Aafke van Montfoort PhD
Aafke van Montfoort is a senior research fellow at the Center of Reproductive Medicine of the Maastricht University Medical Center. She obtained her master’s degree in Health Sciences with Biological Health Sciences as the main topic in 2001. During her PhD she focussed on the prevention of twin pregnancies in IVF treatment by single embryo transfer and by the identification of morphological criteria and biological markers that indicate a good quality embryo.
Aafke van Montfoort’s current research interests are the effects of a suboptimal embryonic environment on the health of the resulting progeny. Her research mainly focuses on the effects of IVF culture media and oxygen levels during culture on phenotypic outcomes in the newborns and further in life. In an attempt to understand the aetiology behind the relation between early life environment and later health effects, she focuses on programming effects in preimplantation embryos and later in life.
Ashok Agarwal PhD
Head of Andrology Center at Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, United States since 1993, 28 years.
• Director, American Center for Reproductive Medicine.
• Professor of Surgery (Urology) at Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.
• Staff in Urology, Ob-GYN, Pathology and Immunology at Cleveland Clinic.
• Recipient of ”IVF Expert of the year for 2019” by the American College of Embryology for significant contributions to human reproductive embryology.
• Ranked in Scopus as the #1 author in the world in the fields of Male Infertility, Andrology and Human Assisted Reproduction, based on the number of peer reviewed publications, citation scores and h-index.
• Currently an Editor of more than 40 medical text books/manuals related to male infertility, ART, fertility preservation, DNA damage, and antioxidants.
• Ashok’s laboratory has trained over 1,000 scientists, clinicians, graduate, and undergraduate students from the United States and more than 55 countries.
Alicia Broussard PhD
Arnaud Reignier, PhD
Arnaud Reignier is a clinical embryologist at the ART Center of the University Hospital of Nantes, France. He is also a member of the UMR1064 research team, in the pluripotency and embryo development group. His main fields of interest are embryology, time-lapse, pluripotency and preimplantation physiology.
Carin Huyser PhD
Prof Carin Huyser is an embryologist and manages the IVF Laboratory at Steve Biko Academic Hospital, University of Pretoria. This unit is the only public health care reference and training facility to provide assisted reproductive services to the middle and northern region of South Africa.
Blood-borne virus seropositive patients have been treated since the beginning of the millennium at the laboratory, utilizing methodologies that she developed through research and simple technique adaptations. She participates in the Health Professions Council of South Africa as an active committee member of the Medical Sciences panel as well as the Practice Committee of the Medical and Dental Professions Board. She holds an adjunct professorship at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Pretoria.
Colleen Lynch MSc
Colleen started working in the embryology field in 2004, following the completion of her undergraduate studies in Genetics and post graduate studies in Medical Genetics. She is currently working towards her PhD in Preimplantation Genetics under Professor Darren Griffin at the University of Kent. Having worked as a both a Clinical Embryologist and Genesis Genetics PGT Laboratory Manager, she joined CooperGenomics™ full time in 2017. Colleen joined CooperSurgical Fertility and Genomics Solutions as Training and Scientific Manager in 2018, with specific focus on training in trophectoderm biopsy and supporting lab teams on its introduction.
Colleen has lectured on PGT at many international conferences and has co-authored several scientific papers and book chapters. Additionally, she has extensive knowledge of ISO:15189 standards, works with UKAS as a technical expert, and is an honorary lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University on the Clinical Science MSc for the Scientist Training Programme (STP) in Reproductive Science.
David Morroll PhD
David has worked as a Clinical Embryologist since 1986, training in Manchester, where he also completed his doctorate studies. He has since managed laboratories in a number of UK IVF units including those in Nottingham, London and Leeds, and consulted to a number of clinics overseas. He before joined ORIGIO as Director of Embryology in November 2011.
He has previously served as Chair of the UK Association of Clinical Embryologists (ACE) and Association of Biomedical Andrologists (ABA), and was involved with several working groups, notably the HFEA Expert Group on Multiple Births after IVF.
David has a keen interest in quality management, including ISO certification and External Quality Assurance. He has also consulted to IVF units in Malta, India, the Philippines and Zimbabwe. In January 2019, David was appointed to the role of Director of Clinical Support, focusing on post-marketing clinical studies, QA/complaints and laboratory audits.
