Obstetrics & Gynaecology

• Professor Michael Peek
• Professor Ron Benzie
• Dr Colleen-Maree Cook
• Associate Professor Hans Peter Dietz
• Associate Professor Max Mongelli
• Dr Henry Murray
• Associate Professor George Condous

MBBS BSc(Med)PHD FRANZCOG MRCOG CMFM DDU

PROFESSOR OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY

Research Activity:

• Pre-eclampsia screening using ultrasound
• Epidemiology of thrombophilias and autoimmune diseases in pregnancy
• The pathogenesis of vertical transmission of viral infections
• Also many projects in collaboration with paediatrics such as the role of Treg cells in pre-eclampsia
• Two current NHMRC Project Grants. One looking at national reporting systems for obstetric morbidity and the other investigating caseload midwifery care.
• Participation in a number of multicentre RCTs including PROMPT and Progress Trials.

Contact details

MBChB,FRCSC,FRCOG, ARDMS, FRANZCOG

DIRECTOR OF PERINATAL ULTRASOUND

Professor Ron Benzie’s main research interests for the past years have been in the field of prenatal diagnosis. He founded the international fetal anomaly database PLATYPUS (Programme Listing Abnormality and Prenatal Ultrasound) and is involved in the development of electronic aids to diagnosis and the assessment of their role in medical education. His current research is concerned with prenatal fetal diagnosis using 3D and 4D ultrasound technology.

Contact:

Phone: +61 2 4734 3163
Fax: +61 2 4734 2567 or +61 2 4734 2561

Address: Division of Women and Childrens Health- Perinatal Ultrasound
Nepean Hospital, Level 5 South Block
PO Box 63, Penrith NSW 2751 Australia

MSc(Physiol) PhD(Medicine)

Dr. Colleen-Maree Cook is a Principal Scientist in Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Nepean Hospital and a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Nepean Campus, Western Clinical School, University of Sydney. Dr Cook participated in much of the early work on fetal Doppler at the University of Sydney at Westmead Hospital. Whilst at Nepean Hospital, Dr Cook has been involved in a wide variety of research projects. including preterm labour and birth for which she was awarded her Doctorate in 2002 from the University of Sydney. At present, her main research interests are thrombophilias in pregnancy and research ethics. In October 2005, Dr Cook was appointed Chair, Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) Human Research Ethics Committee – Nepean Campus and she is also a member of the SWAHS Scientific Review Committee – Nepean Campus.

Contact:

Phone: +61 2 4734 2569
Fax: +61 2 4734 2561
Email:

Address:
Dept Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Level 5 South Block
Nepean Hospital
Penrith
NSW 2750

A/Prof. Hans Peter Dietz graduated from Heidelberg University, Germany, in 1988, obtaining an MD there in 1989. After emigrating to New Zealand in 1990, he arrived in Australia in 1997 and completed his FRANCOG training in 1998. Between 1999 and 2002, Dr Dietz undertook urogynaecology subspeciality training in Sydney and obtained a PhD with the University of New South Wales. Since 2004 he is Associate Professor in Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the Nepean Clinical School, University of Sydney. He has recently been appointed Editor of the ‘Australian and NZ Continence Journal’ and is member of the Editorial Board of ‘Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology’. His main research interests are pelvic floor imaging and the prediction of delivery mode.

Contact:

Phone: +61 2 4734 1474
Fax: +61 2 4734 1817
Email:
Web: Pelvic Floor Assessment

Address: Level 5, South Block
Spurrett Building
Penrith
NSW 2750

MBBS, DM, FRANZCOG

CLINICAL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SENIOR STAFF SPECIALIST

Associate Professor Max Mongelli graduated from the University of
Sydney. He underwent specialist and clinical research training in the
United Kingdom, where he developed an interest in perinatal medicine and fetal growth. His other research interests include clinical applications of computer modelling, biostatistics and evidence-based medicine. He is a Fellow of both the RCOG and the RANZCOG and is currently a full-time specialist obstetrician at the Nepean Hospital.

Contact:

Phone: +61 2 4734 2000
Fax: +61 2 4734 2561
Email:

MB ChB (Hons), B MED SCI, Dip Obs MRCOG, FRANZCOG, DDU, DM, CMFM

FETO MATERNAL SUB SPECIALIST, DEPT OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAEOCOLOGY

Dr Murray has been involved in a number of research projects relating to maternal and fetal welfare. He has been involved in the analysis of fetal changes due to intrauterine asphyxia using the pregnant sheep model. He has also been involved in research looking into fetal growth patterns in varying ethnic groups to be found in the West of Sydney. Dr Murray provides antenatal care for the drug use in pregnancy service and collates research about the use of Methadone and Benzodiazepine substance use in pregnancy for women addicted to illicit drugs. Dr Murray currently provides fetal monitoring articles for the Royal Australasian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists as an adjunct to the research into the prevention of peripartum and intrapartum asphyxia.

Contact:

Phone: +61 2 4734 3362
Fax: +61 2 4734 2567 or +61 2 4734 2561

Address: Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Nepean Hospital, Level 5 South Block
PO Box 63, Penrith NSW 2751 Australia

MB BS, MRCOG,FRANZCOG

George Condous is consultant gynaecologist at Nepean Hospital in West Sydney. He is Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Nepean Clinical School, University of Sydney. He runs the Acute Gynaecology Service which sees women with emergency gynaecological as well as early pregnancy complications (miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy). He is also responsible for the One-Stop Ultrasound based diagnostic clinics; which review women with abnormal uterine bleeding, chronic pelvic pain, adnexal pathology as well as post-menopausal bleeding. He is also performs Advanced Endosurgery procedures for women who need intervention for pelvic masses, frozen pelvis, endometriosis or hysterectomy.

Having completed his undergraduate degree with the University of Adelaide, he left Australia in 1993 and moved to London where he completed his training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. From 2001 – 2003 he worked as a Senior Research Fellow to Tom Bourne at St George’s Hospital, London. At St George’s he set up the Acute Gynaecology Unit, the first in the United Kingdom, which used ultrasound at the point of the initial consultation to evaluate women with gynaecological problems. It was also during this position that he developed his great interest in Early Pregnancy and especially the management of pregnancies of unknown location (PULs). He has developed many mathematical models for the prediction of outcome of PULs which have featured in peer review journals. In 2005, he returned to Australia where he completed his Laparoscopic Fellowship at the world recognised Centre for Advanced Reproductive Endosurgery, Sydney.
He was appointed as a consultant Gynaecologist and Senior Lecturer at Nepean Hospital in 2006 and soon was made Associate Professor. He obtained the MRCOG in 1999 and was made FRANZCOG in 2005.

He has edited one book entitled the Handbook of Early Pregnancy Care, published over 50 papers in international journals and is internationally renowned for his work in early pregnancy. He is the Associate Editor for Gynecologic Obstetric Investigation, which is a European based journal, as well as on the organising committee for this year’s Australian Gynaecological Endoscopy Society (AGES) meeting in Sydney. His current research interests relate to the management of ectopic pregnancy, PULs and miscarriage, as well as the use of sonovaginography to predict rectovaginal endometriosis.