In collaboration with:

Meet The Team

Infertility treatment is a "team effort" and our team is made up of medical, nursing, scientific, laboratory and administrative staff.

We pride ourselves on our expertise, approachability and friendliness, all of which aim to provide a high quality service to help you through your treatment.

Prof. Richard Fleming, BSc, PhD - Scientific Director

Richard is a Consultant Biochemist and Honorary Professor of Reproductive Medicine at Glasgow University, who has a world-renowned reputation in infertility. As lead member of the Glasgow team, he pioneered IVF treatment protocols in the early 1980’s which are still used in every clinic throughout the world. His expertise in this field has been recognised by appointments to the British Fertility Society (BFS), the European Society for Human Reproduction (ESHRE) and the inspectorate of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA, the governing body of fertility clinics in the UK). He has published more than 100 original research articles in the scientific literature surrounding reproductive medicine and infertility, and he has organised national and international scientific meetings on fertility and ovarian function. He has been awarded many research grants in the area of reproductive medicine related to ovarian function, is an invited speaker internationally and is an acknowledged expert in this field.

Dr. Marco Gaudoin, MBChB, MD FRCOG - Medical Director

Marco is a Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist in South Glasgow (Southern General Hospital, Victoria Infirmary and Ross Hall Hospital). He graduated and trained initially in Edinburgh but undertook his higher specialist training in Glasgow and has been involved in the fields of reproductive medicine and infertility since 1995. He set up an assisted reproduction programme in conjunction with the South Glasgow NHS Trust in 1999, before taking up his first consultant post in England, but returned to South Glasgow in 2002. His MD thesis was on single fetal cell prenatal diagnosis. He has published widely in all areas of reproductive medicine and infertility and continues to pursue these research interests.

Mr. Paul Mitchell, BSc (Hons) - Operations Director

Paul has worked in this field since 1987 and was most recently Laboratory Manager at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. He has held an ICSI licence (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) since 1997 and was the first embryologist in Scotland to hold a Biopsy Practitioners licence for Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) as he has pioneered that work in Scotland. He is currently a member of the Association of Clinical Embryologists Training and Examination Committee and acts at a national level as an assessor for new graduates entering the clinical embryology profession. Paul is responsible for the day to day running of GCRM, overseeing all the many and varied aspects of the clinic.

Miss Judith Fleming - Centre Manager

Jude, has had 6 years experience both in the UK and abroad (USA & Italy) in consumer based business. She has been involved at supervisory and managerial levels in a variety of industries developing skills of promoting professional standards in general and business management. As centre manager she is responsible for the day-to-day running of the centre, and also the planning of new developments. She is often your first point of contact, and is always approachable.

Jude's roles are diverse and include co-ordinating and responding to patient suggestions. She will welcome any suggestions on how to enhance our service and will make it a priority to ensure that the service is geared around the patients and their needs.

Pat Ambrose, RGN, SCM - Nurse Manager

Pat started her nurse training in Edinburgh in 1975 and went on to train as a midwife in Aberdeen. She worked for nine years in the ACS Unit in the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow, where she took on senior practical and managerial roles. She undertook training in a number of the disciplines required in assited conception, including counselling skills, ultrasound scanning and the mentoring of new staff. As the unit expanded her management skills and responsibilities increased and she was actively involved in research and development within the unit. She has also worked as a Practice Nurse in a busy GP Surgery and this has provided her with a broader knowledge of general medicine and health care within the community.

Miss Clare Noble BSc (Hons) - Laboratory Manager

Clare started her embryology career in 1995, most recently spending 9 years as the senior embryologist at the ARGC in London. The consistently high results achieved there and now at the GCRM are a testament to her meticulous nature and skill as an embryologist. She is a state registered clinical scientist and has consulted in clinics both in the UK and abroad. She particularly enjoys a high level of contact with the couples embarking on treatment and maintaining that throughout their cycle.

Prof Scott M Nelson BSc PhD MRCOG - University of Glasgow Principal Lead

Scott is the Muirhead Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Glasgow and a consultant in the Assisted Conception Unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. He specialises in patients with concurrent medical problems requiring infertility treatment including couples requiring pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. Scott trained in Glasgow, completed his PhD at the University of Dundee and then embarked on a further period of academic research as a clinician scientist at the University of Glasgow. Scott’s research group focus on maternal metabolism and immunology and their impact on pregnancy and long-term outcomes. Working at GCRM, Scott will be performing a number of clinical roles as well as conducting consultation clinics.

Dr Rachel Shiels, MBChB, MSC - Clinical Specialist

Rachel has extensive experience in the field of infertility and its treatment. She completed basic training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology before specialising in the field of Reproductive Medicine, after studying in the world-renowned centre in Edinburgh, where she was awarded a MSc with distinction in reproductive Biology. She went on to combine research and clinical practice, working in the International Centre for Life in Newcastle, before moving to the ACS Unit in the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow. Rachel has presented her research at international level and has a strong commitment to the specialty, with more than seven years practical experience.

She is aware of the extremes of emotion that may be experienced by both men and women striving to start a family and, like all at GCRM, Rachel is keen to offer an empathetic, individualised approach to treatment.

