Annual Fund support for Obstetrics and Gynaecology
The 2026 Oxford Obstetrics and Gynaecology conference was held at Osler House in May, with funding from the Green Templeton Annual Fund.
Abena Boatey (Clinical Medicine, 2024) reports
On Saturday 2 May 2026, I had the pleasure of attending the Oxford Obstetrics and Gynaecology annual conference, themed Demanding Change. Following this theme, the conference focused on some of the most pressing areas within women’s reproductive health that require transformation and continued improvement for the communities it serves: pain, maternal care and femtech.
The conference began with an inspiring talk by Green Templeton Senior Research Fellow Professor Arri Coomarasamy OBE, who reflected on his career journey, highlighting experiences that shaped his commitment to improving women’s healthcare. He shared a framework for understanding disease, including how we define a disease and applying this to postpartum haemorrhage and its challenges. He shared the clinical progress made by himself and his colleagues in this area through changing guidelines and showcased the meaningful impacts of clinical definitions when they are grounded in strong evidence and tailored to the populations they describe.
This was followed by Professor Krina Zondervan, the first female Head of the NuVield Women’s Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health. Her talk centred on her pioneering research into chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis, with collaborations across the world, highlighting the potential of genetics in deepening the understanding of these conditions, as well as the diagnosis and emerging links between the two conditions. To conclude the first half of the afternoon, a fourth-year medical student was invited to talk about their Final Honours School project focusing on endometriosis pathology, with a focus on interaction with the central nervous system to drive its presentation, exhibiting how student-led research can also have a position in identifying areas of change.
Following these engaging talks, attendees enjoyed a lunch reception organised by the society in the foyer. Alongside a wonderful selection of food, were beautifully decorated cupcakes featuring’s the society logo, creating an excellent opportunity for networking between speakers, attendees and organisers.
The final talk of the day was given by Kate Sheridan, a recent DPhil graduate, who dived into the newly emerging field of femtech, experiences and perspectives from its users and interestingly its interaction with clinicians and healthcare. Kate described her thematic analysis of these platforms, and discussed the gaps these technologies aim to address and the new direction necessary for improving patient and clinician experience with them.
Overall, the conference spotlighted the exciting progress being made in Obstetrics and Gynaecology through the unique perspectives of their speakers and showcased how passion, care and determination through research, collaboration and innovation can drive hope and action.
