Professor Ellwood’s main reason for being involved in ISA is his long-standing clinical involvement in perinatal loss, and a desire to see collaborative efforts made to reduce the burden of stillbirth globally, both in terms of numbers of cases and how perinatal loss is managed by our health services.
Dr Claudia Ravaldi
A/Prof Jan Jaap Erwich
A/Prof Erwich is a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist at the University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands. He is an assistant professor at the faculty of Medicine. His research projects/interests include the classification of perinatal mortality (TULIP classification) and is in charge of the perinatal audit for substandard care. A/Prof Erwich is chair of the ISA Scientific Advisory Committee.
Dr Vicki Culling
Vicki lives in Wellington, New Zealand and has been involved with Sands New Zealand for around five years. Vicki and her husband Kevan experienced the full-term stillbirth of their first daughter in 1998.
The 2010/2011 ISA board is made up of 12 members. Together, board members have a range of clinical, scientific and bereavement knowledge and come from countries around the world.
The ISA Board Members for 2010/2011 are:
Name | Country | Position | ISA Involvement |
| Prof David Ellwood | Canberra, Australia | Co-Founder Australian and New Zealand Stillbirth Alliance – a regional office of ISA. Deputy Dean & Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Canberra Hospital, Australian National University Medical School Chair FAOPS | Chair |
| Vicki Flenady PhD, MMedSc | Brisbane, Australia | Co-Founder Australian and New Zealand Stillbirth Alliance – a regional office of ISA. President of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand. Director, Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP)/Program Head, Mater Medical Research Institute, Brisbane. | Ex-officio immediate past chair and Nominations committee chair 2012 |
| Dr Penny Brabin | Melbourne, Australia | Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash Medical Centre | Secretary |
| Claudia Ravaldi MD, MSc | Pretora, Italy | Lecturer in Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology at Florence University. Co-Founder CiaoLapo an ISA member organisation | |
| A/Prof Jan Jaap Erwich | Netherlands | Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology University Medical Center Groningen The Netherlands | Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) Chair |
| Prof Gordon Smith | Cambridge, UK | Head of Department, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cambridge | |
| Dr Pat Flynn | Kansas City, USA | National Director/CEO, National Stillbirth Society/First Breath | |
| Dr Nguyen Thi Hoai Duc | Hanoi, Vietnam | Director, The Institute for Reproductive and Family Health (RaFH) | |
| Ros Richardson, MPH | Australia | Health Promotion Manager SIDS and Kids, NSW, Australia. | Co-Chair Communications Committee |
| Alexander Heazell MBChB(Hons) PhD MRCOG | UK | University of Manchester, Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics | SAC member |
ISA would like to warmly thank Deb Boyd, Dr Ruth Fretts, Prof Frederik Froen, Prof Robert Pattinson and Leanne Raven for their time, effort and commitment to preventing stillbirth during their time serving as members of the
2009/2010 ISA board. Their hard work and persistence is appreciated to the board and the ISA community.
Vicki Flenady, PhD, MMedSc
Director, Translation of Research Into Practice (TRIP)/Program Head, Mater Medical Research Institute
Associate Professor Vicki Flenady has a background in midwifery, clinical epidemiology and biostatistics and is involved in large scale perinatal studies at a national and international level with a focus on stillbirth prevention through perinatal audit and improving the quality of cause of death data. Vicki is currently Director of the Centre Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) and co-program head of the Mothers’ and Babies research theme at the Mater Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Queensland and is the President of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand
Director, Translation of Research Into Practice (TRIP)/Program Head, Mater Medical Research Institute
Associate Professor Vicki Flenady has a background in midwifery, clinical epidemiology and biostatistics and is involved in large scale perinatal studies at a national and international level with a focus on stillbirth prevention through perinatal audit and improving the quality of cause of death data. Vicki is currently Director of the Centre Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) and co-program head of the Mothers’ and Babies research theme at the Mater Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Queensland and is the President of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand
Dr Penny Brabin
After the stillbirth of her second baby in 1984 Penny began a long career in parent advocacy through Sands (peer support after miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death) initially in Victoria and, subsequently, nationally in Sands Australia in leadership roles. Her initial task was to spearhead changes in stillbirth registration in Victoria which subsequently followed in other states for birth certification modelled on live birth registration. But it was not until 2000 that she obtained her son’s stillbirth certificate after a letter to the Registrar, on behalf of Sands(Vic), requesting retrospective registration. In 1986 she co-authored the successful Your baby has died: a guide for parents whose baby has died before, during or soon after birth of which more than 30,000 copies have been sold after several revisions and reprints; and made a significant contribution to Sands(Vic) publications and developing and running peer support training. Nationally she has represented the parent view on two Ministerial committees regarding the ethical and practical issues on Organs retained at autopsy (2001) and Ashed bones from the Commonwealth of Australia’s Strontium 90 program 1957-1978 (2002). Further achievements through Sands Australia include the provision of the maternity bonus for mothers after stillbirth and obtaining significant government funding to provide Sands’ support across Australia.
As a psychologist Penny completed her PhD in Medical Psychology at Monash University in 1995 on parenting after stillbirth and has presented the findings of this research at numerous conferences nationally and internationally. She advocates best care practices which focus on helping parents address the issues that arise from grief and a subsequent pregnancy, challenging the long-term helpfulness of many avoidant practices that are still endorsed in medical and community circles.
Prof David Ellwood FRANZCOG, MBBChir (Cantab), MA,DPhil (Oxon), DDU.
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Deputy Dean at the Australian National University Medical School in Canberra, ACT.
