Ian S. Fraser, M.D., Hilary O.D. Critchley, M.D., and Malcolm G. Munro, M.D.

After attending an exciting seminar at the 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on abnormal uterine bleeding, I contacted Dr. Ian Fraser, the organizer of the event, to see if he would be interested in developing this important topic for an issue of Seminars in Reproductive Medicine.

He has invited a group of additional international guest editors who developed a state-of-the-art series of eight articles on various aspects of abnormal uterine bleeding.

Dr. Fraser is professor of reproductive medicine at the University of Sydney and a reproductive endocrinology and infertility subspecialist at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. He is a past president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and currently honorary secretary of FIGO. He is a member of the International Committee for Contraception Research of the Population Council in New York. Dr. Fraser is an honorary life member of the Australian Gynaecological Endoscopy Society and of the Fertility Society of Australia. He did his initial medical and specialist training in Edinburgh and Oxford, and now has a range of clinical and laboratory research interests within reproductive medicine, specifically in menstrual disorders, endometriosis, contraception, and menopause transition. He has specific current major research interests in the terminologies, definitions, and mechanisms of abnormal uterine bleeding and in endometrial function in endometriosis. He has been responsible for >400 original scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Hilary Critchley is professor of reproductive medicine and head of section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Edinburgh, and she is a clinical consultant in obstetrics and gynecology at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh.

Her laboratory-based research studies focus on local uterine mechanisms involved in menstruation, and endometrial bleeding. Fundamental studies on endometrial physiology have contributed to the understanding of endometrial biology regarding mechanisms regulating onset of menstruation and unscheduled bleeding complaints with long-term progestogen-only contraception. Dr. Critchley's clinical areas of study include assessment and evaluation of abnormal uterine bleeding and novel imaging of the uterus. Her research program has been supported by the Medical Research Council, The Wellcome Trust, Wellbeing of Women, National Health Service Health Technology Assessment Program, Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government, and the U.S. National Institutes for Child Health and Development. Testimony to her research contributions are >170 peer-reviewed publications. She is the current coordinator of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology special interest group for endometrium and endometriosis and a past convenor of study groups for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Dr. Malcolm Munro is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of gynecologic services at Kaiser Permanente's Los Angeles Medical Center. His clinical and research interests are minimally invasive approaches to gynecologic disorders in particular the problem of abnormal uterine bleeding including investigation, medical, and procedural interventions, and the development of nomenclature and classification systems to facilitate the design and interpretation of related clinical trials. He is the study chair of STOP-DUB, a U.S. federally funded multicenter randomized clinical trial comparing hysterectomy with endometrial ablation, which, to date, is the largest of its kind. He has published >90 papers, 26 chapters, and 4 books including Abnormal Uterine Bleeding, released by Cambridge University Press in January 2010. Dr. Munro is also a contributing editor for the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology and an associate editor for Human Reproduction. He has served the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL) as a member of the board of trustees (2000–2002) and is the inaugural chair of the AAGL Practice Committee, charged with the development of evidence-based practice guidelines for minimally invasive gynecology.