68th Annual Meeting

Generations of Families Building Families

March 25 – 29, 2020
Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa

Setting the stage for education, innovation, progress and change, as we strive to create healthy families and promote optimal reproductive care.

Faculty

Lusine Aghajanova, MD

Dr. Lusine Aghajanova MD, PhD, has long standing clinical and research interests in human reproduction. She completed her PhD at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, followed by postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). She then continued with her training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine and UCSF, followed by fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at UCSF. Currently Dr. Aghajanova is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Stanford School of Medicine. Her current research is focused on improving endometrial health in various clinical situations, including atrophic or damaged endometrium, recurrent implantation failure, endometriosis. She is also interested in understanding and treatment of ovarian aging, and third party reproduction.

Judith Albert, MD

Dr. Judy Albert had a youthful dream of becoming a Women’s Health practitioner. To that end, she received a BS in Biology from Bucknell University and MD from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Magee-Womens Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical School and a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Pennsylvania. She was fortunate to spend most of her 30 year medical career devoted to her partnership in a woman-owned private practice that was dedicated to caring for women and men with fertility challenges. Recently retired from the practice of medicine, Judy is looking forward to greater participation in the fight for healthcare as a human right. 

Kurt Barnhart, MD

Kurt Barnhart, MD, MSCE is the Associated Chief at Penn Fertility Care; the Director of the Women’s Health Clinical Research Center; Vice Chair for Clinical Research, William Shippen, Jr. Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Professor of Epidemiology in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine’s, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has over 23 years of experience in assisted reproduction, both in clinical practices and research. His research interests have been in the diagnosis and management of women with ectopic pregnancy (EP) and spontaneous miscarriage (SAB) and has established the current nomenclature for pregnancy of unknown location (PUL). He serves on the Editorial Board of Fertility and Sterility, as Video and New Media Editor, ACOG District III’s as Secretary, Ad Hoc reviewer for numerous journals and publications and provides scientific insight to local, domestic and international societies.

The ART of Getting Published
Wednesday, 11:45 AM

PUL Work-Up in a Politically Hostile Environment
Thursday, 11:15 AM

Barry Behr, PhD, HCLD

Professor Behr graduated from University of Nevada-Reno with honors and earned his Ph.D. with emphasis in Reproductive Physiology in 1991, board certified as High Complexity Laboratory Director in 1994, and board certified as Embryology Laboratory Director in 2003. He is a nationally and internationally renowned clinical and scientific leader in the research and advances of human reproduction. As a world-renown scientist and lecturer, he is highly sought after to chair scientific programs and conferences, is the first non MD President of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society and has been appointed as program chairman of several professional meetings. Dr. Behr was the former President of the American Association for Bioanalysts for 2015–2016. He is the director of the IVF/ART laboratory and co-director of the REI-IVF program both at Stanford University and is the Faculty Advisor for the Transgenic, Knockout and Tumor Model Center.

Debate: Transfer of Mosaics
Thursday, 2:45 PM

Nidhi Desai, JD

Nidhi is an attorney in private practice, practicing in the areas of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and adoption. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of ART for the American Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology (AAAA) and has served as a member of its Board of Directors. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Kevin J. Lederer Life Foundation, a foundation that helps individuals and couples struggling with infertility through education and financial assistance. She has worked to draft and pass legislation in Illinois, she has served as the chair of the Legal Professional's group at ASRM and has served on the SART executive council. Nidhi speaks frequently to legal and medical groups on matters related to ART.

How Will Changing Legal Environment Affect Our REI Practice?
Friday, 8:45 AM

Kate Devine, MD

Dr. Kate Devine is a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist practicing at Shady Grove Fertility (SGF) in Washington, DC. She also serves as Research Director for SG Fertility and as Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. Dr. Devine serves as Research Collaborator and core faculty for the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she also completed her Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She maintains Medical Licensure in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland and New York and maintains clinical privileges at SGF, Georgetown, Sibley Hospital (Johns Hopkins), and Shady Grove Adventist Hospital.

Rachel Donnell, MSc

Rachel is a certified genetic counselor with 4 years clinical experience in the fertility setting. She graduated cum laude with her bachelor degree from the University of Missouri and received her Master of Medical Science in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling from Emory University School of Medicine. Rachel currently serves as the genetic counselor at Seattle Reproductive Medicine, where she counsels patient's seeking PGT for aneuploidies and inherited genetic conditions. She is also involved in the American Society for Reproductive Medicine as the Vice Chair of the Genetic Counseling Professional Group. Her primary interests include counseling patients about mosaicism and promoting the value of genetic counselors in fertility practices.

