The founder of the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis collaboration has received the Ian Donald Gold Medal for his contribution to ultrasound and ovarian tumour diagnosis.

Prof. Dirk Timmerman, founder and coordinator of the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) collaboration, has received the Ian Donald Gold Medal from the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG).

Prof. Timmerman was nominated for the award by five of his peers, including previous medal winners, in recognition of his contribution to gynaecological ultrasound and his work with the IOTA Group.

The international collaboration has helped standardise the assessment of ovarian tumours and improve the preoperative characterisation of adnexal masses, potentially reducing unnecessary surgery while maintaining patient safety.

Prof. Timmerman is chair of obstetrics and gynecology at KU Leuven in Belgium and senior clinical investigator of the Research Foundation, Flanders. Over the past 30 years, his research and international collaborations have focused on improving the diagnosis and management of adnexal pathology.

Prof. Timmerman said: “I am deeply honoured and grateful to have been nominated by my peers and to receive the ISUOG Ian Donald Gold Medal, one of the most prestigious recognitions in our field. This award is especially meaningful because it comes from a community that has shaped and advanced ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology worldwide. I see it not only as a personal honour, but also as a recognition of the many collaborative efforts that have contributed to improving diagnosis, research, education and patient care.”

Founded under Prof. Timmerman’s leadership, IOTA is a worldwide network of more than 60 centres focused on improving the assessment of ovarian tumours. The collaboration has studied more than 40,000 patients and developed internationally recognised approaches to the diagnosis and classification of adnexal masses.

The IOTA Terms and Definitions, published in 2000, established a standardised approach to reporting ovarian tumours and remain widely used in clinical practice and research.

The IOTA principles have also been adopted through training and certification programmes, with more than 16,000 physicians certified globally.

Prof. Timmerman led the development and validation of prediction models for the preoperative assessment of adnexal masses, including the ADNEX model. The research has supported more accurate differentiation between benign and malignant ovarian tumours and helped clinicians identify patients who may be safely managed without surgery.

The work has also contributed to diagnostic and referral pathways for women with suspected ovarian tumours.

Dr Steven Goldstein, a previous Ian Donald Gold Medal winner, nominated Prof. Timmerman for the award.

Dr Goldstein said: “I can think of no one who has been more productive in gynecological ultrasound and who has helped to change the way the field is managed and practised as well as adding to clinical management. His work ethic and leadership are unsurpassed.”

Prof. Timmerman also acknowledged the wider network of researchers, clinicians and patients involved in the IOTA collaboration and related research programmes.

He said: “I am profoundly grateful to the IOTA, IETA, MUSA and IDEA steering committees, and to all study collaborators and friends across centres and countries. I also wish to thank the engineers, statisticians and clinical researchers whose expertise has been essential in translating ideas into robust models, tools and evidence. Most importantly, I thank all patients who have participated in our studies and whose trust makes progress in our field possible.”

Prof. Juriy Wladimiroff, who received the Ian Donald Gold Medal in 1996, also supported the nomination.

Prof. Wladimiroff said: “Dirk Timmerman has played a crucial role in developing diagnostic ultrasound models allowing more accurate descriptions of various benign and malignant pathologies at ovarian/adnexal level in the IOTA group in which clinicians and scientists work together to improve the quality of ultrasound research in ovarian tumors. Dirk was recognised worldwide for the first description of an association between Meig’s syndrome and elevated CA 125 serum concentrations. He was also instrumental in the application of logistic regression and artificial neural network models characterising whether adnexal masses are benign or malignant. He is deserving of the award.”

The award recognises Prof. Timmerman’s contribution to the development of ultrasound-based approaches for assessing ovarian and adnexal pathology, as well as his role in building international research collaborations.

The IOTA Group’s work continues to support the use of standardised terminology, prediction models and evidence-based approaches in the assessment of ovarian tumours, with the aim of improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing unnecessary surgery for women worldwide.