Fertility Team
Dr Carole Gilling-Smith is a Consultant Gynaecologist and Medical Director of the Agora Gynaecology and Fertility Centre. She also holds a part-time NHS Consultant Post in Gynaecology at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London. She graduated in Medicine from Trinity College, Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in 1984 and completed her specialist training (CCST) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1997. She held a Medical Research Council Training Fellowship in Reproductive Medicine during which she completed a PhD in the genetics of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Since 1990 Carole has specialised and received in depth training in Reproductive Medicine.
Carole was Director of the Chelsea & Westminster Assisted Conception Unit 1999-2005, where she developed the UK’s first fertility programme for HIV infected patients. This is now the main UK centre for patients with blood borne viral illness needing fertility and receives referrals from all over the UK. She is also Vice-President of CREAThE, the European collaborative group for the management of fertility in patients with HIV. She is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College School of Medicine, London and Director of the Chelsea and Westminster sub-specialty training program in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery. She lectures both nationally and internationally and has published numerous peer review publications and chapters on the management of polycystic ovary syndrome, male infertility, bleeding in early pregnancy and the fertility management of patients with viral illness.
Carole speaks fluent French and is a Director of the Alliance Française, an organisation which promotes French language and culture throughout the world. She lives in Sussex with her husband and three children.
Mr Sam Abdalla is a pioneer in the field of IVF. In 1988, Sam became Clinical Director of the Lister Fertility Clinic at The Lister Hospital, London. Under his direction, this Unit has grown into one of the largest fertility centres in the country. One aspect of his research resulted in the birth of Britain's first baby conceived from a donated embryo, which had been frozen, thawed and transferred back to the fallopian tubes using the ZIFT technique. In addition to his IVF work, Sam is a highly experienced gynaecological laparoscopic surgeon. He has published and lectured locally, nationally and internationally and is a regular participant in the education of postgraduate students. He has developed a database management system currently used in a number of leading IVF units.
Before becoming a member of the HFEA Authority, he was a member of the Executive Committee of the British Fertility Society for six years. Sam’s main areas of interest are in assisted conception. He also has a keen interest in medical ethics and contributes to the debate regarding the ethical aspects of assisted conception treatment.
Melanie Callister is a very experienced senior nurse with training in all aspects of assisted reproduction, gynaecology and nursing anaesthesia. She qualified in 1994 and worked primarily in emergency surgery and gynaecology for Brighton Healthcare Trust until 2003 when she moved to The Bridge Fertility, Gynaecology and Genetic Centre, London as Day Care Unit Manager. Her role there also involved fertility nursing in the IVF centre. She was appointed to the Agora in September 2006 where she is Lead Nurse for the fertility service and Quality Manager for the Centre
Mr Jonathan Ramsay is a Urologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London, who specialises in all aspects of male factor infertility. Jonathan works at the Fertility Unit at Hammersmith Hospital, and with Carole Gilling-Smith at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Recent research has led to several publications about sperm retrieval and the outcomes of ICSI using fresh and frozen sperm. Current research interests are focusing on men with non-obstructive azoospermia who require micro-testicular sperm extraction (microtese). Jonathan sees patients both in London and at the Agora, and undertakes procedures (particularly PESA or Percutaneous Sperm Aspiration by arrangement at the Agora. Please see Jonathan's own website on our useful links page for further information.
