Scientific Information

Monitoring during pregnancy and labour

Coordinators: G. H. A. Visser, Nir Melamed
Speakers: Yariv Yogev, Israel; Gerry H. A. Visser, NL; Natalia Makatsarya, Russia,
Rasha Kamel, Egypt; Nir Melamed, Canada; Jose L. Bartha Rasero, Spain; Roland Devlieger, Belgium

First trimester counseling (incl iron, vitamins, genetic testing, how to counsel MC twins)

Roland Devlieger, Louvain, Belgium

Echocardiography in twins

Natalia Makatsarya, Moscow, Russia

Patterns of growth in twins

Jose Luis Bartha Rasero, Spain

Utrasound in the second half of pregnancy and fetal growth

Nir Melamed, Toronto, Canada

Ultrasound during labour

Rasha Kamel, Cairo, Egypt

Cardiotocography during pregnancy and labour

Gerry H Visser, Utrecht, NL

Pre-eclampsia; screening, prevention and management

Yariv Yogev, Tel Aviv, Israel

Vaginal birth, in whom?

Leung Tak Yeung, Hong Kong, China

Consensus: Twin management – terminology: a consensus conference

Coordinator: R. Quintero; M. Kilby
Discussants: Ramen Chmait, USA; Dick Oepkes, the Netherlands; Kurt Hecher, Germany
Graziano Clerici, Italy; Valentina Tsibizova, Italy; Liezbeth Lewi, Belgium; Enrico Lopriore, the
Netherlands; Twangsit Watanagara

A workshop on how to effective manage a national multiple birth organisation (for ICOMBO members)

Coordinators: Monica Rankin, Australia
Chairperson, International Council of Multiple Birth Organisations (ICOMBO)

ICOMBO Membership satisfaction survey results

Monica Rankin, ICOMBO Chair

The education website and accredication opportunity for teachers of multiples

Pat Preedy and Professor John Mascazine, Ohio Dominican University, USA

The experience of teaching two pairs of Vietnamese twins

Klara Vitkova Rulikova, Twin and Multiple Birth Club Czech Republic

Review of ICOMBO research since 2021 congress

Carolyn Lister, Vice-chair, ICOMBO

Multiples in Sierra Leone

Kevin Vincent and Kelvin Vincent, Twins and Multiple Births Sierra Leone

A case study - the educational experiences of parents of quads

Professor Pat Preedy and Professor John Mascazine, Ohio Dominican University, USA

BREAK

Launch of new ICOMBO website

Stephanie Ernst, Communications Director, ICOMBO

ICOMBO - sharing resources

Monica Rankin, ICOMBO Chair & Dr Carolyn Lister, ICOMBO Vice chair

Open forum on topics relevant to multiple birth organisations

Update on TTTS, its variations and its management

Coordinators: Tuangsit Watanagara, Ramen Chmait
Speakers: Ramen H Chmait, USA Kurt Hecher, Germany Enrico Lopriore, NL
Mark Kilby, UK Ruben Quintero, USA Seshandri Suresh, India Valentina Tsibizova, Russia
Yves Ville, France Tuangsit Watanagara, Thailand

Challenges in TTTS different presentations

Ramen Chmait, USA (ONLINE)

TBA

Kurt Hecher, Germany

TBA

Enrico Lopriore, NL

Laser therapy for persistent or reverse TTTS

Ruben Quintero, USA

Fetal heart function before and after TTTS laser procedures

Valentina Tsibizova, Russia-Italy

Critical case presentations

Suresh Seshandri, India

TBA

Yves Ville

Minimizing procedure-related complications

Tuangsit Wataganara

General Discussion

Microbiome and Health Workshop

Co-organizers: Chika Honda, Helga Szabo, Rie Tomizawa

Microbiome analysis of various clinical samples-technical aspects.

