Professor Ioannis D Gallos DMS MD MRCOG

Professor Ioannis D Gallos

Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research
Honorary Professor

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 623 6837
Email
i.d.gallos@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@IoannisGallos
View my research portal
Address
WHO Collaborating Centre for Women's Health
Institute of Translational Medicine
Heritage Building
Mindelsohn Way
Birmingham
B15 2TH

Ioannis’ research work focusses on health issues affecting women and families living in resource-constrained settings, particularly targeting on ways to stop mothers dying from excessive bleeding during childbirth.

Every six minutes, a mother dies from losing too much blood while giving birth. The tragedy is that this is almost always preventable.

Oxytocin is the standard medicine for the prevention of bleeding, recommended for all women giving birth, but requires cold storage, which is unavailable in many countries. Ioannis led the evidence synthesis research at the University of Birmingham, which found that a heat-stable drug carbetocin is more effective, equally safe, and more cost-effective than oxytocin for preventing excessive bleeding after childbirth. Based on this work, the World Health Organization (WHO):

As a result, carbetocin has obtained regulatory approval and adoption of carbetocin into national guidelines and practice has begun in India, Kenya, and Nigeria.

Despite an effective prevention medicine, millions of women will still bleed excessively after childbirth. Women often go on to bleed excessively before the complication is recognised and treated.

Sparked by this global public health challenge, Ioannis is coordinating a global effort to tackle bleeding after childbirth, called the E-MOTIVE programme. The aim is to implement an early detection strategy and a ‘first response’ bundle of care for cutting down deaths and complications related to excessive bleeding by 25%. The E-MOTIVE team will work with international partners and coordinating centres in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, and Sri Lanka to test the E-MOTIVE intervention in a large randomised trial across 80 health facilities, involving over 300,000 women. The E-MOTIVE study is supported by the Institute of Global Innovation of the University of Birmingham and a $10.9M grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

For most women, if healthcare providers detect the problem early and treat it efficiently, the bleeding will stop and the mother will be safe. If, however, the treatment does not succeed and a woman continues to bleed despite the first response treatment, then her life is at risk. Ioannis is coordinating a team for developing, with funding from the Medical Research Council in the UK, a provisional management package for these women who continue to bleed despite first response treatment. This programme is due to be field-tested and piloted in five health facilities in Kenya.

Qualifications

  • CCT & SST (Certificate of Completion of Training in Obstetrics & Gynaecology with Sub-specialty in Reproductive Medicine) General Medical Council, October 2018
  • MD (Doctor of Medicine, University of Birmingham, UK), June 2014
  • MRCOG, May 2014
  • DMS (Degree in Medicine & Surgery cum laude, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Italy), October 2005

Biography

Ioannis qualified M.D. cum laude from the University of Rome, Italy in 2005. During his undergraduate studies he received a number of travel research scholarships and distinctions.

He subsequently completed a Wellbeing of Women funded research training scholarship investigating the management and prognosis of endometrial hyperplasia, for which he has submitted his MD thesis and authored a Green top guideline on “The management of endometrial hyperplasia”. He then undertook a year of combined clinical training and academic work as academic clinical fellow in Oxford and John Radcliffe hospital before returning to University of Birmingham as a Clinical Lecturer and then as a sub-specialist trainee in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery. He started working as a Clinician Scientist in University of Birmingham and Honorary Consultant for Birmingham Women’s Hospital since February 2018. In July 2019, he was appointed as a senior lecturer in global women’s health and Joint Director for the WHO Collaborating Centre in Global Women’s Health at the University of Birmingham.

Teaching

  •  MBChB course
  • 2nd year RED module
  • 5th year Obstetrics and Gynaecology module

Postgraduate supervision

Currently, Ioannis is supervising eight PhD students. Has previously supervised students for BMedSc and electives and his students achieved outstanding success with publications in acclaimed academic journals such as the BMJ.

