Each year the RANZCOG Women’s Health Foundation offers a range of grants and scholarships supporting research into women’s health.

This year, the Foundation is offering over $360,000 worth of grants and scholarships. Here, meet one of our previous successful recipients of the RANZCOG NSW Trainee Research grant, Dr Cansu Uzuner.

The RANZCOG NSW State Committee Research Grants and Travel Scholarships support research in obstetrics, gynaecology and related disciplines. Aimed at promoting academia as a career these grants provide funding for accredited FRANZCOG Trainees and early career RANZCOG Fellows who reside in NSW.

Dr Cansu Uzuner was awarded a $10,000 Trainee Research grant for her project ‘Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound with Pulse Inversion Technology in Gynaecology’. This project utilised a novel testing technique to assess gynaecological organs and pathologies through the use of intravenous ultrasound contrast and pulse inversion technology, currently used in cardiac ultrasound. The project aimed to improve the ability of ultrasound to diagnose difficult to visualise gynaecological pathological conditions and test its potential to be a good adjunct to investigation of gynaecological pathologies for patients who cannot have MRI scans or high surgical risk patients. Despite the limited findings, this was a novel approach to assess whether contrast-enhanced imaging can aid in diagnosis in ultrasound imaging of pelvic organs.

The field of sonology and diagnostic ultrasound in gynaecology has had incredible advances in the last ten years. This has resulted in improvement in non-invasive diagnostic techniques and has opened up possibilities of novel techniques to assess gynaecological pathologies.

Dr Cansu Uzuner is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist currently working as a Staff Specialist and Co-lead of Early Pregnancy Assessment and Acute Gynaecology Service at Nepean Hospital. She obtained her FRANZCOG after completing a two-year Gynaecology Fellowship of Gynaecological Ultrasound and Laparoscopic Surgery Endometriosis at Nepean Hospital and undertaking her RANZCOG Core Training through the Royal North Shore Hospital. She is a member of AGES, ISUOG and ASUM and is currently completing her DDU (Diploma of Diagnostic Ultrasound). Her special interests in research are gynaecological ultrasound, endometriosis, and early pregnancy complications. She has been involved in multiple research studies including the International Deep Endometriosis Analysis (IDEA) terminology validation pilot study.