Eve Feinberg, MD

Dr. Feinberg is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and is the REI Fellowship Program Director. She is the current President of the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and is on the Executive Board of both ASRM and ACOG. She is a Speciality Editor for Fertility and Sterility. Dr. Feinberg is also the founder and president of the Kevin J. Lederer Life Foundation, a collaborative Chicago not for profit that provides financial assistance to individuals and couples who want to build their families through IVF or adoption.

Debate: F&S Journal Club — Should All Women Under 30 Freeze Their Oocytes?
Friday, 3:30 PM

Eric Forman, MD, HCLD

As the Medical and Laboratory Director at Columbia University Fertility Center, Eric Forman, MD, HCLD, oversees the medical practice as well as the IVF embryology and andrology laboratories. Dr. Forman has extensive clinical and laboratory research experience. He has published more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals on a wide range of topics in assisted reproductive technology (ART). He has a special interest in using preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) to optimize IVF and improve selection for elective single embryo transfer (eSET).

Genetics 101
Wednesday, 11:00 AM

Are All Euploid Embryos Created Equal?
Thursday, 8:00 AM

Mae Healy, DO

Mae Healy is a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy and is stationed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She serves as the IVF Director of the largest IVF program in the military. She is the Associate Fellowship Director at the National Institutes of Health for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Dr. Healy is dual board certified in both Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.Dr. Healy received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland-College Park. She went on to receive her medical degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her OB/GYN residency at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and REI fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.

Zaraq Khan, MBBS, MSc

Zaraq Khan is double board certified in OBGYN and reproductive endocrinologist and infertility with additional special training in endometriosis excision surgery as well as minimally invasive gynecologic surgery and reproductive organ transplant. Dr. Khan joined the Mayo Clinic in 2007 where he completed a residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology. He completed a masters in clinical research and then went onto start his first fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility also at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 2015. Dr. Khan was awarded the Mayo Clinic Scholar which allowed him to complete a second travelling fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic surgery. Through this program, he worked in Kiel Germany at Kiel School of Endoscopy, Kantosspital Aarau in Switzerland and at Center of Endometriosis Care in Atlanta, Georgia. He completed his training in ovarian Transplantation at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark and received additional surgical training at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Dr. Khan works full time as a reproductive surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, where he sees patients with advanced endometriosis, fibroids, adenomyosis and complex Müllerian anomalies. His passion lies in helping women with advanced endometriosis who are seeking fertility.

Surgical and Nonsurgical Options for Uterine Myomas in Fertility Cases
Friday, 8:00 AM

Debate: F&S Journal Club — Should All Women Under 30 Freeze Their Oocytes?
Friday, 3:30 PM

MD Session - Surgery in the Era of ART
Saturday, 11:00 AM

Ruth Lathi, MD

Dr. Ruth Lathi is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology within the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Stanford University. Her interests include recurrent pregnancy loss, preimplantation genetic testing and reproductive genetics.

Shannon Laughlin-Tommaso, MD

Dr. Laughlin-Tommaso is an Associate Professor and Consultant in the Department of OB/GYN at Mayo Clinic, where she has worked for the last 10 years. She is Chair of the Division of Gynecology and OB/GYN Department Diversity Leader. Clinically, she is part of the Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeons and leads the Fibroid Clinic. Her research focuses on the epidemiology of uterine fibroids and comparative effectiveness trials for fibroid therapy. Dr. Laughlin-Tommaso participates in the Compare-UF nationwide fibroid registry, is site principal investigator in a multicenter trial on shared decision-making, and is conducting a randomized controlled trial on medical therapy for uterine fibroids. She received her M.P.H. in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and was fellowship-trained at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Angela Lawson, PhD

Dr. Lawson is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She is a clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in reproductive health and sexual and other traumas. She joined the faculty at Northwestern in 2008 where she provides clinical consultation as well as psychotherapy related to infertility and other reproductive concerns. She also conducts research on the psychological aspects of infertility and trauma. Dr. Lawson serves as a past Chair of the Executive Committee for the Mental Health Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, is the Co-Chair of the Mental Health educational track at the annual Midwest Reproductive Symposium International conference, and is the Co-Chair of the Policy Committee for Times-Up Healthcare.

David McCulloh, HCLD, PhD

Dr. McCulloh is the Assistant Laboratory Director at the New York University Langone Fertility Center and is Lab Director at Biogenetics Corporation and the Sperm and Embryo Bank of New York. He is the Director of Clinical Science at ReproART: Georgian-American Center for Reproductive Medicine and consulted for Medical Center Junona both in the Republic of Georgia. Prior to his clinical endeavors, he was involved in basic research, investigating sperm-egg interactions using cellular electrophysiological methods in sea urchin eggs at the University of Miami School of Medicine and in rabbit oocytes (in vitro) at the University of Maryland and the USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

Molly Moravek, MD, MPH, MS

Molly Moravek, MD, MPH, MSCI, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, and the Department of Urology. Dr. Moravek received her bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan, then attended the University of Michigan Medical School, where she received both her medical degree and a master’s degree in public health. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan, and her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Northwestern University, where she also received a master’s degree in clinical investigation. Following fellowship, Dr. Moravek was recruited back to the University of Michigan, where she serves as the director of the Fertility Preservation Program and the IVF Medical Director. 