Research

Evidence synthesis 

Ioannis has significant expertise in effectiveness and test accuracy data meta-analysis techniques, including advanced data synthesis approaches such as network meta-analysis, meta-regression and bivariate meta-analysis. He has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research and the World Health Organisation to carry out evidence synthesis that inform national and international guidelines.

Clinical trials

Ioannis is coordinating and is an investigator in several national and international trials.

Research groups and centres

Other activities

Ioannis is a consultant for the Tommy's National Centre for Miscarriage Research based at Birmingham Women’s Hospital. He runs a weekly clinic alongside Professor Arri Coomarasamy for couples that have suffered recurrent miscarriages.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Muriithi, FG, Banke-Thomas, A, Forbes, G, Gakuo, RW, Thomas, E, Gallos, ID, Devall, A, Coomarasamy, A & Lorencatto, F 2024, 'A systematic review of behaviour change interventions to improve maternal health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa', PLOS Global Public Health, vol. 4, no. 2, e0002950. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002950

Ralapanawe, MSB, Gajaweera, SL, Karunaratne, N, Dissnayake, VHW, Price, MJ, Melo, P, Coomarasamy, A & Gallos, ID 2023, 'A comprehensive analysis of chromosomal polymorphic variants on reproductive outcomes after intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment', Scientific Reports, vol. 13, no. 1, 1319. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28552-w

Forbes, G, Akter, S, Miller, S, Galadanci, H, Qureshi, Z, Fawcus, S, Hofmeyr, GJ, Moran, N, Singata-Madliki, M, Dankishiya, F, Gwako, G, Osoti, A, Thomas, E, Gallos, I, Mammoliti, K-M, Devall, A, Coomarasamy, A, Althabe, F, Atkins, L, Bohren, MA & Lorencatto, F 2023, 'Factors influencing postpartum haemorrhage detection and management and the implementation of a new postpartum haemorrhage care bundle (E-MOTIVE) in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa', Implementation Science, vol. 18, no. 1, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-022-01253-0

Gallos, I, Devall, A, Martin, J, Middleton, L, Beeson, L, Galadanci, H, Alwy al-Beity, F, Qureshi, Z, Hofmeyr, GJ, Moran, N, Fawcus, S, Sheikh, L, Gwako, G, Osoti, A, Aswat, A, Mammoliti, K, Sindhu, KN, Podesek, M, Horne, I, Timms, R, Yunas, I, Okore, J, Singata-Madliki, M, Arends, E, Wakili, AA, Mwampashi, A, Nausheen, S, Muhammad, S, Latthe, P, Evans, C, Akter, S, Forbes, G, Lissauer, D, Meher, S, Weeks, A, Shennan, A, Ammerdorffer, A, Williams, E, Roberts, T, Widmer, M, Oladapo, OT, Lorencatto, F, Bohren, MA, Miller, S, Althabe, F, Gülmezoglu, M, Smith, JM, Hemming, K & Coomarasamy, A 2023, 'Randomized Trial of Early Detection and Treatment of Postpartum Hemorrhage', New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 389, no. 1, pp. 11-21. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2303966

Ralapanawe, MSB, Gajaweera, SL, Karunaratne, N, Price, MJ, Melo, P, Coomarasamy, A & Gallos, I 2022, 'Chromosomal polymorphisms in assisted reproduction: an analysis of 942 cycles', Reproduction and Fertility , vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 133-139. https://doi.org/10.1530/RAF-21-0116

Akter, S, Forbes, G, Miller, S, Galadanci, H, Qureshi, Z, Fawcus, S, Justus Hofmeyr, G, Moran, N, Singata-Madliki, M, Amole, TG, Gwako, G, Osoti, A, Thomas, E, Gallos, I, Mammoliti, K-M, Coomarasamy, A, Althabe, F, Lorencatto, F & Bohren, MA 2022, 'Detection and management of postpartum haemorrhage: Qualitative evidence on healthcare providers' knowledge and practices in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa', Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, vol. 3, 1020163. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2022.1020163

