Faculty Profiles

Course Directors & Presenters

Richard Reid completed his specialist training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, winning the F.J. Browne Gold Medal in 1977. He did a Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship at Wayne State University, Detroit and remained on faculty in Michigan for the next 19 years, before returning to private practice in Sydney in 1997. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American, Royal & RANZCOG Colleges of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Dr Reid has published over 100 scientific papers and five medical monographs, including a widely used colposcopic index and a description of surgical planes by which the depth of vulvar laser ablation could be accurately controlled. He has directed scores of postgraduate surgical workshops. Dr Reid's principal interests are the teaching of surgical anatomy of the pelvic sidewall, effective use of tissue augmentation materials and evolving more durable methods of cystocoele - rectocoele repair. He has recently developed some innovative methods to simplify transvaginal access to the retroperitoneal spaces. Dr Reid was appointed Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Rural Medicine, Armidale, and Conjoint Associate Professor, University of Newcastle, Australia in 2009.

Carl W. Zimmerman completed his specialist training at Vanderbilt Medical Centre, in Nashville, Tennessee and is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After 28 years in private practice, he was promoted to Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where he staffs a Pelvic Floor Surgical Referral Clinic. He has authored chapters on pelvic reconstructive surgery in the 9th and 10th editions of Te Linde's Operative Gynecology, and has also co-edited a revision of the late David Nichol's classic ’Vaginal Surgery’ textbook. Zimmerman has also been Course Director of a very influential vaginal surgical program, Issues in Pelvic Surgery (since 1993), and is Past President of the Society of Pelvic Reconstructive Surgeons. He has developed several surgical instruments and techniques that are widely used in vaginal and site-specific prolapse repair, and has traveled widely to teach vaginal surgical methods as a visiting professor. Professor Zimmerman's principal interests are the anatomy of the endopelvic connective tissues, obstetric contributions to pelvic organ support failure, advanced techniques of vaginal hysterectomy and the promotion of site-specific prolapse repair.

J. Lewis Lander graduated from the University of Queensland Medical School, then served in the Royal Australian Navy reaching the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant Commander. On retiring from the navy, Dr Lander undertook post graduate training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Royal Hospital for Women, Paddington, Sydney and the National Women's hospital, Auckland. He holds specialist qualifications with the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Royal Australian College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Dr Lander then returned to Australia, as Warden of clinical studies in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Queensland Medical School. In 1988, he established state-wide urodynamics clinics, servicing the eastern seaboard of Queensland from Cairns to Brisbane. Currently he has an appointment as a visiting consultant Gynaecologist and senior lecturer at the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital, Brisbane. He maintains a busy uro-gynaecological practice and regularly lectures or demonstrates surgical techniques local and overseas.

Chris Harmston did his undergraduate studies at Birmingham University, gained his FRCS in Colorectal Surgery at West Midlands, and has just completed a post CCT fellowship in pelvic floor surgery at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. He was appointed consultant colorectal surgeon with an interest in pelvic floor surgery at University Hospital Coventry in summer 2009. Mr Harmston’s principal clinical interests are rectal prolapse, obstructed defecation and faecal incontinence. He has presented extensively on pelvic floor disorders in Europe, and during a travelling fellowship to Australia. His most recent research has investigated the association between internal rectal prolapse and anal sphincter pressures.

Peter von Theobald completed his undergraduate medical degree at the Créteil Faculty of Medecine (Paris XII) from 1977-83. He then trained in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University Hospital of Caen (Normandy, France) completing Residencies in Gynaecology and Obstetrics (1985-87), Digestive Surgery (1985-86) and Surgical Oncology (1987). He was awarded his Medical Doctorate in 1987, reading a thesis on High risk malignant trophoblastic disease; Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1989; and Master of Science (Caen) in 1993. Dr von Theobald was appointed Praticien Hospitalier at the University Hospital of Caen in 1987, where he has remained ever since , rising to the post of Lecturer in 1992 and Professeur in 1998. He is an accomplished endoscopic and vaginal surgeon, and is presently coauthoring an advanced pelvic floor textbook (with Prof Carl Zimmerman and Dr Willie Davila) entitled Vaginal Prolapse Surgery: New Techniques. Prof von Theobald was among the French pioneers of mesh repair, and has a deep insight into the risks and benefits posed by these techniques.

Ami Shukla did her undergraduate studies in India, then completed her MD and MRCOG in the UK. Miss Ami Shukla is a specialist in Pelvic Gynaecological Surgery and Pelvic Ultrasound and is currently working as a Specialist Urogynaecologist at Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation trust. She has a special interest in pelvic floor surgery, especially recurrent prolapse and urinary incontinence.

Alistair Duncan trained on the Queen Charlottes and Guys Hospital Rotations in London and then as Senior Registrar at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. He holds MBBS, BSc, FRCS, FRCSE & FRCOG qualifications. In 1992, Mr Duncan completed a Gynaecological Oncology Fellowship at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and has been the Lead Surgeon for Gynaecological Oncology at the Northamptonshire Cancer Centre since 1993. He is an examiner for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, a Founder Member of the British Society Gynaecological Imaging, and a National Peer reviewer of Cancer Services in the UK