Dr Robin Yates MBChB, FRCOG

Robin is the Consultant and Person Responsible at the Assisted Conception Unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) - the Regional Referral Centre for sub-fertility in the West of Scotland. He has a long-standing commitment to the field of assisted reproduction in Scotland, from the start of the donor insemination programme at GRI in the early eighties as research registrar in the University of Glasgow, and later as part of the team developing the IVF programme. The first baby conceived in Scotland as a result of this technology was born in 1985. In 1986 Robin moved to the University of Liverpool to established the clinic there - now one of Britain’s largest clinics. He returned to Glasgow in 1989 as consultant at the Royal Infirmary, building Scotland’s largest Unit. He has published academic papers, has been an inspector for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and served as an advisor to the HFEA.

Dr Helen Lyall BMSc (Hons) MBChB, MD MRCOG

Helen is a Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Assisted Conception Unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary which she jointly runs. She is an accredited Sub-Specialist in Infertility and Reproductive Medicine. She studied Medicine at the University of Dundee, then spent periods training in Dundee (including a period of research leading to an MD) and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary/Centre for Reproductive Biology, before coming to Glasgow in 1995. She has been a Consultant at Glasgow Royal Infirmary since 1999, has published widely in the field holding several research grants. Helen was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 2007. In addition, Helen plays an active role liaising with the Scottish Parliament to establish equity of access to infertility treatment for the Scottish population.

Dr Judith Gemmell MBChB, FRCOG

Judith is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with a special interest in infertility. She graduated from Edinburgh and undertook specialist training in infertility and IVF in Dundee before moving to Glasgow. She has been a Consultant in the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley since 1994. There she runs a weekly infertility clinic with Dr Jeanette Crawford. She established a successful Ovulation Induction and IUI programme in 1994 to treat patients locally. She was a member of the Expert Advisory Group for Infertility Services Scotland (EAGISS) 1999 looking at establishing evidence based standardisation of care for patients with infertility whilst trying to improve equity of access to NHS IVF treatments across Scotland.

Dr Jeannette Crawford MBChB - Clinical Specialist

Jeanette worked as an anaesthetist and in general practice for a number of years before taking up her area of special interest in hospital-based women's medicine. She worked exclusively in a fertility clinic in Glasgow for several years and is now involved in a varied range of women's health and fertility fields in the RAH in Paisley. Jeannette is enthusiastic and enjoys working as part of the dynamic team at GCRM.

Prof. Richard A Anderson BSc, PhD, MD FRCOG - Lead Consultant (GCRM - Edinburgh)

Richard is currently a Consultant in Reproductive Medicine, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Professor of Clinical Reproductive Science, University of Edinburgh. He completed Subspecialty training in Reproductive Medicine in Edinburgh then spent a year in the University of California at San Diego before taking up a consultant post in Edinburgh.
He specialises in Infertility and Reproductive Endocrinology with particular interests in disorders of ovulation and male reproductive function. Other roles include work for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Scientific Advisory Committee, and for the World Health Organisation and the US National Institutes for Health Contraception and Reproductive Health Branch. His Research interests include the hormonal control of male and female reproduction, and changes in ovarian function with age.

Dr Brian Brady BSc Hons, MBChB, MD, MRCOG (GCRM Edinburgh)

After Brian graduated from Edinburgh medical school in 1996 with first class honours in medical sciences and MBChB he completed training in general Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Edinburgh. During this time, he was awarded the Gold Medal in the membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and obtained an MD in Reproductive Medicine. He conducted his research leading to MD at the MRC Centre for Reproductive Biology in Edinburgh, working with Professors Anderson and Baird. He then completed sub-specialisation in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery in Oxford whilst working at the John Radcliffe Hospital within the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford. He was appointed as a consultant at the Simpsons Centre for Reproductive Health, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in 2009.

Brian retains broad clinical interests within the field of reproductive medicine and benign gynaecology, including; the management of sub-fertile couples, reproductive endocrinology, menopause/HRT, menstrual problems and gynaecological surgery.

Mr. Mark Underwood MBChB(Hons), MD, FRCS(Urol)

Mark is a Consultant Urologist at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Ross Hall Hospital and specialises in all aspects of male factor infertility and surgical sperm retrieval procedures.
The operations are performed for men who make sperm in the testicles but in whom the sperm cannot get out in to the ejaculate e.g. men who have a blockage commonly seen after a vasectomy/failed reversal of vasectomy or absence of the vas deferens. The retrieved sperm can then be used for ICSI assisted conception.
He is available for private consultation at GCRM or Ross Hall and the sperm retrieval is carried out either under local anaesthetic at the GCRM (PESA) or under general anaesthetic at Ross Hall (MESA).

Anaesthetists

All egg recoveries at the GCRM are carried out under "conscious sedation". This is provided by consultant aneasthetists, so you can be assured you are in the best hands.

The GCRM protocols were developed by Dr. Douglas Russell, Consultant Anaesthetist at the nearby Southern General Hospital who is also President of the UK Society for Intravenous Anaesthesia. The consultant team consist of: Douglas Russell (Southern General Hospital), Robin Duckworth (Ross Hall Hospital), Guy Fletcher (Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley), Kerry Litchfield (Glasgow Royal Infirmary), Kevin O’Hare (Southern General Hospital) and Kenny Pollock (Southern General Hospital).