Wakili, AA, Aswat, A, Timms, R, Beeson, L, Mammoliti, K-M, Devall, A, Musa, BM, Amole, T, Dankishiya, F, Coomarasamy, A, Gallos, ID & Galadanci, HS 2022, 'Differences in obstetric practices and outcomes of postpartum hemorrhage across Nigerian health facilities', International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, vol. 158, no. S1, pp. 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.14198

Khattak, H, Malhas, R, Craciunas, L, Afifi, Y, Amorim, CA, Fishel, S, Silber, S, Gook, D, Demeestere, I, Bystrova, O, Lisyanskaya, A, Manikhas, G, Lotz, L, Dittrich, R, Colmorn, LB, Macklon, KT, Hjorth, IMD, Kristensen, SG, Gallos, I & Coomarasamy, A 2022, 'Fresh and cryopreserved ovarian tissue transplantation for preserving reproductive and endocrine function: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis', Human Reproduction Update, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 400-416. https://doi.org/10.1093/humupd/dmac003

Muriithi, FG, Banke-thomas, A, Gakuo, R, Pope, K, Coomarasamy, A, Gallos, ID & Leslie, HH (ed.) 2022, 'Individual, health facility and wider health system factors contributing to maternal deaths in Africa: A scoping review', PLOS Global Public Health, vol. 2, no. 7, e0000385. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000385

Ammerdorffer, A, Rushwan, S, Timms, R, Wright, P, Beeson, L, Devall, AJ, Mammoliti, K-M, Alwy Al-Beity, FM, Galadanci, H, Hofmeyr, GJ, Singata-Madliki, M, Qureshi, Z, Lambert, P, Gallos, ID, Coomarasamy, A & Gülmezoglu, AM 2022, 'Quality of oxytocin and tranexamic acid for the prevention and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania', International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, vol. 158, no. S1, pp. 46-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.14197

Melo, P, Wood, S, Petsas, G, Chung, Y, Easter, C, Price, M, Fishel, S, Khairy, M, Kingsland, C, Lowe, P, Rajkhowa, M, Sephton, V, Pandey, S, Kazem, R, Walker, D, Gorodeckaja, J, Wilcox, M, Gallos, I, Tozer, A & Coomarasamy, A 2022, 'The effect of frozen embryo transfer regimen on the association between serum progesterone and live birth: a multicentre prospective cohort study (ProFET)', Human Reproduction, vol. 2022, no. 4, hoac054. https://doi.org/10.1093/hropen/hoac054

Khattak, H, Gallos, I, Coomarasamy, A & Topping, A 2022, 'Why are women considering ovarian tissue cryopreservation to preserve reproductive and hormonal ovarian function? A qualitative study protocol', BMJ open, vol. 12, no. 4, e051288. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051288

Comment/debate

Ralapanawe, MSB, Gajaweera, SL, Karunaratne, N, Dissanayake, VHW, Price, MJ, Melo, P, Coomarasamy, A & Gallos, ID 2023, 'Author Correction: A comprehensive analysis of chromosomal polymorphic variants on reproductive outcomes after intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment', Scientific Reports, vol. 13, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36732-x

Review article

Khattak, H, Woodman, H, Afifi, Y, Amorim, CA, Fishel, S, Gallos, I, Coomarasamy, A & Topping, A 2022, 'Experiences of young girls and women undergoing ovarian tissue cryopreservation: a systematic review and thematic synthesis', Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology. https://doi.org/10.1080/0167482X.2022.2084376

Wilson, A, Hodgetts-Morton, VA, Marson, EJ, Markland, AD, Larkai, E, Papadopoulou, A, Coomarasamy, A, Tobias, A, Chou, D, Oladapo, OT, Price, MJ, Morris, K & Gallos, ID 2022, 'Tocolytics for delaying preterm birth: a network meta-analysis (0924)', Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, vol. 2022, no. 8, CD014978. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD014978.pub2

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