The Association of Early Pregnancy Units

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee of the Association of Early Pregnancy Units (AEPU) is formed of a team of multi-disciplinary specialists and patient advocates in early pregnancy care. The committee volunteer their time to serve as the governing body responsible for providing strategic leadership, direction, and oversight to the association’s activities. Its main function is to ensure that the AEPU fulfils its vision of high quality, safe and compassionate early pregnancy care for all. The committee coordinates educational initiatives, collates relevant clinical guidelines, facilitates research collaboration, and represents the interests of early pregnancy units at national and professional levels. It also oversees membership, organises annual scientific meetings, and promotes communication between units across the UK to aim for consistency, safety, and excellence in early pregnancy care.

Miss Jackie Ross

Chair
Jackie Ross has been active in Early Pregnancy and Gynaecological ultrasound since 1995 and has been a Consultant at King’s College Hospital in London since 2003. She is the lead for the Early Pregnancy and Gynaecological Assessment Unit there and is involved in teaching, training, and research.

Dr Emma Kirk

Vice Chair
Emma is a Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Royal Free Hospital, London. She is the clinical lead for Early Pregnancy and Emergency Gynaecology. She has published on many aspects of early pregnancy and has published a book on scanning in early pregnancy. Her special interests are pregnancies of unknown location and ectopic pregnancies. She regularly lectures both nationally and internationally and is a past coordinator of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology Special Interest Group in Implantation and Early Pregnancy.

Ms Alison Smith

Treasurer
Alison trained and worked as a sonographer in York for many years before moving south. She currently works as a Tutor Sonographer in Fetal Medicine and Woman’s Health at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital, London. Her interest is in obstetric and gynaecological ultrasound. Alison is treasurer of AEPU and sits on the Executive Committee.

Ms Maeve Toumey

Secretary
Maeve is the Lead Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Early Pregnancy and Acute Gynaecology Unit at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in West London. She currently manages the Early Pregnancy and Acute Gynaecology Unit, and is an experienced sonographer. She has contributed to large multicentre cohort studies with a focus on early pregnancy complications. She is passionate about providing quality and compassionate care to couples undergoing pregnancy loss.

Ms Lisa Starrs

Nurse Representative
Lisa is a registered nurse and midwife with 30 years experience working both clinically and in research within early pregnancy care. Currently the Lead Nurse for early pregnancy in Edinburgh and chair of the Scottish Early Pregnancy Network.

Ms Mandy Hallifax

Nurse Representative
Mandy is an Advanced Clinical Practitioner and early pregnancy sonographer working in the Oxford Early Pregnancy Unit (EPAU). Mandy works in a nurse-led EPAU based in the community, including triaging, ultrasound assessment and prescribing.

Dr Jessica Farren

Medical Representative
Jessica Farren has been a Consultant Gynaecologist at University College London Hospitals since 2022. Her daily practice focuses on early pregnancy and acute gynaecology. Jessica’s PhD researched the psychological impact of early pregnancy losses, a subject on which she has taught and published widely. She is a trustee and advisor for The Miscarriage Association.

Professor Colin Duncan

Medical Representative
Professor Colin Duncan is a Principal Investigator in the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh. He is a subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at the Edinburgh Fertility and Reproductive Endocrine Centre and clinical lead for early pregnancy at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. His research interests include the corpus luteum, polycystic ovary syndrome and early pregnancy problems.

Dr Ingrid Granne

Medical Representative
Ingrid Granne has been a Consultant Gynaecologist at Oxford University Hospitals since 2013 as well as a Senior Fellow in Reproductive Medicine at the University of Oxford. Her clinical work is focussed on recurrent pregnancy loss and early pregnancy care, alongside her research investigating how the immune system alters in pregnancy and immunological mechanisms implicated in miscarriage.

Ms Munira Oza

Lay member & Chief Executive Ectopic Pregnancy Trust
Following her experience of early pregnancy loss through ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, Munira volunteered with, and later became, the Chief Executive of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. She was appointed Lay member on Ectopic Pregnancy for the NICE Guideline committee and is on the Women’s and reproductive Health Suite committee. Munira sits on the Working Group of the Baby Loss Awareness Alliance in the APPG on Baby Loss, and the Pregnancy & Baby Charities Network, presenting lived-experience to improve care.

Ms Vicki Robinson

Lay member & Chief Executive Miscarriage Association
Vicki Robinson is the Chief Executive of the Miscarriage Association, a national charity which provides support and information to anyone affected by miscarriage, ectopic or molar pregnancy. Vicki also sits on the core group of the National Bereavement Care Pathway and on the committee of the Pregnancy and Baby Charities Network. Prior to joining the MA, Vicki was the director of a cancer and children’s charity.

Ms Roxanne Sicklen

Sonographer Representative
Roxanne is a Clinical Specialist Sonographer with a long-standing interest in early pregnancy and gynaecological ultrasound. She is a current member of the British Medical Ultrasound Society’s (BMUS) education and professional standards committee and the Society of Radiographers (SoR) ultrasound advisory group. In addition to her clinical role, Roxanne works at King’s College London as module organiser for their Obstetrics and Gynaecology ultrasound module.

Dr Chris Kyriacou

Senior Resident Representative
Chris Kyriacou is an Obstetrics & Gynaecology ST6 with a keen interest in early pregnancy. He undertook a Ph.D. focussing on early pregnancy complications, ultrasound and biomarkers at Imperial College London. Now a post-doctoral fellow and honorary clinical lecturer at Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research at Imperial, he continues to perform early pregnancy research and support doctoral candidates, whilst undertaking the Management of Complex Non-malignant Disease SITM at Homerton University Hospital.

Dr Priyanka Iyer

Junior Resident Representative
Dr Priyanka Iyer is an Obstetrics and Gynaecology Registrar working across North Central and East London. She has a particular interest in early pregnancy and is passionate about improving access to ultrasound training and skills development for trainees.

Dr Andrea Woolner

Scientific Committee
Andrea Woolner is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Aberdeen Centre for Women’s Health Research, University of Aberdeen. She is an Honorary Consultant in Obstetrics and the Early Pregnancy lead consultant for NHS Grampian. Her PhD focussed on the heritability of pregnancy loss. Her daily practice is focussed in early pregnancy scanning, recurrent miscarriage management as well as general obstetrics where she has an interest in antenatal care following loss and hyperemesis. Her research is currently focussed on ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage.

Dr Joel Naftalin

Co-opted Scientific Committee
Joel Naftalin is a Consultant Gynaecologist at University College London Hospitals. His main areas of expertise are early pregnancy and gynaecological ultrasound, emergency gynaecology and benign gynaecological surgery.

AEPU Trainee Education Working Group

We are excited to open applications to join the AEPU Trainee Education Working Group.

Following the approval of our educational curriculum by the AEPU executive committee, we now anticipate this will form the basis of content development that will improve early pregnancy training for trainees and associated healthcare professionals. The deadline for applications is the 3rd April 2026.

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