Halil RUSO
Dr Halil Ruso, MSc, PhD., Certified Senior Clinical Embryologist
Brief Summary of Professional Status:
With MSc. in Reproductive Medicine and a PhD. in Histology and Embryology, I accumulated a strong practical and theoretical understanding in the field of reproductive medicine in the last 10 years.
I pursued my long-term career at the Gürgan Clinic IVF centre (Ankara, Turkey), which in 2014 was a single reference centre and over the time we established it into a group of IVF centres. During my tenure as the lead embryologist, I contributed to provide a unique teamwork environment and which in turn enabled the growth of the clinic. Attention to detail and commitment to patient satisfaction has coupled the skills of the clinical staff to provide top-quality medical services to achieve long term goals.
As a senior clinical embryologist, I was an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences based on invitation and acquainted with a network of professional contributors over time, which led me contribute to various prominent scientific journals and publications. Additionally, I was elected for the executive committee for Turkish Society of Clinical Embryology and served as the General Secretary between 2021 and 2023 which I now serve my second term in the executive committee and acting as the Vice-President for the society. Through the society, I regularly take part in meetings with legislative bodies to discuss the possibilities of amendments to further improve ART procedures and patient safety within the context of the law. Therefore, I have a strong understanding of legal requirement for a successful ART programme. Overall, I am a strong advocate for evidence based medicine and constantly seeking professional development to further improve my services to the IVF centre as a whole and to patients seeking treatment to fulfil their dreams of expanding their families.
KEY SKILLS AND ABILITIES
• 10 years of clinical experience as clinical embryologist.
• Exceptional clinical embryology skills including ICSI and embryo biopsy.
• Strong understanding of clinical management, KPI analysis, and clinical staff management with
a critical emphasis on problem solving including training junior clinical embryologists.
• Active involvement in business development and setting up new IVF units.
• Strong research skills with creative thinking.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and statistics programmes (SPSS and GraphPad Prism)
• Excellent interpersonal skills and significant work experience engaging with various stakeholders.
• Knowledge of sectors including medical suppliers, legislative bodies, and patient societies
• Strong organisational skills and ability to multitask and meet deadlines
• Commitment and passion for patient care, top-quality medical service, and professional development
• Native in Turkish and demonstrated written and verbal communication skills in English
• Have the legal right to work in the UK (no need for sponsorship).
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Gürgan Clinic IVF Centres, Full-time
Group Director of IVF Laboratories, January 2018-Ongoing
• Overtaken key responsibilities in designing and setting up 4 new laboratories throughout Turkey.
• Providing and updating laboratory SOPs required for daily routine clinical work. Setting-up strategies for obtaining quality management schemes including ISO and ESHRE ARTCC (certificate for IVF Centres provided by ESHRE).
• Analysing KPIs of the laboratories from the group and intervening where necessary if there is a deviation from benchmark values.
• Site visits for quality control and management to ensure all laboratories within group adheres to the SOPs.
1MSc. Reproductive Medicine, PhD. Histology and Embryology University of Dundee, University of Gazi
+44 (0) 7340 691212
• Leadership and management. Supervising the daily routines of the laboratory to ensure top quality clinical outcomes. Hiring and training new laboratory personnel and resource allocation where necessary.
• Ensuring all IVF units are adhering to the regulatory rules dictated by local authorities.
• Participation of international research projects to provide innovation and collaboration to the clinic.
• Participation in developing long-term strategic business plans for the group.
• Developing and managing laboratory budget and ensuring in operating a cost-effective IVF laboratory without compromising quality.
IVF Laboratory Manager, January 2017-December 2017
• Duties of clinical embryologist position and the following.
• Staff duty management,
• Individuals KPI analysis and reporting to the laboratory director,
• Conducting quality control assessments (equipment temperature and pH), calibration of equipment,
• Reporting of procedures to the legal authorities (Ministry of Health)
Clinical Embryologist, August 2016-December 2017
• Upon completion of the training programme within the clinic and obtaining the certificate of “Training Certificate for Assisted Reproductive Technologies Laboratory Applications and Laboratory Director” undertaken at Hacettepe University Hospital, ART Unit (organised and authorised by the Ministry of Health of Republic of Turkey), I received the legal status of clinical embryologist.
• OPU, denudation, ICSI, IVF, embryo biopsy (day 3 and day 5), embryo transfer, gamete and embryo vitrification/thawing, dish preparations were performed independently and without supervision.
• Patient consultations and communication of procedures and results with patients.
• Participation on SOP preparation under the supervision of laboratory director.
Trainee Clinical Embryologist, May 2014-February 2016
• Enrolled and completed the training programme within the clinic under the supervision of the laboratory director.