Kinga Pénzes Budapest, Hungary

Experience of the Hungarian Twin Registry in Microbiome: our adventures focused on Neurology and Hepatology

Luca Zöldi, Alíz Persely Budapest, Hungary

Analysis of Japanese monozygotic twins

Rie Tomizawa Osaka, Japan

Gut Microbiome Alteration and Structural Brain Features Among Healthy Japanese Men

Sabrina Ahmed, Otsu, Japan & Dhaka, Bangladesh online

Discussion

Do it with twins: expert advice for birth cohorts, studies and registers

Co-organisers: Dorret Boomsma, Jeff Craig, Sonia Brescianini, Adam Domonkos Tarnoki, David Laszlo
Tarnoki, Emanuela Medda, Veronika Odintsova

Twin cohorts’ contribution to large population-based omic studies: methodological issues

Veronika Odintsova, NL

Initiating the Arab Twin cohorts: the Qatar Twin Register

Hamdi Mbarak, Qatar

Twin field work in Korea and Africa

Yoon-Mi Hur, S Korea

The longitudinal perspective on data harmonization: transitioning twins in a cohort from childhood through adolescence and adulthood

Dorret Booomsma, NL

From single to multi-cohort studies

Nick Martin, Australia

How to keep twins engaged: effective strategies within Twins UK

Maria Paz Garcia, Spain, UK

Twin birth cohorts: from database to consortium - basics and future development

Jeff Craig, Sonia Brescianini, Australia, Italy

Discussion

ISTS Board meeting

Coordinators: Adam & David Tarnoki

Epigenetics

Co-organisers: Jordana Bell, Jenny van Dongen, Jose Morosoli Garcia (advisor: Jeff Craig)

Introduction and welcome

Epigenetics in twins: drivers and consequences

Jordana Bell, London, UK

Epigenomics in the Chongqing Longitudinal Twin Study: potential, progress and pitfalls

Richard Saffery, Australia

Stochastic variation in X-chromosome inactivation barcodes cell lineages

Jesse Gillis, Toronto, Canada

Detecting Genetic Effects on DNA Methylation Variability with A Monozygotic Twin Design

Xiaopu Zhang, London, UK

DNA methylation profiles in smoking discordant and concordant monozygotic twin pairs

Jenny van Dongen, Amsterdam, NL

Discussion

Imaging methodological workshop

Co-organisers: Adam Domonkos Tarnoki, David Laszlo Tarnoki, Bianka Forgo

Principles of imaging methods

Adam D. Tarnoki, David L. Tarnoki, Budapest

Functional MRI and incidental findings on research MR scans

Bianka Forgo, Sweden

Functional MRI analysis - activity and connectivity

Julia Rode, Sweden

Postprocessing methods of the vessels

Laszlo Szalontai, Budapest

Brain MRI processing for morphometric analysis

Amirreza Alijanpourotaghsara, Budapest

The Pivotal role of Fetal MRI in Prenatal Multiple pregnancy diagnostics.

Gabor Rudas, Tidhar Steiner, Budapest

Live ultrasound training (hands-on)

Sonarmed Ltd., Samsung

Twin Statistics. More than heritability: Diverse designs, outcomes and statistical approaches for data from twins

Co-organisers: Márton Piroska, Levi Littvay, Jacob Hjelmborg (online), Katrina Scurrah (online), Liang He

Twin studies remain highly relevant to health and medical research, especially given advances in biological science and technology which have created new opportunities and possibilities. This workshop will focus on statistical approaches for designs other than the classic twin study, such as association studies, the matched case-cotwin design, and non-continuous outcomes such as binary and time to event data. Advantages, limitations, good statistical practices and assumptions of these approaches will also be discussed. Practice dataset and Stata and R code will be provided. The workshop will conclude with in-depth discussions showcasing worked examples from current research.

Part 1: First touch data analysis

Part 2: Twin modeling and association analysis for continuous traits

Part 3: Working with case-control design and binary outcomes

Part 4: Analysis of time-to-event traits with twin data

Cochrane Systematic Review Webinar (online only)

Shayesteh Jahanfar, Olivia Maurer, USA

How to write a Cochrane systematic review

Steps in writing a protocol

Break

Defining a review question

Small group exercise

Demo of screening and analytical Software (Covidence and Revman)

OPENING CEREMONY & WELCOME RECEPTION

Chairpersons: Gian Carlo Di Renzo, Italy, Ruben Quintero, USA, Adam & David Tarnoki, Hungary
Special Guest: Prof Zoltan Papp

