All times indicated below are in UTC.
Saturday, February 28, 2026
Chairs: Cristiane Carboni (Brazil) and Angie Rantell (UK)

Cristiane Carboni

Angie Rantell PhD, ALNP
Since 2007, Angie has been working in the Urogynaecology Department at King’s College Hospital and is currently a Consultant nurse / nurse cystoscopist. She is actively involved in research and was awarded a PhD in Urogynaecology in 2019 investigating sexual function in women with overactive bladder. In 2019 Angie was awarded RCN credentialing for advanced level nursing practice. She also works as a Senior lecturer in Professional Practice in Physiotherapy delivering a multidisciplinary master’s program in Pelvic health at Brunel University.
To date she has published over 60 articles in peer reviewed journals and has written book chapters and contributed to National guidelines. As well as her clinical and research activities she provides advice to governmental bodies including NHS England and ICS’s throughout the UK. She is currently the Chair of the AHP group in the British Society of Urogynaecology, Deputy Chair for the ACA, the past chair of the Nursing and Midwifery special interest group within IUGA and a member of the Education committee for ICS.
10:30 – 10:45 AM: Break
Workshop 1 - Working Together: Supporting Self-Management for Women with Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Lucy Dwyer (UK) and Rohna Kearney (UK)

Lucy Dwyer
Lucy Dwyer is a consultant nurse working within Urogynaecology at The Warrell Unit, Saint Mary's Hospital, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. Lucy has a particular interest in conservative management in urogynaecology and received an NIHR fellowship to undertake doctoral research to explore the factors affecting willingness to self-manage a pessary for prolapse. Lucy is a passionate advocate for nurse led research and has an interest in using visual, creative and arts-based methods.
Workshop 2 - Women in Pelvic Health: A Global Perspective – in Collaboration with International Organization of Physiotherapists in Women's and Pelvic Health (IOPPWH)
Cristine Homsi (Brazil), Corlia Brandt (South Africa) and Nina Theodorsen (Norway)

Corlia Brandt
Prof Corlia Brandt started working in private practice in 2000, whereafter she entered the academic field and obtained a Master`s and PhD degree at the University of the Free State, and an MSc in Epidemiology (Implementation Science) at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her main areas of interest are Epidemiology, Neuromusculoskeletal, Sport, Pelvic and Women`s Health, and research.
Currently she is the chair of the Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation Speciality Group of the International Urogynaecology Association (IUGA), as well as on the IUGA Africa Advisory Board; the President on the International Organisation for Physiotherapists in Pelvic and Women’s Health (World Physiotherapy), chair of the Professional Development Portfolio on the National Executive Committee (SASP), Past-President of the South African Sexual Health Association; and on the editorial board for the African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine.
She has published several papers in international journals and has presented at international congresses, where her research has also been nominated for awards.
She has facilitated the establishment of pelvic floor units as a collaboration between academia, researchers, and private practitioners. She is currently an associate professor at the University of the Witwatersrand – continuing her passion for integrating research, clinical practice, and teaching – and developing Pelvic and Women`s Health clinics suitable for a South African context and as part of the WiSH research group.

Nina-Margrethe Theodorsen, PT, PhD
Nina-Margrethe Theodorsen is a physiotherapist and associate professor at the University of Bergen, Norway, specializing in women’s health. Her research focuses on Diastasis Recti Abdominis during pregnancy and postpartum period. She is the program director of the clinical masters program in Manual Therapy MSK and also works as a clinical specialist in women’s health and pelvic floor in an outpatient clinic. She is the vice chair of the Women’s health group, Norwegian Physiotherapy Association, and also the treasurer of the IOPPWH, World Physiotherapy.
Workshop 3 - Fascia in Focus: Autonomic Regulation, Ultrasound Imaging, and Hypermobility Challenges
Fabiana Silva (Brazil), Kyra De Coninck and Tina Wang

Fabiana Silva
Fabiana Silva is a Physiotherapist from Brazil with 24 years of clinical experience. She works with patients with chronic pain and dysautonomia. Together with the clinical expertise she develops research being a leadership in Latin America about research on fascia, vagus nerve and chronic pain. She has a master’s degree in Epidemiology and is a PhD candidate at UFCSPA and Vrije Universiteit Brussles, working in Chronic low back pain. She is also the President of the Fascia Research Society.

Dr Kyra De Coninck
University of Kent, UK
School of Natural Sciences
Senior Lecturer in Sport Rehabilitation
SERS Student Success Lead
SNS Academic Lead PGR Student Wellbeing
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Dr Kyra De Coninck has more than 20 years of experience in teaching and research at the University of Kent. She delivers modules in research methods, soft tissue techniques, and the psychology of rehabilitation.
Kyra’s research investigates the role of fascia in movement and pain, with a particular focus on lower back pain. She utilises ultrasound imaging to investigate structural and functional changes in fascial tissue. She founded the Kent Fascia Group, has supervised numerous PhD and master’s by Research students. She presents her research at international conferences and has published her research widely.
She is a Director of the Fascia Research Society, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, and a member of the Anatomical Society.

