Visit Pacific Fertility Center » Volume 12, Issue 2 | April 2014
ASRM - Chromosome Ends: Why We Care About Them?
Last October in Boston, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) held its annual meeting jointly with the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS). It is tradition that the meeting opens with the President’s Guest Lecture, usually presented by an influential physician or scientist on a topic with broad health implications and in the context of advancing research and clinical care in reproductive medicine. Last year the guest lecturer was Prof. Elizabeth Blackburn of UCSF, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2009 for the discovery of telomerase. Her thought provoking talk was on the effects of telomeres on the chronic diseases of human aging and the potential relationship between telomeres and human reproductive aging.
PFC's Dr. Conaghan Presents at ASRM
The annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) gives us a chance to observe and present research and clinical projects that help improve the practice of reproductive medicine. PFC participates in this important event by sending staff from our laboratory and clinical teams for training, education and updates. The most recent meeting in Boston, MA, was well attended by delegates from across the US and around the world, and PFC was well represented. I’ve been attending these meetings for almost 20 years as they are an important forum for teaching and learning.
PCRS Highlights – 2014
One of the meetings some of the doctors and staff at PFC regularly attend is the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society (PCRS) annual meeting which is typically held in Palm Springs in the spring. This year, our attending team included myself, Dr. Philip Chenette, Dr. Jean Popwell and Carmela Thompson, genetic counselor. This year’s meeting was, as usual, an excellent scientific meeting with several knowledgeable speakers and interesting topics. Here are a few of the presentations that were highlights for me. These topics are an example of the range of topics we have seen in this most interesting field of reproductive endocrinology.
PCRS - “Sparking New Thought In Reproductive Medicine”
“Sparking New Thought In Reproductive Medicine” was the theme at the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society meeting in March 2014. We had a chance to compare notes with a leading fertility doctor on the East Coast, Dr. Jamie Grifo. Rest assured that Pacific Fertility Center continues to lead in innovative strategies that provide the best pregnancy rates and pregnancy outcomes. Building healthy families, one baby at a time, is the goal of fertility care at Pacific Fertility Center. We aim for very high pregnancy rates, and offer those high rates with good safety. High pregnancy rates, with minimal risk, benefit both mother and child, helping build healthy families.
2014 PCRS poster: “Clinical Pregnancy and Implantation Rates of Warmed, Biopsied and Re-vitrified Blastocysts (W-CCS)”
With the progression towards Day 5 embryo culture and eSET (elective single embryo transfer), several patients have a large number of excess frozen blastocyst (day 5) embryos using the most current technology for freezing called vitrification. In our laboratory, vitrification provides a faster, better method of freezing resulting in higher embryo survival and pregnancy rates. Currently at PFC, we provide our patients with the option of having their Day 5 embryos biopsied to determine the genetic status before transfer in a subsequent frozen embryo transfer (FET).
New Patient Seminar
PFC offers complimentary monthly educational seminars hosted by our infertility specialists.
Wednesday, May 21 & Wednesday, June 18
New Patient WEBINAR
PFC now offers complimentary monthly educational Web seminars hosted by our infertility specialists.
Wednesday, May 21 & Wednesday, June 18
Mind/Body Workshop
Workshops are taught by Pacific Fertility Center's Marriage and Family Therapist, Peggy Orlin, MFT, and Certified Yoga Instructor, Lauri Black, who is also PFC’s Certified Genetic Counselor.
Saturday, May 17 & Saturday, June 14