David Chrimes PhD
Dr Chrimes is a PhD molecular geneticist with 14 yrs experience in molecular diagnostics. After working at various UK University and Research Institutes in the early 2000s, he joined BlueGnome in Jan 2005.
Dr Chrimes was instrumental in delivering state of the art copy number genomics analysis solutions to the clinical market including the CytoChip and BlueFuse Multi visualization software. Many of these advances were made through the management of research collaborations with leading hospitals in both the UK and USA. In 2008, BlueGnome launched the 24sure product line for aneuploidy testing of embryos and Dr Chrimes used his extensive experience of genomics data analysis to drive the innovation in embryo genomic data to aid interpretation of the sometimes complex data. The result of this innovation is that the vast majority of global PGS is preformed using 24sure/VeriSeq PGS and in 2012 BlueGnome was sold to Illumina.
Dr Chrimes was Associate Director in the Illumina Reproductive Health Group where he continued to innovate genomics analysis including embryo analysis, targeted genomics disease panels through to whole genome sequencing analysis.
In 2016 Dr Chrimes started at Genesis Genetics to help drive advances in their embryo testing and after the acquisition in April 2016 of Genesis Genetics by Cooper Surgical Industries (USA), Dr Chrimes took on a split role of both the Director of Clinical Services and the Director of Global Genomics Business Development (outside the US). This role ensures Dr Chrimes is both driving innovation in genomics testing and also gaining regular insights to the challenges faced by IVF clinics today.
David Miller PhD
Since completing his PhD in dental biochemistry in 1982, David has worked in academia for over 35 years on a range of models from slime moulds (1982-84) to brine shrimps (1985-89) before settling on basic Andrology and on sperm DNA and RNA and its packaging in the sperm nucleus (1989-2020). He retired in Jan 2020 from the University of Leeds where he retains his title as Reader in Molecular Andrology. David’s most recent accomplishment was the HAB Select study, looking at whether embryos fertilised with sperm ‘captured’ by hyaluronic acid (HA) and used in ICSI procedures were better at going on to successful live births and reducing miscarriage rates than sperm selected by the embryologist alone. Alongside this was a mechanistic study aimed at finding out what was different about HA-selected sperm that may explain the clinical effects seen in the trial. In the end, the use of HA-selected sperm in the blinded and randomised clinical trial did not significantly increase live birth rates, but did, paradoxically, significantly reduce miscarriage rates. David will try explaining why this was the case and what it might mean for future treatment in his journal club presentation and Q&A session.
Dean Morbeck PhD
Dr. Morbeck is the Scientific Director at Fertility Associates New Zealand, Sunfert International Fertility Centre, and an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Auckland. He oversees science in IVF clinics throughout New Zealand and Malaysia that annually perform >4000 fresh cycles.
Prior to moving to NZ, Dean was an Associate Professor at the Mayo Clinic. He has a keen interest in quality of care, as evidenced by his publications on media composition and laboratory KPIs. He completed his MBA in 2015, which he is putting to use to improve both the science and patient experience at Fertility Associates and Sunfert.
Dr Mohamed Fawzy
Dr Mohamed Fawzy is a medical doctor (MD) and laboratory director of a network of IVF facilities based in Upper Egypt. He has 17 years of experience in assisted conception and has performed and supervised more than 35,000 IVF cycles. Dr Fawzy is also the organizer of the largest annual scientific event for assisted conception in the Middle East, the Upper Egypt Assisted Reproduction Conference (UEARS). He strongly believes in evidence-based research to continuously improve IVF services and conducts yearly workshops in Egypt during UEARS on improving research quality. It is Dr Fawzy’s aim to make the first few days of embryo life as safe as possible to reduce transgenerational epigenetic change. He believes this aim is unachievable without proper research, randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses.
Feny Gadhia MSc
Feny Gadhia completed her BSc in Life Sciences and Biochemistry in 2015 and continued to pursue her Master’s in Clinical Embryology at the University of Oxford. She joined Nova IVI Fertility in India and mastered all the ART procedures carried out in an IVF Laboratory including ICSI and Vitrification. her She was promoted to an Embryologist position where she further trained in advance techniques like Embryo Biopsy and Oocyte Vitrification. During her 3 years tenure at Nova, Feny also supervised and trained Junior Embryologist for various procedures in the Laboratory.