Opening lecture: Mysteries of monozygotic twins

Jenny van Dongen, NL
Introduced by Nancy Segal, USA

Twins: a challenge for maternal fetal medicine

Chairs: Dick Oepkes, Jose Luis Bartha

Laser therapy in TTTS and congenital heart disease

Ruben Quintero, USA

Maternal challenges in twin pregnancy

Jose L Bartha, Spain

Medical management of monoamniotic twins

Eftichia Kontopoulos, USA

New twin registries and studies

Coordinators: Yoon-Mi Hur, Bianka Forgo, Athula Sumathipala

The uniqueness of the Sri Lankan Twin Registry

Athula Sumathipala

The Louisville Twin Study

Deborah Davis (online)

The Mexican Twin registry

Sarael Alcauter Solorzano (online)

The Serbian Twin Advanced Registry (STAR)

Ilija Milovanovic

Preterm labour in twins

Roberto Romero (online) introduced by Gian Carlo Di Renzo

COFFEE BREAK

Periconceptional aspects of multiple pregnancy

Chairs: Roland Devlieger, Belgium, Yariv Yogev, Israel

The importance of prepregnancy BMI

Lucilla Poston, UK

Age, weight gain and lifestyle for optimising twin pregnancy outcome

Yariv Yogev, Israel

Nutrition and exercise

Roland Devlieger, Belgium

Glucose metabolism and dysmetabolism in twin pregnancy

Huixia Yang, China

Thrombosis and coagulation in twin pregnancy

Alexander Makatsarya, Victoria Bitsadze, Russia

Discussion

Bulmer session: The Biology of Twinning

Co-Chairs: Cornelis Lambalk, Amsterdam, NL; Catherine Derom, Ghent, Belgium; Nick Martin, Brisbane, Australia

This symposium deals with the biology and genetics of the twinning phenomenon and is named after Michael Bulmer, who wrote in 1970 this fascinating book “the Biology of Twinning in Man”. This session deals with every aspects of twinning from the frequency of twinning in humans, the genetics of DZ and MZ twinning, the development of the human embryo and how normal embryogenesis takes place...

GWAS meta-analysis of Dizygotic Twinning.

Hamdi Mbarek, Amsterdam, NL, Doha, Qatar

Fertility traits in Nigerian mothers of DZ twins

Yoon-Mi Hur Seoul, South Korea

DNA methylation in Monozygotic Twins conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technology.

Veronika Odintsova, Nikki Hubers, Fiona Hagenbeek, Jenny van Dongen, Dorret Boomsma, Amsterdam, NL

Heritability of Dizygotic twinning.

Nick Martin Brisbane, Australia

Embryo Transfer Strategies with IVF and its role on Twinning.

Cornelis Lambalk, Amsterdam, NL

Polygenic Score for Dizygotic Twinning in Mothers of Spontaneously and Artificially Conceived Twins and Singletons.

Nikki Hubers Amsterdam, NL

LUNCH BREAK

Obstetrical issues in twin pregnancy: prenatal non-invasive invasive and invasive testing

Chairs: Liona Poon, Nandor Acs

First trimester scan in twin pregnancy

Katia Bilardo, NL

Non invasive prenatal testing in twin pregnancy

Liona Poon, Hong Kong, China (ONLINE)

Prediction of hypertensive disorders and preterm birth in twin pregnancy

Maria Gil Mar, Spain (ONLINE)

Prenatal screenings and the vanishing twin

Alexandre J Vivanti, France

The role of invasive prenatal diagnosis in twins nowadays

Aris Antsaklis, Greece

Discussion

Behaviour: twin studies including behavioral genetics & psychology

Coordinators: Nancy L. Segal, Maria Antonietta Stazi

Alleged cheating by monozygotic female twin medical medical students: literature review, expert testimony and lawsuit settlement

Nancy Segal, USA

Influences of Self and Co-Twin Social Behaviors on Feelings of Love in Middle Childhood Twins.

Riley L. Marshall, Lisabeth F. DiLalla, Illinois, USA

A global approach to the heritability of Wellbeing.

