Meet the Team

Richard Kennedy

Richard Kennedy is the Director of the Centre for Reproducive Medicine and is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist.  He completed his specialist training in 1988 when he began his consultant career in Coventry.  It was here he set up the IVF service in 1990.  His non clinical roles include specialist advisor to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for who he also inspects, he is the immediate past secretary of the British Fertility Society and is now Secretary General of the International Federation of Fertility Societies.  Most recently he has been appointed Associate Medical Director for the UHCW NHS Trust.  As well as leading the infertility service he is an experienced gynaecologist with expertise in minimal access surgery and the treatment of endometriosis and is Clinical Director for Women's Services. 

Kate Grieve

Kate is the CRM's counsellor. She has 12 years counselling experience in the fields of child bereavement (4 yrs at West Midlands Child Bereavement Centre), couple relationships (5yrs at RELATE) and infertility (7 yrs at CRM). She has a professional background in community and hospital social work with adults, children and families.  She holds a BA (Hons) in Social Administration / Physical Education, a post-graduate Diploma in Applied Social Studies and a Diploma in Humanistic Counselling.  She is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP),the British Infertility Counselling Association (MBICA) and the British Fertility Society.  She also is an external adviser to the HFEA.

Stephen Keay

Stephen graduated from Edinburgh University where he did his clinical training in Obstetrics & Gynaecology before moving to Bristol University where he undertook his MD thesis “The relationship between poor ovarian response to gonadotrophin stimulation and the outcome of in vitro fertilisation” under Professor Mike Hull and Professor Julian Jenkins. His main clinical interests are in Infertility and Reproductive Endocrinology.  His research interests are in the mechanisms controlling ovarian response to stimulation and the role of glucocorticoids in IVF practice.

Sue Montgomery

Sue has worked as an embryologist at the CRM since 1992, when she took up a post as Trainee embryologist, with six months previous experience at a private unit in Birmingham. Having completed two years' training, she continued to gain experience, assuming the role of Senior Embryologist in 1995. Also in this year, she introduced the technique of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) to the unit, together with Dr Hazel Baker who joined the embryology team.  Whilst continuing to work full time, she completed a part-time PhD, in 2004. The research involved studying the effects that fragmentation has on further human embryo development, giving an insight into which embryos from a fragmented group are most likely to implant.  She is currently the Head of Embryology, managing the day to day running of the embryology laboratory, including the scientific components of the treatments that we provide and all of the embryology staff.

Sarah Drury

During her time studying at the University of Wolverhampton from 1997-2001, Sarah opted to enrol in a one year Sandwich Placement at the Birmingham Women's Hospital.  Whilst there, she completed her honours project on apoptotic markers in cumulus cells, and presented her findings to the Joint UK Fertility Societies Meeting in Edinburgh, resulting in her being awarded the title of British Fertility Society Best Young Scientist 2000.

Sarah completed the first semester of her final year at the University of Kentucky, during which time she achieved the honour of being placed on teh Deans List for Academic Excellence.  Sarah graduated in the summer of 2001 with a 2:1 (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences. 

Following a short stint as a Research Assistant at the University of Wolverhampton, studying a novel auto-antigen involved in the autoimmune condition Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, she returned to Birmingham Womens Hospital as a Junior Andrologist in 2002.  In 2004, Sarah expanded her repertoire when she moved into the Embryology lab and began studing for her certificate in Clinical Embryology.  In August 2007, she joined the team here at the Centre for Reproductive Medicine as a Senior Andrologist and will continue working in Embryology also.

Geraldine Hartshorne

Geraldine is the Scientific Director, a post she holds together with a Professorial Fellowship at Warwick Medical School.  Her PhD, awarded in 1989, was supervised by Professor Robert Edwards, IVF pioneer, and she held appointments at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, before moving to Warwick in 1995.  Her work spans a wide range of research and clinical service development.  Her research interests are mainly focused on human egg development, but also incude embryo viability assessment, cryo-preservation, embryonic stem cells and the social and ethical dimensions of human assisted conception.  As well as gaining knowledge that is important for progress, her research ensures that services at the CRM are continually updated and that improvements can be introduced rapidly.  Geraldine is involved in many professional and academic activities, including advising the EU, Department of Health and HFEA.  She is Chair of Examiners in Clinical Embryology at the Royal College of Pathologists and an editor of the learned journal 'Reproduction'.