In 2019, Feny joined CooperSurgical Fertility and Genomics as a Clinical Embryologist. She is responsible for Training at the Center of Excellence at CooperSurgical, Mumbai and is also involved in customer training and troubleshooting in Laboratory. Feny has a keen interest in Vitrification and Quality control in IVF Laboratory.
Mark Hughes MD, PhD
Professor Mark Hughes graduated in Biology and Chemistry from St. Johns University followed by a Masters in Biophysics at Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biochemistry at the University of Arizona Medical Center. He continued his training at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston as a postdoctoral fellow with Bert O’Malley, where his pivotal work was published in Science and Nature. Following this training Hughes completed his M.D. at Baylor, followed by house staff training in Internal Medicine and clinical subspecialty training at Duke University. He then returned as junior faculty to Baylor’s newly formed Genetics Institute led by Thomas Caskey and Arthur Beaudet. Among his accomplishments was the realization that single cells could be molecularly data mined for diagnostic advantage: This led to a multi-year collaboration with reproductive endocrinologists and embryologists at the Hammersmith and UCLondon; the field of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis was born. In 1993 Hughes’ research was recognized by Science magazine as being one of the “ten most significant advances” in all of science that year; spanning all the physical, biological and mathematical sciences for that year.
It was then that Professor Hughes was recruited to be one of the first 11 members of the Human Genome Institute at NIH. The Genome Project was getting underway and Hughes was recruited to lead the section on Translational Genomic Diagnostics. He also was named chair of Human Genetics at Georgetown University. Doctor Hughes then moved to Michigan to take a position as Professor and Director of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Professor of OB-Gyn, and Professor of Pathology at Wayne State. He was named as the Director of the State of Michigan’s ‘Life Sciences Genomics Hub’, a joint state-wide project with the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.
Professor Hughes’ work has centered on understanding gene expression in the early human embryo. His work on embryonic stem cells was acknowledged in 2001 when, along with Ian Wilmut (of Dolly the sheep fame) he was awarded the “Pioneer in Stem Cell Biology” award. Professor Hughes, along with Professor Lord Robert Winston and Dr. Alan Handyside developed and performed the world’s first cases of has PGD. He continues to push the frontiers of this technology and guide it in all its ethical ramifications, while he has expanded this work to systems-wide molecular understanding of early embryo development.
Inge Errebo Agerholm PhD
Educated in Denmark, Inge completed her doctorate at the University of Aarhus in 2007 after completing her Master’s Degree in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology at Københavns Universitet. In 1996 Inge was appointed Laboratory Director at the IVF clinic, Hospitalsenheden Horsens. During this time, she also worked as a laboratory advisor and consultant for private IVF clinics in Denmark and Poland, and as a part-time Clinical Coordinator at Unisense FertiliTech (now Vitrolife).
Inge was part time Associate Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark for four years while working as Head of Department at Fertility Clinic Horsens Hospital. In 2017, she joined CooperSurgical Fertility Companies and currently is the Senior Director Medical Affairs, International . She has enjoyed teaching and training students, lab technicians and embryologists for over 20 years across the globe, and has lectured and given educational talks at national and international conferences and workshops. This included the supervision of PhD students between 2009 and 2017.
Inge has served as a member of numerous professional bodies including the Nordic IVF Laboratory Society and the National Representatives in ESHRE, Deputy Chair of the Danish Fertility Society (2001-2003) and Former Chair of NEAT (Nordic Embryology Academic Team) 2016-17. Inge is also an ESHRE certified Clinical Embryologist.
Jonathan Iredell PhD
Prof Jonathan Iredell is a senior specialist in infectious diseases and clinical microbiology. He chairs the Clinical Standing Committee, the Antimicrobial Resistance Special Interest Group of the Australian Society for Microbiology and the national Gram-negative resistance sepsis outcomes program (GNSOP, Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care). He is the supervising pathologist of the NSW Health Pathology AMR Reference and Genomics laboratory.
His research team works primarily in infections in the critically ill and the genetics/genomics of antibiotic resistance and has been continuously funded by the NHMRC since 2006.
