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Reproductive science in many dimensions
Acclaimed reproductive biologists Drs Sharon and David Mortimer are among the headline speakers for the SIRT meeting at the Sydney International Convention Centre on Saturday 30 July.
The Canadian-based couple are global experts on the design, establishment and quality management of assisted reproductive laboratories. They will open session one of the meeting, entitled The ART Lab EcoSphere, with a focus on encouraging excellence and improving outcomes by managing change.
Anchoring the session will be a short presentation by SIRT Chair, Kristy Demmers, and Simone Cook, to update delegates on new certification standards and continuing professional development, followed by a talk on staff guidelines presented by Jayne Mullen.
Pioneering reproductive scientist, Professor David Gardner, and Dr George Liperis will open session two with a talk on human blastocyst ranking – Standard Grading or AI – following by Dr Deborah Gook and Dr Lisa Lee addressing The 50 Shades of Vitrification: How Far Are We From A Universal Protocol?
Session two, entitled All Hands On Deck!, will be interactive allowing delegates to participate in questions and answers on hot topics in reproductive science.
Session three will feature four scientists competing for the Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists (ARCS) Exchange oral presentation prize. The winner will receive $5,000 to attend and present at Fertility Conference 2023 in the United Kingdom, an event jointly hosted by ARCS, the British Fertility Society and the Society for Reproduction and Fertility.
Session four, entitled Turn on the Lights, will address how latest advances in technology can be applied in reproductive science and medicine with a microscopic focus on egg quality and shedding new light on pre-implantation embryos. Speakers are Professor Ewa Goldys and Dr Jennifer Zenker.
The final session of the meeting will feature keynote talks beginning with an analysis of no result rates, re-biopsy and clinical outcomes in PGT-A by Dr Colleen Lynch from London.
Dr Jennifer Nisbett from the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine in England will be the next presenter as winner of the United Kingdom ARCS Exchange Prize 2019.
Kristy Demmers
Her topic is Higher Ongoing Pregnancy Rates When Blastocysts With Excluded Cells Are Transferred in Frozen Compared to Fresh Cycles.
The final speaker is Dr. Justin Szot from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney who will talk about recurrent miscarriage and birth defects, particularly looking at deficiency in NAD and the effect of vitamin B3 in embryogenesis.
Elina Roumian, Education Coordinator for SIRT and Head of the SIRT Local Organising Committee, said the meeting would be wide-ranging with outstanding speakers – “a day dedicated to science, an event not to be missed!”
The day will conclude with an awards ceremony followed by an FSANZ conference welcome party for all professional meeting attendees!
Start-Up Training in Assisted Reproductive Technology
The FSANZ encourages anyone who is new to ART – whether they are a clinician, nurse, counsellor, embryologist or unit manager – to attend the START course. Education and interaction to share information about specific roles within fertility units.
The next START course is scheduled for Melbourne in February 2023. Watch the FSANZ website – www.fertilitysociety.com.au – for detals.
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