Speaker BIO:
I. Positions and employment
Obstetrician, Head of Fetal Medicine section, Professor, Leiden University Medical Centre, Dept. of Obstetrics
II. Other relevant experience and professional memberships
Prof. Oepkes has been working in the field of prenatal medicine since 1988. He works and conducts research in prenatal screening, prenatal diagnostics, and fetal therapy. Since 2002 he heads the section of prenatal diagnosis in the LUMC. He is the scientific secretary of the Dutch Working group of Prenatal Diagnosis and Therapy, he has occupied the chair of the Regional Center of Prenatal Screening North-South Netherlands, and has been a member of the Dutch Centraal Orgaan of Prenatal Screening, and member of several RIVM committees on prenatal screening. Active member of the International Society for Prenatal Diagnosis (Chairman of Fetal Surgery Special Interest Group), International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society, Fetoscopy Group. Associate Editor of Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Diagnosis & Therapy. Board member of the Dutch Fetal Medicine Foundation. He is co-founder, chairman and an active driving force in the Dutch NIPT consortium.
III. Honors and awards
NIHCD Fellowship Award to join the Perinatal Research Society Banff, Alberta, Canada, September 15-17, 2000
Award for Best Clinical Presentation: ‘Evaluation of simulator-based teaching for invasive perinatal procedures’, 24th Annual Eastern Canada Perinatal Investigators Meeting, Kingston, Ontario November 9-11, 2000
Award for Best Poster Presentation: ‘ Teaching Invasive Perinatal Procedures: Assessment of a High Fidelity Simulator-based Curriculum’. Annual General Meeting of the Association of Professors in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Toronto, Canada December 2, 2000.
Award for Best Fellow Research 2001, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto: ‘Teaching Invasive Perinatal Procedures: Assessment of a High Fidelity Simulator-based Curriculum’. 19th Annual Research Day, Toronto, Canada, 11 May 2001
Award of Research Excellence, Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, for oral presentation of "Minimally Invasive Management of Rh-alloimmunization in Pregnancy: Can Amniotic Fluid
Overview
In many countries, non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) became available to pregnant women in 2012 or 2013. At first, since only a few laboratories in the USA, China and Germany were able to provide this service, obstetricians after counseling took blood samples and shipped them to these labs. Patients paid the, at first, high costs themselves. In 2014, non-commercial (university) laboratories were able to perform NIPT themselves. National screening programs emerged incorporating NITP, and prices dropped conside