Recent reviews and professorial appointment committees at Universities of Melbourne, Sydney, and Oxford; Scientific Advisory Board member iThree Institute (UTS); Synthetic Genomics Institute (Calif., USA). Convenes Australia’s first Critical Infection Short Course and the Molecular Microbiology Meeting (MMM) in Sydney. Recent past President of Australian Society for Microbiology.
Key recent publications as *senior/ corresp. appear in *PloS Pathogens 2019 in press; JAMA 2018; *J Antimicrob Chemother. 2018; *Intensive Care Med Exp. 2018; Emerg Infect Dis. 2018; *Plasmid 2017; *PLoS One. 2017; Mol Biol Evol.2017; Clin Microbiol Infect. 2017; *Emerg Infect Dis 2017.
Jennifer Garbarini, MS, CGC
Jennifer Garbarini, MS, CGC – Manager, Laboratory Genetic Counseling, CooperSurgical.
Jennifer is a licensed and board-certified genetic counselor at CooperGenomics. She provides genetic counseling about all types of PGT and manages the PGT-A team of genetic counselors. She has a background in research and pediatric cardiovascular genetics. Prior to joining CooperGenomics, Jen worked at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Division of Cardiology for thirteen years as both a research coordinator for a large multi-center study and as a clinical genetic counselor for pediatric cardiovascular conditions. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Ursinus College and her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from Arcadia University. Jen remains active as a clinical supervisor for several genetic counseling programs and has served as a clinical supervisor, instructor and thesis advisor for Arcadia students. Outside of work, she enjoys watching her two boys play sports, reading, baking, and going to the beach.
Jennifer Sloan, MSc, CCRP
Jennifer Sloan, MS, CCRP – Senior Genetic Counselor, CooperSurgical.
Kelly Ketterson MSc
Kelly currently serves as Vice President of Cooper Surgical’s Center of Excellence in New Jersey, USA, Medical Affairs – Americas. Kelly is a highly experienced clinical embryologist specializing in embryo biopsy techniques, routine IVF procedures, quality control and clinical research trials. She worked under the direction of Dr. Jacques Cohen from 1996-2004 at The Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and alongside Dr. Santiago Munné in the development of PGT as a reference laboratory test. Kelly has served and as the Executive Director for several educational conferences specializing in the continuing education of reproductive endocrinologists, IVF nurses, embryologists, andrologists and administrative staff. Kelly has travelled throughout the world performing embryo biopsy procedures, improving laboratory standards and teaching micromanipulation techniques.
Prior to her role with Cooper Surgical, Kelly was the Chief Operating Officer/Vice President of Clinical Operations of Reprogenetics and Executive Director of Tyho-Galileo Research Laboratories. Kelly has also completed the Master’s Program in Biomedical Science at the Jones Institute at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. Kelly is passionate about the IVF field and her experience includes R&D in the area IVF products and services, co-founding companies the genomics space as well as development of web applications to improve the quality control in the IVF laboratory. She enjoys educating IVF professionals, IVF support teams and IVF patients. Kelly has served on both ASRM exhibitor committee and the ESHRE genomics working group.
Klaus Wiemer PhD
Dr. Wiemer has an extensive clinical and scientific background and experience in embryo culture, cryopreservation of embryos, embryo morphology and assessment, co-culture, blastocyst development, IVF lab design, and supervision. He has extensive experience in all aspects of clinical embryology.
He received his doctorate in Reproductive Physiology (Embryology) in 1989 from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. He trained extensively with Dr. Jacques Cohen at Cornell Medical University. Dr Wiemer has over 20 years of experience directing IVF Laboratories and has been involved in over 10,000 IVF procedures. He also has been an off-site director of several fertility clinics. He currently collaborates with IVF centers in Argentina and Peru.
Dr Wiemer has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics in the area of clinical embryology. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the Overall Grand Prize awarded by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
His main interests are in embryo culture systems, improving laboratory outcomes and studying the effects of follicular stimulations on subsequent oocyte and embryo quality. He is currently conducting research on developing an embryo morphology grading system that can be used to predict rate and quality of blastocyst development. Other projects include various aspects of oocyte as well as blastocyst vitrification systems.