Kenan Omurtag, MD

Dr. Kenan Omurtag, MD has focused his research career in using technology to improve the patient experience and access to assisted reproductive technology. Specifically, his career has focused on how clinics and patients use social media throughout the infertility journey. He is an Associate Professor and currently the chair of the ASRM Technology Committee tasked with providing resources and guidance to membership on all things related to social media, electronic medical records, and electronic communication.

Samantha M. Pfeifer, MD

Dr. Pfeifer is an Associate Professor of Clinical Reproductive Medicine and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medical College. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where she was faculty until coming to Weill Cornell in 2013. She is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Dr Pfeifer’s clinical and research interests are in Mullerian anomalies, reproductive surgery, and female infertility.

MD Session — Managing Sequelae of C Section Scar Defect: Infertility, Bleeding and Ectopic Pregnancy
Saturday, 11:00 AM

Thomas (Rusty) Pool, PhD

Thomas B. Pool, Ph.D., HCLD (ABB) is the scientific director of the Fertility Center of San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas. He has over 37 years of experience in assisted reproduction, both in research and in clinical practice. He serves on the editorial boards of Fertility and Sterility and the journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics. His research interests include embryo physiology and improving embryo culture conditions for ART.

Monitoring Your Lab's Success
Wednesday, 1:45 PM

Alex Quaas, PhD

Dr Alex Quaas is a clinical assistant professor at UCSD and associate physician at Reproductive Partners San Diego. After completing medical school at the University of Manchester, England, and earning a PhD from Freiburg, Germany, he completed his Ob/Gyn residency training at Harvard and his REI fellowship at USC. He then spent 4 years as faculty of the University of Oklahoma, during which he completed the OU Faculty Leadership program, a Master’s program in Clinical and Translational Science, and became an ASRM CREST scholar. During a year on the Ob/Gyn faculty at the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland in 2017/2018, he developed an interest in transatlantic differences in the provision of fertility care. He is very active in teaching and research in the field of REI, and serves on the Editorial Board of "Fertility and Sterility" as “Interactive Associate”, and JARG as section editor for ART. He serves on the Board of Directors of PCRS and was Program Chair of the 2017 Annual Meeting.

Richard Scott, MD, HCLD

Lora Shahine, MD

Lora Shahine, MD, FACOG is a reproductive endocrinologist currently practicing at Pacific NW Fertility and IVF Specialists in Seattle. Originally from North Carolina, Dr. Shahine graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biology from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and completed her training in medical school at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California at San Francisco, and fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Stanford University. As Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washington and Director of the Center of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss at Pacific NW Fertility, she is committed to providing excellence in patient care, teaching the next generation of women’s healthcare providers, and continuing research in the fields of fertility and recurrent miscarriage.

Social Media and ART: Responsibility of the Digital Age
Thursday, 1:45 PM

Michael Slowey, MD, MSc

Dr. Slowey is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He is a co-founder of Coastal Fertility Specialists. Dr. Slowey received all three of his degrees from the University of Tennessee (BA, MS, MD), completed his internship and residency at the Naval Hospital-San Diego, and completed his fellowship at Michael Reese/Univ. of Illinois. Dr. Slowey has focused his career on patient care and has received numerous awards for this. He has also lectured extensively over his nearly 30 years of clinical practice.

Cori Tanrikut, MD

Cigdem ("Cori") Tanrikut, MD, FACS, is a reproductive urologist at Shady Grove Fertility in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Dr. Tanrikut received her medical degree from the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. She completed her Urologic Surgery residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/Harvard Medical School in Boston, and then continued on to Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City to pursue a fellowship in Male Infertility and Microsurgery. Upon completion of her fellowship training she took a staff position at MGH/Harvard in 2007 as the Director of Male Reproductive Medicine at the MGH Fertility Center. While at Harvard, she ascended to Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and was named the Quality Chair for the MGH Department of Urology. She returned to Washington, DC, in the fall of 2017 to join Shady Grove Fertility as the Regional Director of Reproductive Urology with an academic appointment in the Department of Urology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Brad Van Voorhis, MD

Brad Van Voorhis, M.D. is Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of OB-Gyn at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He is the Division Director and IVF Director at the University of Iowa and is a Past-President of SART and SREI. He has research interests in outcomes of IVF particularly focused on single embryo transfer and reduction of complications from ART.

SART for Fellows — What is SART, and How Does it Work For Us
Wednesday, 1:15 PM