Meike Bartels, NL

Two Peas in a Pod? Development of Twin Relationships in Light of Twins’ Temperament Differences

Hila Segal, Israel

Is your wellbeing out of your control? Contributions of causation and familial factors to longitudinal associations of wellbeing

Vivienne Esser, Australia

Investigating intergenerational transmission of nutrition intake, eating behaviours and associated psychological health

Lasith Dissanayake, Sri Lanka

Discussion

TEA BREAK

Recent books about twins

Coordinators: Nancy L. Segal, Jeffrey Craig

Twin Reseach for Everyone

Adam D. Tarnoki, David L. Tarnoki, Hungary

The Twin Children of the Holocaust

Nancy Segal, USA

Book Idea

Veronika Odintsova, The Netherlands

Gay Fathers, Twin Sons (Aug 2023)

Nancy Segal, USA

Preterm birth and prematurity prevention (a PREIS School Academy session)

Chairs: Roberto Romero, Eduardo Fonseca

Tests predictive of preterm birth

Giuseppe Rizzo, Italy

Chorioamnionitis, antibiotics and preterm birth

Roberto Romero, USA (ONLINE)

Progesterone and alternatives in the prevention of preterm birth

Eduardo Borges Fonseca, Brasil

Steroids and magnesium sulphate in the management of preterm labor

Gerry H Visser, NL

How to deliver very preterm twins (< 30 weeks)

Jon Barrett, Canada

Discussion

Twin studies on chronic diseases and cancer

Coordinators: John Hopper, Wendy Cozen

Family structure and asthma risk in asthma concordant and discordant twin pairs

Niquelle Brown Wadé, Amie Hwang, David Conti, Myles Cockburn, Ann S. Hamilton, Ruth F. Jarrett, Thomas Mack, Wendy Cozen , USA (online)

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease in a cohort of California twins.

Kellie Imm, Wendy Cozen, USA (ONLINE)

Variance of Age-specific Log Incidence Decomposition (VALID): application to female breast cancer

John Hopper, Australia (ONLINE)

Within-pair comparisons are not 'biased" - they are better, especially for studying issues related to sex and gender

John Hopper, Australia (ONLINE)

Causal relationships between breast cancer risk factors based on mammographic features

Zhoufeng Ye, Australia

Pre-diagnosis blood DNA methylation profiling of breast cancer discordant twin pairs points to the importance of environmental risk

Hannes Frederik Bode, Finland

Children of relatives and parents of twins modelling of BMI in MOBA

Hermine Hm Maes, USA

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in discordant monozygotic twins

Luca Zöldi, Hungary

Discussion

Management of labour

Coordinators: Gerry H Visser, Jon Barrett

CS versus vaginal birth

Jon Barrett, Toronto, Canada

Ultrasound and CTG during labour

Eftichia Kontopoulos, Miami, USA

Birth of the second twin

Leung Tak Yeung, Hong Kong, China

Twin research on clinical genetics, COVID-19, infectious diseases and microbiome

Coordinators: John L. Hopper, Chika Honda, Petra Zwijnenburg

Identical but not the same: the value of discordant monozygotic twins in genetic research

Petra Zwijnenburg, The Netherlands

QoL and COVID-19

Margot vd Weijer, The Netherlands

SPRUCE: Is the vaginal microbiome and metabolome associated with spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) in multiple pregnancies?

Joanna Gent, UK

Hungarian twin study on COVID-19 infections and vaccination status

Gergely Szabo, Hungary

The role of gut microbiome in Alzheimer's disease

Aliz Persely

Hungarian twin studies

Coordinators: Adam D. Tarnoki, Bianka Forgo

Osteological studies in Hungarian twins

Márton Piroska, Hungary

The influence of genetics and environment on the number of white matter hyperintensities in a middle-aged twin cohort

Arsalan Vessal, Hungary

Genetic and environmental influences on limbic system grey matter structures: Insights from an MRI twin study

Amirreza Alijanpourotaghsara, Hungary

Genetic and Environmental Impact on Subcortical Grey Matter Structures in Twins

David Strelnikov, Hungary

Heritability of soft tissue parameters associated with obstructive sleep apnoea in twins using MR imaging