Mike Large PhD
Mike earned his PhD from Baylor College of Medicine where he focused on the intersection of progesterone and growth factor signalling and their role in endometrial receptivity. While finishing his work there, he was recruited by Mark Hughes of Genesis Genetics to open a Research and Development PGS laboratory in Houston, Texas. Mike quickly rose to prominence as a technical expert and was instrumental in the adoption and implementation of Next Generation Sequencing in Genesis Genetics labs across the world. Shortly after being acquired by CooperSurgical, he was promoted to Director of Genomic Laboratories, overseeing PGT-A testing for approximately 1,000 patients per month for two years. He was then promoted to his current role, leading research efforts in Genomics. His team recently lead and continues to develop state-of-the-art analytical methods for interrogating Reproductive Genetics.
Laura Rienzi PhD
Laura Rienzi is a Senior Clinical Embryologist and Laboratory Director at the GENERA Centres for Reproductive Medicine in Rome, Marostica, Umbertide and Naples in Italy. She obtained her biological degree magna cum laude at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ in 1993. Research Fellow at the Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Hôpital Necker in Paris, France in 1994 and Laboratory Director at the Centre for Reproductive Medicine of the European Hospital in Rome, Italy from 1996-2007. She also obtained a II Level Master in “Reproductive Medicine” at the University of Padua. From 2000-2004 was adjunct Professor of Clinical Embryology, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Perugia, and was elected in 2014 President of the Italian Society of Embryology Reproduction and Research.
Since 2016 Laura is Adjunct Professor of Biotechnology in Assisted Reproduction at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Urbino, in Italy.
Laura’s field of interest includes in vitro fertilization, ICSI, studies of human gametes, zygote and embryo morphology in relation to their developmental ability, and chromosomal constitution, as well as the cryopreservation of sperm, oocytes and embryos. Author and co-author of 154 articles, reviews and book chapters (Scopus H-Index is 44), she is passionate about sharing her knowledge as evidenced by the more than 250 invitations to speak at national and international scientific meetings.
Involved in different Academic Activities, she has supervised 7 B.Sc students and 2 PhD students to successful completion and is currently involved in tutoring and teaching activities for various Italian Universities.
She has also held editorial positions: Associate Editor of Human Reproduction, Reproductive Biomedicine Online, Fertility and Sterility, and Focus on Reproduction and Associate Editor of Human Reproduction Update.
Albulena Zogaj MSc
Albulena Zogaj, MSc – Global Product Director, CooperSurgical
Steve Levett PhD
After completing his PhD in Molecular Immunology in 1989, Steve obtained a position as Postdoctoral Fellow at York University. He then took up his first embryology role in the early 1990s at St. James’s University Hospital in Leeds, UK. He became Lab Manager soon after and then went on to manage other embryology labs in the UK and Canada, in the public and private sector.
From 2006-2014 Steve worked for Wallace, then part of Smiths Medical, becoming Global Business Director in 2010. He then joined Ferring in 2014 as UK National Business Manager for Obstetrics and Fertility and 18 months later joined Life Global as VP International Sales.
Steve has a keen interest in Lab optimization, QC procedures, optimization of results and supporting embryologists. His research interest has been in fertility preservation since working with Prof. Roger Gosden in Leeds. Steve Levett is Director of Clinical Application at CooperSurgical Fertility and Genomic Solutions.
Lodovico Parmegiani PhD
Lodovico obtained his degree in Biology in 1996 at the University of Bologna, Italy, and his post-graduate specialization in Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry in 2000 at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.
He carried out his training as clinical embryologist at the Reproductive Endocrinology Center, S.Orsola Hospital in Bologna. Since 2002, Lodovico has been Laboratory Director at Reproductive Medicine Unit-GynePro Medical Centers in Bologna. In 2008 he received certification as Senior Clinical Embryologist from ESHRE.
Lodovico (aka Lodo) is currently Laboratory Director at the Reproductive Medicine Center, GyneProMedical Centers in Bologna, and advisor for many biotech companies. He has designed, developed and optimized devices and methods for human clinical embryology, and published almost 100 papers and book chapters in this field. He also acts as editor for numerous international scientific journals. Lodo is a Key Opinion Leader in Assisted Reproduction (AR) and a highly sought-after tutor for hands-on workshops and has organized and chaired many congresses. Lodovico’s current research interests are cryobiology, gamete selection and micromanipulation.