• Trained in all aspects of clinical andrology and embryology. This includes shadowing the clinical procedures of clinical embryologists and clinicians. Witnessed and shadowed all the procedures including patient consultations, ultrasonography, patient interactions, semen analysis and preparation, testicular procedures, OPU, denudation, ICSI, IVF, embryo biopsies (day 5 and day 3), embryo transfer, cryopreservation of gametes and embryos, gamete and embryo thawing, dish preparations.
EDUCATION
• Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, 2017- 2024 (Turkey), PhD Histology and Embryology
• University of Dundee, 2011-2013 (United Kingdom), MSc (by research) Reproductive Medicine
• University of Birmingham, 2007-2011 (United Kingdom), BSc (Hons) Biochemistry (Genetics)
• Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, IVF Unit, 2016 (Turkey), Enrolled trainee for “IVF Laboratory Techniques and Laboratory Director” course for 6 months organised by the Ministry of Health of Republic of Turkey.
PUBLICATIONS
1. Sarah J Martins da Silva, Sean G Brown, Keith Sutton, Louise V King, Halil Ruso, David W Gray, Paul G Wyatt, Mark C Kelly, Christopher LR Barratt, Anthony G Hope (2017) Drug discovery for male subfertility using high-throughput screening: a new approach to an unsolved problem. Hum. Reprod. 32(5): 974-984.
2. H Ruso, C Cochrane, A Hope, C Barratt, SJ da Silva (2015) Trequinsin HCl: A novel specific human sperm motility inducer identified by high-throughput screening using intracellular Ca2+ signalling as a surrogate physiological response. Hum. Reprod. 30: 163-164. 2MSc. Reproductive Medicine, PhD. Histology and Embryology University of Dundee, University of Gazi
+44 (0) 7340 691212
3. Antonis Makrigiannakis, Thomas Vrekoussis, Fanourios Makrygiannakis, Halil Ruso, Sophia N Kalantaridou, Timur Gurgan (2019). Intrauterine CRH‐treated PBMC in repeated implantation failure. Euro. J. of Clin. Investig. 49(5): e13084.
4. Timur Gürgan, Ziya Kalem, Müberra N Kalem, Halil Ruso, Moncef Benkhalifa, Antonis Makrigiannakis (2019). Systematic and standardized hysteroscopic endometrial injury for treatment of recurrent implantation failure. Reprod. Biomed.
Online 39(3): 477-483.
5. Ziya Kalem, Müberra Namli Kalem, Halil Ruso, Batuhan Bakirarar, Timur Gurgan (2018). Fresh versus frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer in high responders. Ginekologia Polska 89(8): 407-413.
6. Ziya Kalem, Müberra Namlı Kalem, Elvan Anadol, Batuhan Bakırarar, Canan Yılmaz, Çiğdem Elmas, Perihan Yalçınkaya, Halil Ruso, Timur Gürgan (2018). Maternal nutrition and reproductive functions of female and male offspring. Reproduction 156(4): 353-364.
7. H Ruso, D Dayanir, Z Kalem, R Tural, S Saribas, A Sepici Dincel, C Ozogul (2019). Cumulus cells and follicular fluid show alterations in bone morphogenic protein 15 (BMP-15), growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF-9), and oxidative status in patients with endometriosis. Hum. Reprod. 34: 241.
8. Özlem Okutman, Ali Sami Gürbüz, Ahmet Salvarci, Umut Büyük, Halil Ruso, Timur Gürgan, Julien Tarabeux, Anne-Sophie Leuvrey, Elsa Nourisson, Cécile Lang, Jean Muller, Stephane Viville (2024). Evaluation of an Updated Gene Panel as a Diagnostic Tool for Both Male and Female Infertility. Reprod.
Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-024-01553-4.
9. T Gürgan, Z Kalem, H Ruso (2019) Microbiota in Genitourinary System and Infertility. J. Mol. Genet. Med.
13(395): 1747-0862.
10. Halil Ruso, Duygu Dayanır (2022). Mikroenjeksiyon (ICSI) ve Mikromanipülasyon teknikleri, Assisted Hatching. Hipokrat Yayıncılık (Turkish).
11. Halil Ruso (2018). Sperm Fonksiyon Testleri. Nobel Tıp Kitabevi. (Turkish)
12. Halil Ruso (2018). Morfolojisine göre seçilen Spermin İntrasitoplazmik İnjeksiyonu. Nobel Tıp Kitabevi (Turkish)
13. Halil Ruso (2018). Time-lapse görüntüleme ve embriyo seçimi. Nobel Tıp Kitabevi (Turkish).