Zsófia Jokkel, Hungary

Heritability of obstructive sleep apnoea and its association with lumbar degeneration: a twin study

Marcell Szily, Hungary

The existence of siblings and the effect of mental health factors on the twins’ childbearing intentions based on HUNGAROSTUDY 2021

András Pári, Hungary

Parental characterization of twin pairs

Rita Hegedűs, Hungary

Discussion

Epigenetic studies in twins

Jenny van Dongen, NL introduced by Adam & David Tarnoki, Nancy Segal

COFFEE BREAK

Role of ultrasound: chorionicity and beyond

Chairs: Katia Bilardo, NL; Valentina Tsibizova, Russia - Italy

The placentas and the US images in twins

Liezbeth Lewi, Belgium

Twins common malformations

Katia Bilardo, NL

Growth patterns by US scan

Nir Melamed, Canada

Role of ultrasound in screening for preterm birth in twins

Rasha Kamel, Egypt

Live ultrasound hands-on training on ultrasound machines

Zsófia Benkő, Hungary (supported by Sonarmed Ltd)

Longitudinal birth cohorts

Coordinator: Jeff Craig, Sonia Brescianini

Introduction

The Peri/Postnatal Epigenetic Twin Study: to eleven years and beyond.

Jeffrey Craig, Australia

Longitudinal studies of young twins.

Dorret Boomsma, NL

Contemporary recruitment of twin pregnancies for research : a tale of two cohorts, LoTiS and Generation

Richard Saffery, Australia

Methodological Design and Algorithm Development of the Isfahan Twins Birth Cohort (ITBC)

Mojgan Gharipour, Iran

The German TwinLife Study: Information on Birth and Beyond

Theresa Rohm, Bremen, Germany

Results from the LEMON study: Long-term Effects of selective fetal growth restriction in MONochorionic twins

Sophie Groene, Leiden, NL

Serotonin regulation in the first two years of life: a longitudinal epigenetic study in monozygotic twins.

Zsofia Nemoda, Canada - Hungary

Discussion

LUNCH BREAK

Special issues: Monochorionic twins

Chairs: Kurt Hecher, Germany; Yves Ville, France

Selective FGR in monchorionic twin pregnancy

Kurt Hecher, Germany

TAPS after surgery for TTTS

Enrico Lopriore, NL

What to do in stage 1 TTTS?

Asma Khalil, UK

The challenge of treatment of TTTS in short cervix cases

Yves Ville, France

Prevention of prematurity in monochorionic twin pregnancy

Birgit Arabin, Germany

Discussion

Twin film screening

Coordinator: Nancy L. Segal

With the participation of Melissa Hogenboom (UK) and Myrthe Buitenhuis (the Netherlands), film directors

ICOMBO Business meeting

Chaired by Monica Rankin

TEA BREAK

Special lecture Alloimmunization in twin pregnancy: the Rh factor

Gerry H Visser introduced by Dick Oepkes

CLOSING JOINT SESSION

Joint session ISTS/Maternal-fetal medicine/ICOMBO: ‘Why are identical twins born different?’ - fetal development, twin splitting and ‘omic’ differences

Coordinators: Asma Khalil, Monica Rankin, Jeff Craig

Introduction

Twin differences survey

Monica Rankin, ICOMBO, Australia

The Transcriptional Legacy of Developmental Stochasticity

Jesse Gillis, New York, USA

Developmental and fetal origins of differences in monozygotic twins

Alexandra Matias, Porto, Portugal

Twin pregnancy with selective fetal growth restriction: smaller vs larger twin development

Asma Khalil, London, UK

Zika congenital syndrome and Covid-19: What did we learn from twins?

Mayana Zatz, Brazil (ONLINE)

Plasma Markers of immune response for neonatal infection: Proximity extension assay from OLINK proteomics in twins

Xu Chen, Shenzhen, China

Discussion

CLOSING CEREMONY

ISTS Award Presentations:

• The Shields Award
• The Gedda Prize for best student poster
• The Galton Prize for best student presentation
• ICOMBO early career researcher prize