Makoto Shiba BSc
Makoto graduated in 2010 as a BSc with specialization in Life Science and Agriculture, from the Hirosaki University in Aomori, Japan. After his graduation, he started to work as a clinical embryologist at the Hanabusa Women’s Clinic in Kobe, Japan.
In 2014 Makoto joined Origio Japan K.K. being responsible for Clinical support in ART.
Makoto assists embryologist in the setup of their laboratories, performs audits and advices on the specificities of the different ART laboratory techniques as well as on the flow of the different laboratory processes.
Makoto organized multiple theoretical and Hands-on workshops at the Cooper Surgical ART Training Lab in Yokohama and at different locations in Japan.
Makoto has a keen interest in in sperm selection and vitrification of oocytes, embryos and blastocysts.
Marlane Angle PhD
Marlane Angle received her PhD in Physiology in 1983 from Auburn University. She completed two NIH funded postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX. She trained in IVF at the University of California, San Francisco, became a High Complexity Laboratory Director in 1995 and has directed IVF programs in Albuquerque, NM; Asheville, NC; Greensboro, NC Las Vegas, NV; Little Rock, AR; Phoenix, AZ; Rochester, NY; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; and Winston-Salem, NC. She has worked as a consultant with multiple companies including Irvine Scientific, Previvo Genetics, DxNow and the World egg Bank. She also teaches in both the Master’s and the PhD programs at Eastern Virginia Medical School. She has published more than 70 papers, abstracts and chapters, and is one of the founders and currently President of the Board of Directors for the Southwest Embryology Summit. When she isn’t traveling, she lives on a sailboat in the San Joaquin River outside of San Francisco with her husband.
Martine Nijs PhD
After obtaining her PhD in Medical Sciences at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, Martine has been working as a senior clinical embryologist and later as an IVF lab director. She is an author of numerous peer reviewed publications and book chapters and has presented hundreds of lectures as an invited speaker at meetings worldwide. She has been actively involved in organizing international conferences, workshops and one-to-one practical training.
Dr. Nijs is an ESHRE accredited senior clinical embryologist, and past Scientific, IVF and Andrology Lab Director in Nij Geertgen, Netherlands and the Genk Institute for Fertility Technology, Belgium and Senior Embryologist at the Schoysman Infertility management Team in Belgium. She was also the co-founder and past director of Embryolab Academy in Greece. Martine is member of the Editorial Board Faculty 1000 Research, and ad hoc board member of 10 international journals, and an active member of 8 professional societies. Martine is the Global Training Manager at CooperSurgical Fertility and Genomic Solutions.
Olga Razina MSc
Olga graduated in 1999 as a MSc in Biology with specialization in embryology, from the Moscow State University in Russia. She has since worked as a clinical embryologist leading to over 20 years of experience in human IVF. Olga helped to set up several IVF Laboratories in Russia and collaborated in research activities in human embryology. Olga was Lab manager in the state IVF clinic in Moscow.
She before joined ORIGIO Russia in 2010 to assist embryologists in the setup of their laboratories, to perform audits and to advice on the flow of different laboratory processes. Olga organized multiple workshops at the Training Lab in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Olga has a keen interest in sperm selection, vitrification of oocytes, embryos and blastocysts as well as trophectoderm biopsy for PGT.
In 2019 Olga joined CooperSurgical Fertility Companies as the Embryology advisor for Russia, the Nordic and the Baltic areas.
Rachel Chin MSc
Rachel Chin possesses over nineteen years of knowledge in ART. This includes experience in guiding, leading and managing IVF laboratories within the Asian region. Rachel obtained several Dean List Award whilst preparing for her first class Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Biology Cell and Molecule at the National University of Malaysia She obtained her Master’s Degree in Clinical Embryology at the National University of Singapore in 2001.
In 2002 Rachel was appointed as Chief Embryologist of Damansara Fertility Center and later as Laboratory Manager for Victory Groups of IVF Laboratories. In 2013, she became the Laboratory Director for The Reproductive Medicine center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of KunMing Medical University. From 2007 onwards, she started offering visiting consultancy service in management of IVF laboratories, training and development in ART, troubleshooting as well as hands-on procedures for IVF Centers in the Asia region.
