32nd World Congress on Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 16–18 September 2022, London and virtual: presentations and awards

The Ian Donald Gold Medal is awarded once a year to an individual who has made a significant scientific contribution to the advancement of diagnostic ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology and who has changed the way in which ultrasound is practiced, through research or innovation. It is a great honor for me to introduce the 2022 winner of this prestigious award, Professor Eduard Gratacós, from the University of Barcelona, Spain. Some 30 years ago, Eduard was resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona. In the late 1990s, he spent 4 years in Leuven, Belgium, focusing on fetal surgery. In 2000, he returned to Barcelona, where he became Professor in obstetrics and gynecology. In 2013, when two hospitals merged, he was appointed as Director of the Barcelona Center for Fetal, Maternal and Neonatal Medicine (BCNatal) and of the associated Fetal Medicine Research Center. Eduard Gratacós is head of a large referral center for fetomaternal medicine and fetal surgery, that employs 82 clinicians and takes care of 4500 high-risk pregnancies and performs 80 fetal surgeries annually. The Research Center combines clinical research with advanced laboratory and animal experimental research. Eduard’s main line of research in fetal surgery concerns congenital diaphragmatic hernia. He is one of the pioneers of fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion (FETO)