Former Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Ultrasound Fellow at the Women's, Dr Bero Verburg, has sadly passed away in his home town of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Dr Verburg was 42.
Friend and colleague Dr Ricardo Palma-Dias said Dr Verburg was well-known across the Women's, having worked across several areas of the hospital.
"He was such a charming person" Dr Palma-Dias, Clinical Director of Ultrasound Services at the Women's said. "Bero was always happy and he loved the outdoors".
Dr Palma-Dias said Dr Verburg was internationally recognised for his work on the Generation R Study, a cohort of approximately 10,000 pregnant women and their children.
Dr Verburg first came to the Women's in 2011, having worked mainly at the Ultrasound Department and at the Fetal Medicine Unit.
In April the Women's team co-authored a study published in the journal Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, where Dr Verburg is the lead author, investigating the additional value of fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the assessment and management of fetuses with abnormal findings on ultrasound.
Their study concluded that fetal MRI diagnosis was a useful tool for clinical decision making in perinatal management.
"That came out on 1 April, just before Bero's last birthday on 4 April and he was delighted" Dr Palma-Dias said.
Dr Elske Posma, fellow Dutch and friend said: "Bero has been a great colleague to work with. His down-to-earth, good humoured open-minded personality made him much loved by all. He will be deeply missed."
Dr Verburg is survived by his wife psychologist Dr Pauline Jansen and their children, daughter Inti (5) and son Yuke (3).
His funeral will be held in Rotterdam on Saturday and in lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donation to be made in his memory to Unicef.