Rachel joined LifeGlobal LLC in August 2016 as the Asia Clinical and Technical Support Manager and later CooperSurgical Fertility and Genomic Solutions. She has keen interest in IVF laboratory quality control, culture system and condition, and embryologist training. Rachel is fluent in Malay, English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Rajvi H Mehta PhD
Rajvi Mehta started her doctoral studies at the ICMR’s Institute for Research Reproduction, Mumbai working with the team responsible for India’s first ‘scientifically’ documented IVF baby led by Dr. T.C Anand Kumar and Dr. Indira Hinduja in 1986. Her research focused on the studies on the oocyte and its follicular environment. She worked as a clinical embryologist and is now involved in teaching and training in ART. She has been the faculty on the special ART courses conducted by the IFFS in Esfahan, Iran. She has been the visiting faculty on clinical embryology at the Chettinaad Health University, Chennai, India.
She has received the Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction (ISAR) young scientists award in its year of inception and recently received the Champion of ISAR and the President of ISAR’s commendation Award. Rajvi has contributed to many chapters in textbooks on AR, she is the co-editor of the ICMR’s first manual on Human Semen Analysis and Human IVF. Rajvi is also an invited speaker at many conferences.
She is a member of the Executive committee of Academy of Clinical Embryologists, India. She leads the Special Interest Group on Holistic Medicine for the Indian Fertility Society. As an ardent practitioner of Iyengar Yoga she presented a lecture on yoga at the ESHRE annual meeting in Munich, 2015.
Rajvi Mehta is currently the Academic Consultant at CooperSurgical, India
Seema Nair MSc
Seema Nair has an MSc in Bio-Analytical Sciences from the University of Mumbai. She is a Senior Embryologist with more than 10 years of experience as a practitioner at IVF laboratories across India, Africa and Europe.
She is an active member of the Indian IVF community, conducting workshops and presenting talks at various conferences. She participated in the inaugural Embryology Consensus meetings held by the Indian Society for Assisted Reproduction (ISAR) in 2019, for improving IVF standards and their implementation in India.
Seema joined CooperSurgical India as a Consultant in 2016 and has organized multiple theoretical and Hands-on workshops at the Centre of Excellence at CooperSurgical, Mumbai.
Seema has a keen interest in in vitrification techniques and protocols and assists embryologists in the training and implementation of specific IVF laboratory techniques.
Santiago Munné PhD
Originally from Barcelona, Dr. Munné gained his Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Pittsburgh and in 1991, joined Dr. Jacques Cohen at the Cornell University Medical College located in New York City. It was at Cornell, he developed the first Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) test to detect chromosome abnormalities, which resulted in the first PGS babies in 1993, for which he received prizes in 1994 and 1995 by The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART). Dr. Munné became the Director of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis at The Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of Saint Barnabas in 1995 where he developed the first test to detect chromosome translocations in human embryos obtaining the SART prize for it in 1996, as well as demonstrating a significant decrease in spontaneous abortions after PGS, which obtained the 1998 prize paper of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. In 2001, Dr. Munné co‐founded Reprogenetics, with Jacques Cohen and David Sable. He directed the company until 2016 and saw its expansion to four continents. In 2011 Dr. Munné co‐founded with Alex Bisignano the genomics company, Recombine. Both Reprogenetics and Recombine were later acquired by CooperSurgical Fertility and Genomic Solutions.
Dr. Munné’s research interests is on the prevention of genetic disease and infertility through pre‐implantation testing of embryos and couples, understanding the impact of chromosome abnormalities in human reproduction, and developing personalized genetic tests for infertility and other conditions. Dr. Munné has published over 200 peer‐reviewed scientific publications, and is a frequent lecturer, both nationally and internationally. He is co‐founder (2002) and member of the Board of Directors of the Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis International Society (PGDIS) and served as president and other board of directors positions from 2002‐2014.
Sheila Johal, MS, CGC
Sheila Johal, MS, CGC – Lead laboratory Genetic Counselor, CooperSurgical
Sheila Johal is a lead laboratory genetic counselor at CooperGenomics; she counsels patients seeking preimplantation genetic testing. She came to CooperGenomics after nine and one-half years at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where she provided prenatal, general, and cardiovascular genetic counseling. Sheila graduated with a master’s degree in Medical and Molecular Genetics with a focus in Genetic Counseling from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis in 2006. Prior to attending graduate school, she also received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Kent State University. She has a specific interest in disorders of hemoglobin, CFTR-related infertility, and is passionate about educating genetic counseling students. When she is not working, Sheila enjoys being with her husband and children, listening to baseball on the radio, baking, and reading.