Tina J. Wang, MD
Tina J. Wang, MD is a board-certified physician in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation with over 15 years of experience in musculoskeletal medicine, rehabilitation, and performing arts medicine. She is a clinician-researcher, university professor, scientific author, and founder of a clinic dedicated to the care of individuals with hypermobility disorders.
Dr. Wang holds faculty appointments at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, the University of California, Riverside, and the Southern California University of Health Sciences, where she contributes to musculoskeletal education with emphasis on imaging-based diagnosis, interventional techniques, and integrative approaches to rehabilitation.
Her research centers on fascia and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders/Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (HSD/EDS), with published work investigating the ultrasound characteristics of fascia in these conditions. She is an active fascia researcher and serves as Vice President and board member of the Fascia Research Society.
11:45 AM – 12:30 PM: Break
Sunday, March 1, 2026
Chairs: Cristiane Carboni (Brazil) and Angie Rantell (UK)

Cristiane Carboni

Angie Rantell PhD, ALNP
Since 2007, Angie has been working in the Urogynaecology Department at King’s College Hospital and is currently a Consultant nurse / nurse cystoscopist. She is actively involved in research and was awarded a PhD in Urogynaecology in 2019 investigating sexual function in women with overactive bladder. In 2019 Angie was awarded RCN credentialing for advanced level nursing practice. She also works as a Senior lecturer in Professional Practice in Physiotherapy delivering a multidisciplinary master’s program in Pelvic health at Brunel University.
To date she has published over 60 articles in peer reviewed journals and has written book chapters and contributed to National guidelines. As well as her clinical and research activities she provides advice to governmental bodies including NHS England and ICS’s throughout the UK. She is currently the Chair of the AHP group in the British Society of Urogynaecology, Deputy Chair for the ACA, the past chair of the Nursing and Midwifery special interest group within IUGA and a member of the Education committee for ICS.
9:30 – 9:40 AM: Break
Workshop 1 - Rewiring Pelvic Pain: Evidence from Central Sensitization Science, Mind–Body Recovery Skills, and Mixed-Methods Study Data from a Digital Home Program
Evelyn Hecht, PT (USA)

Evelyn Hecht, PT
Evelyn Hecht is an expert in pelvic physical therapy and founder of PelvicSense, a pain-science-informed digital program supporting pelvic pain self-management. As a Certified Biopsychosocial Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Practitioner, she specializes in complex and persistent urogynecological pain conditions. Evelyn serves as a course developer and educator in pelvic health at NYU and Stony Brook University. Her work integrates pain neuroscience, nervous system regulation, and evidence-based pelvic rehabilitation approaches. She is also actively involved in women’s health research aimed at improving access to patient-centered care for chronic pelvic pain.
Website: www.pelvicsense.com
Email:
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelyn-hecht-pt-72681525/
Instagram: @pelvicsense
Workshop 2 - IMS: Update on MHT and Menopause Management
Premitha Damodaran, Rod Baber and Haitham Hamoda

Dr. Premitha Damodaran
Dr. Premitha Damodaran is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur. She is an active leader in women’s health both nationally and internationally. She currently serves as President of the College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Menopause Society. She also chairs the Menopause and Midlife Women’s Health Committee of the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Malaysia.

Rod Baber
Workshop 3 - Imaging Pelvic Floor Birth Trauma: From Diagnosis to Perineal Clinic Care
Clara Shek, Hans Peter Dietz and Nisha Subramaniam
Workshop 4 - GynZone: Diagnosing Perineal Lacerations After Vaginal Birth. A Workshop About Building Competence and Confidence Using a Blended Learning Approach
Sara Kindberg Adelskov (Denmark)

Sara Kindberg Adelskov is a Danish midwife, researcher, and healthcare entrepreneur known for her contributions to women's health. She holds a PhD in Health Sciences and has conducted significant research in reproductive health. Sara is the founder and CEO of GynZone, a company specializing in online medical education and training for healthcare professionals in obstetrics and gynecology. Through her work, she has advanced the quality of maternal care and the treatment
of birth-related injuries. Sara is recognized for her dedication to improving women's health globally through innovation, research, and professional education.
Workshop 5 -New Frontiers in Uterine Disorder
- Embryology and etiopathogenesis of accessory cavitated uterine malformation (ACUM) by Maribel Acién
- Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis of ACUM by Grigoris Grimbizis
- Treatment and Counselling of ACUM by Lan Zhu
- Q&A & Discussion
10:30 – 10:40 AM: Break
Moderators: Gabriel Ganyaglo (Ghana) and Abdul Sultan (UK)