Prof Ellwood is based at the School of Clinical Medicine in Australia’s capital at The Canberra Hospital as well as a sub-specialist in Maternal-Fetal Medicine. He is the current President of Womens Hospitals Australasia (WHA), and the Secretary-General of the Federation of Asia-Oceania Perinatal Societies (FAOPS). Prof Ellwood was the past Editor-In-Chief of the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ANZJOG).
His interests are broadly across the range of clinical practice and research in maternal-fetal medicine, with a major focus on ultrasound in the management of high-risk pregnancy, monitoring of adverse outcomes, perinatal loss, and physical and emotional recovery after pregnancy. Current research interests include the Australian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System (AMOSS), placental sonography in the detection of pathology, and treatment of postnatal depression.
Prof David Ellwood FRANZCOG, MBBChir (Cantab), MA,DPhil (Oxon), DDU.
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Deputy Dean at the Australian National University Medical School in Canberra, ACT.
Prof Ellwood is based at the School of Clinical Medicine in Australia’s capital at The Canberra Hospital as well as a sub-specialist in Maternal-Fetal Medicine. He is the current President of Womens Hospitals Australasia (WHA), and the Secretary-General of the Federation of Asia-Oceania Perinatal Societies (FAOPS). Prof Ellwood was the past Editor-In-Chief of the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ANZJOG).
His interests are broadly across the range of clinical practice and research in maternal-fetal medicine, with a major focus on ultrasound in the management of high-risk pregnancy, monitoring of adverse outcomes, perinatal loss, and physical and emotional recovery after pregnancy. Current research interests include the Australian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System (AMOSS), placental sonography in the detection of pathology, and treatment of postnatal depression.
He is currently a member of the ANZSA board, and the Clinical Practice & Education and Research Committees. Professor Ellwood’s main reason for being involved in ISA is his long-standing clinical involvement in perinatal loss, and a desire to see collaborative efforts made to reduce the burden of stillbirth globally, both in terms of numbers of cases and how perinatal loss is managed by our health services.
Dr Claudia Ravaldi
A/Prof Jan Jaap Erwich
A/Prof Erwich is a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist at the University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands. He is an assistant professor at the faculty of Medicine. His research projects/interests include the classification of perinatal mortality (TULIP classification) and is in charge of the perinatal audit for substandard care. A/Prof Erwich is chair of the ISA Scientific Advisory Committee.
Dr Vicki Culling
Vicki lives in Wellington, New Zealand and has been involved with Sands New Zealand for around five years. Vicki and her husband Kevan experienced the full-term stillbirth of their first daughter in 1998.
Vicki has a background in social work, teaching and research, she has an MA (Applied) in Social Work and completed her PhD in a women's health topic. She was fortunate in winning a Vodafone NZ Foundation's 'World of Difference' award in 2006 which enabled her to work in a full-time capacity for Sands New Zealand as its National Project Coordinator. She is currently funded to develop a national integrated approach to pregnancy, baby and infant loss in New Zealand and sees her involvement in ISA as complementary to that role.
Prof Gordon Smith
Gordon CS Smith, MD PhD DSc, is Professor and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cambridge, UK. He graduated in Medicine from Glasgow University in 1990. He trained in Glasgow, obtaining, including sub-specialist accreditation in Maternal-Fetal Medicine in 2001. He had two Wellcome Trust clinical research training fellowships: Glasgow University (1992-1993) and Cornell University, USA (1996-1999). His clinically orientated research focuses on the use of maternal, ultrasonic and biochemical data to determine associations with adverse pregnancy outcome. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2010.
Dr Alexander Heazell
Dr Alexander Heazell is a Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics working at the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, University of Manchester. After graduation from the University of Birmingham Medical School in 2000, he commenced clinical training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After completing his PhD thesis on placenta dysfunction in preeclampsia, he has focussed his research interests around stillbirth and fetal growth restriction. He is particularly interested in the role that placental dysfunction plays in these conditions. He has also led qualitative research projects to explore professionals and parents’ experiences after stillbirth, with a particular focus on investigations following a stillbirth. His research portfolio includes a profile of basic science, clinical and qualitative research studies. He has recently been involved in developing a new perinatal post-mortem consent form for the UK. His passion for stillbirth research stems, in part, from his personal experience of stillbirth.
Dr Pat Flynn
Dr Nguyen Thi Hoai Duc
Prof Gordon Smith
Gordon CS Smith, MD PhD DSc, is Professor and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cambridge, UK. He graduated in Medicine from Glasgow University in 1990. He trained in Glasgow, obtaining, including sub-specialist accreditation in Maternal-Fetal Medicine in 2001. He had two Wellcome Trust clinical research training fellowships: Glasgow University (1992-1993) and Cornell University, USA (1996-1999). His clinically orientated research focuses on the use of maternal, ultrasonic and biochemical data to determine associations with adverse pregnancy outcome. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2010.
Dr Alexander Heazell
Dr Alexander Heazell is a Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics working at the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, University of Manchester. After graduation from the University of Birmingham Medical School in 2000, he commenced clinical training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After completing his PhD thesis on placenta dysfunction in preeclampsia, he has focussed his research interests around stillbirth and fetal growth restriction. He is particularly interested in the role that placental dysfunction plays in these conditions. He has also led qualitative research projects to explore professionals and parents’ experiences after stillbirth, with a particular focus on investigations following a stillbirth. His research portfolio includes a profile of basic science, clinical and qualitative research studies. He has recently been involved in developing a new perinatal post-mortem consent form for the UK. His passion for stillbirth research stems, in part, from his personal experience of stillbirth.
Dr Pat Flynn
Dr Nguyen Thi Hoai Duc