Steven Fleming PhD
Steven is an Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney and Director of Embryology for ORIGIO. Previously, he was the founding Scientific Director of Assisted Conception Australia, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Queensland.
After completing his doctorate in 1987, he undertook postdoctoral research at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, and from 1993-1997 he was appointed Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Nottingham in England, where he established the world’s first Master’s degree in Assisted Reproduction Technology with Simon Fishel PhD.
From 1998-2008 Steven was the Scientific Director of Westmead Fertility Centre in Sydney and appointed Senior Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Sydney. He is the recipient of numerous research grants, and an author and editor of several books, book chapters and peer reviewed journal articles. Steven’s research interests include cryopreservation, endometrial physiology, endometriosis and oocyte maturation, among others.
Tim Schimmel BSc
Tim graduated from the University of Delaware (UD) with a bachelor’s degree in animal science in 1983. Upon graduation Tim immediately started his embryology career with a bovine ET practice before switching to clinical human IVF in 1986, first joining IVF Australia (which became IVF America) and subsequently IntegraMed. In 1995, Tim moved from the clinical human IVF field, joining Dr. Jacques Cohen and Dr. Santiago Munné as their Research Laboratory Supervisor at the Institute of Reproductive Medicine & Science of Saint Barnabas Hospital, Tyho-Galileo Research Laboratories LLC, Reprogenetics LLC. During this time he also consulted for numerous IVF clinics and commercial clients, participating in developing ART products, publications and patents as a research scientist. Tim joined CooperSurgical Fertility and Genomic Solutions in 2018 as the Director for the Center of Excellence Embryology Laboratory in the USA.
Toni Di Berardino MSc
Toni has over 27 years of experience directing IVF Laboratories. She was the Laboratory Director of Reproductive Biology Unit, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, and Laboratory Director for Procrea Fertility Centre in Vaughan, Canada: Responsible for all aspects of laboratory services, including Andrology, ART procedures, cryobanking as well as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis/screening. In addition she was closely involved in clinical and basic science research projects.
Inter alia, Toni has consulted on ART laboratory design, products and equipment, protocols, and quality management.
While at LifeGlobal as Director of Clinical and Technical Support, she was tasked with the organization and hosting of training workshops, implementation/integration of products in the customer environment, and provided technical resource for Sales Team and distribution partners. Preparation and co-ordination of Regulatory, Post- Market Surveillance and Clinical Evaluation Reviews (various jurisdictions) came under her remit.
Presently, she is the Director of Clinical and Technical Support at CooperSurgical Fertility and Genomic Solutions, member of the Medical Affairs Americas, acting primarily as Clinical Application Specialist.
Toni has participated in a variety of external committees related to Assisted Reproductive Technology. She is an author of numerous abstracts and peer-reviewed publications. She is recipient of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology (CFAS) Care and Life award and is a Certified CFAS Laboratory Director.
She is in the midst of her PhD at EVMS, looking at microRNAs with a focus on non-invasive PGT.
Tony Gordon PhD
Dr Gordon is a PhD molecular cytogeneticist with over 20 years’ experience in molecular diagnostics.
After working at the Institute of Cancer Research in the 1990s, he moved to a number of companies in the diagnostics field. Firstly, MWG Biotech, then Tecan before joining BlueGnome in 2006.
In 2008, Dr Gordon started the 24sure product line within BlueGnome, aiming to bring BlueGnome’s copy number microarray expertise to pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS).
The vast majority of global PGS is performed using 24sure/VeriSeq PGS, and in 2012 BlueGnome was sold to Illumina.
After briefly working for Illumina, in 2013, Dr Gordon joined Genesis Genetics, a leading global company for PGD and PGS. He was Managing Director for their five USA laboratories and Laboratory Director for two labs in the UK. In 2015, Dr Gordon started the Genesis Serenity NIPT program. In April 2016, Genesis Genetics laboratories were sold to the Cooper Surgical Companies (USA).
Dr Gordon is currently the Direct of Clinical Operations for CooperGenomics UK labs, and is leading the CooperGenomics global business development – outside the US. Dr Gordon is also a UK State Registered Clinical Scientist and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.