Dr. Gabriel Ganyaglo
Consultant Urogynaecologist
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Accra, Ghana

Adbul Sultan
10:40 - 10:55 AM Pelvic Health in Low-Resource Settings: Success Stories
Aparna Hedge (India)

Stanford and Cleveland Clinic trained internationally renowned Urogynecologist, Dr. Aparna Hegde, is the founder of NGO ARMMAN, which creates scalable programs using technology innovatively to impact maternal and child health. ARMMAN works in 20 states in India and it’s five programs have reached more than 41 million women and their children and trained over 325,000 health workers.
She is Associate Professor (Hon) of Urogynecology at Cama Hospital in Mumbai and her diligent efforts and perseverance were instrumental in the setting up of the Department of Urogynecology at Cama & Albless Hospital, Grant Medical College, Mumbai, first-of-its kind Center of Excellence and the only functioning University based department in the field in India. She is also Consultant Urogynecologist at Surya Hospital, Global Hospital and Mitr Hospital, Mumbai. She is also the Founder and Director of the Center for Urogynecology and Pelvic Health, New Delhi. She is the Chair of the FIUGA (the Foundation for International Urogynecological Assistance), the foundation arm of the International Urogynecology Association (IUGA) and the Chair of the IUGA Publication Committee. She is a member of the Editorial Board of International Urogynecology Journal, the International Urogynecology Committee on Prolapse and the 7th International Consultation on Continence. She is also a senior Visiting Fellow, IIM Ahmedabad.
Dr. Hegde is an accomplished researcher with over 75 publications/abstracts and has done pioneering work in the field of 2D and 3D ultrasound of the pelvic floor which she teaches internationally. She is a recipient of a prestigious NIH (National Institute of Health, US) grant for her large field study on dysfunctional voiding in adolescent girls. She was also be awarded the Fellowship of the Sri Lankan Menopause Society in 2019, the 2nd international dignitary to be awarded the same, for contributions made to develop Urogynecology in Sri Lanka.
Dr. Hegde was featured in Fortune magazine’s 50 Greatest World Leaders 2021 at the 15th spot, one of only two Indians on the list. She was awarded the ‘Women Transforming India award’ by NITI Aayog in 2022, Senior Ashoka fellowship in 2021, and TED Fellowship in 2020. She was also awarded USAID ‘Social Entrepreneur’ award (2018), ‘Woman ChangeMaker’ award (Womanity Foundation, Geneva, 2017), ‘People’s Choice Award’ at Saving Lives at Birth event (Washington DC, 2011), among other awards. She has been featured as one of the five global women leaders in the Voice of America documentary, ‘A Single Step: Journeys of Women Leaders’ (2015). ARMMAN was awarded the Kenneth Frazier award for maternal health equity in 2023, the prestigious Co-Impact grant for system strengthening in 2022, the Skoll award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2020, the British Medical Journal South Asia Award for ‘Maternal & Child Health Team’ (2018), WHO Public Health Champion Award (2017) etc.
10:55 - 11:10 AM Pelvic Health in Gender Services
Miti Rach (UK)

Miti is a Clinical Lead Pelvic Health Practitioner and Non-Medical Independent Prescriber working in the NHS. She is an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion at a Central London teaching hospital and a Pelvic Health spokesperson for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, U.K.
Passionate about pelvic health she ensures that the services are inclusive of a gender diverse population and also leads the pelvic health physiotherapy team in gender services.
11:10 - 11:25 AM Pelvic Care in Oncological Survivors
Marie Pierre Cyr (Canada)

Marie-Pierre Cyr, PhD, MSc, MPT, is an Assistant Professor at the School of Rehabilitation, Université de Montréal, and Researcher at the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal in Canada.
She is a physiotherapist with certification in pelvic health practice from the Université de Montréal and has clinical experience in musculoskeletal and pelvic health.
Her research focuses on pelvic, women’s, and men’s health. She has made significant contributions in the fields of pelvic pain, oncology, and conservative treatments for pelvic floor disorders. She has published 19 peer-reviewed papers and has presented her work at more than 40 national and international conferences.
Her research employs both quantitative and qualitative methods to address clinically relevant questions. Her clinical and research interests include the pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of pelvic floor disorders such as pelvic pain, incontinence, sexual dysfunction, and the development and validation of assessment tools.
11:25 - 11:40 AM Pelvic Floor and PTSD: Trauma-Informed Physiotherapy
Talli Rosenbaum (Israel)

Talli Yehuda Rosenbaum, MSc, Certified Sex Therapist and Supervisor
Talli Yehuda Rosenbaum is an individual and couples therapist specializing in sexual and relational health. A certified sex therapist and supervisor by IAPST and the Israeli Society for Sex Therapy, she integrates psychodynamic, relational and trauma informed approaches in her work with individuals and couples. Talli is co-author of I Am for My Beloved: A Guide to Enhanced Intimacy for Married Couples, co-editor of Springer text The Overactive Pelvic Floor, and co-host of the Intimate Judaism podcast. She lectures internationally and teaches in post-graduate programs in sex therapy and psychologically and trauma informed counseling for pelvic health professionals.
11:40 AM - 12:00 PM Panel Discussion
12:00 – 12:10 PM: Break
Moderators: Fred Milani (NL) and Lucia Berry (UK)

Fred Milani
Fred Milani began his term on the IUGA Board as Vice President at the beginning of 2021 and has been the IUGA President since early 2023. He served as a Medical Officer in a District Hospital in Northwest Tanzania for four years before he was registered as a consultant gynecologist-obstetrician in 1993 and started his career in a teaching hospital in Delft, the Netherlands. He retired from clinical practice in July 2020. He’s been an active member of IUGA since 1996. He also chaired the Dutch Pelvic Floor Society, completed a PhD thesis and published numerous articles, and was an invited expert for SCENIHR on their opinion on the safety of surgical meshes in urogynecological surgery.
12:10 - 12:25 PM Big Data and AI in Pelvic Health Research
Kevin Rademakers (NL)
Kevin Rademakers works as a urologist at Zuyderland Medical Center since 2021 with robotics as main practice, e.g. robot cystectomy with urinary diversion and robotic reconstructive procedures. He has a research background in functional urology with an expertise in urodynamics and voiding dysfunctions / detrusor underactivity.
12:25 - 12:40 PM Digital Rehab: What Apps and Wearables Can (and Can’t) Do
Diane Newman (USA)
TBA
12:40 - 12:55 PM Publishing, Collaboration and Impact in Women's Health
Małgorzata (Gosia) Starzec-Proserpio (Poland)

Małgorzata ‘Gosia’ Starzec-Proserpio, PT, PhD, is a women’s health physiotherapist, researcher, and educator with international experience gained in Poland, the Czech Republic, Norway, Spain and Canada. Currently, she divides her professional and personal life between Europe and Canada, where she conducts her postdoctoral fellowship focused on pelvic pain at the Pelvic Health Research Laboratory, led by Professor Mélanie Morin at the Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke. Since the beginning of her career, she has been dedicated to improving perineal and pelvic health for women. She is deeply interested in bridging the gap between research and practice, making science more appealing, accessible, and "user-friendly."
Instagram: @starzecproserpio_phd https://www.instagram.com/starzecproserpio_phd/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mstarzec
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Malgorzata-Starzec-Proserpio
12:55 - 1:15 PM Motivational Talk About Her Role at the Royal College
Ranee Thakar (UK)

Ranee Thakar became President of the RCOG December 2022. Ranee is a Consultant Obstetrician and Urogynaecologist at Croydon University Hospital and Honorary Senior Lecturer, St George’s University of London. She is an experienced leader with a clear understanding of the operational, clinical and training demands facing the specialty today. She is an IUGA Past-President (2019-2020) and was awarded the IUGA Distinguished Service Award in June of 2023 at the IUGA Annual Meeting in The Hague.
Ranee has a long-standing commitment to the RCOG, having fulfilled a number of important roles including Secretary of the British Society of Urogynaecology, honorary director of conferences, and Council representative for South Asia.
Most recently, Ranee was Senior Vice President for Global Health, from 2019-2022. Under her leadership, the RCOG global health team secured funding to implement the Essential Gynaecology Skills programme in Bangladesh and she also led the Making Abortion Safe programme, which promotes safe abortion and contraception in five sub-Saharan countries. Maintaining these programmes and expanding the RCOG’s global initiatives, to improve the health of women and girls globally, will remain a priority for Ranee throughout her Presidency.
Ranee has a proven track record for supporting colleagues and as co-chair of the RCOG Race Equality Taskforce, led her workstream to deliver several essential initiatives including an e-learning module on tackling racism, a tool kit on differential attainment and a coaching programme to develop champions who will provide continuing support to the RCOG membership. Ranee will continue to lead the RCOG’s work to tackle inequalities across women’s health as one of her Presidential priorities.
Ranee has an impressive academic profile with over 200 publications and has made a significant contribution to improving perineal trauma outcomes by training obstetricians and midwives to provide safer maternity care for women globally. She is past President of the International Urogynecological Association and led the national obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASI) Care Bundle Project. Regionally, Ranee leads the Perinatal Pelvic Health Project and Urogynaecology network for South-West London, developing multi-disciplinary collaboration with urologists, midwives, physiotherapists, nurses and GPs.











