Session 74: Spermatozoa and Fertility: Endgame Scenarios?

Rod is Professor of Developmental Endocrinology at the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh. He is also a Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist at The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh.

His research interests are focused on the role of the germ-stem cell niche on germ cell development in the fetal and prepubertal testis. This includes investigating the effect of exposure to proposed environmental ‘endocrine disrupting chemicals’ (EDC’s) on human fetal testis development. Exposure to several such agents have been postulated to increase the risk of developing male reproductive disorders including infertility and testicular cancer.

His group have shown the impact of several proposed ‘EDC’s’, including analgesics commonly used during pregnancy, on the development of the human fetal testis in terms of testosterone production and germ cell development. These studies include the use of a xenograft approach developed in his laboratory. Importantly, these studies have highlighted some important differences between rodent and human in terms of the effect of such exposures on the testis. In addition to his interests in EDC’s he also has a clinical and research interest in fertility preservation for young males treated for cancer. Edinburgh recently became the first UK Centre to develop a fertility preservation programme to store testicular tissue from young boys with cancer prior to their treatment, as part of the 'Edinburgh Fertility Preservation’ programme, for which Rod is the lead for male fertility preservation.

Prof. Hagai Levine is a public health physician and environmental epidemiologist, Professor at the Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hadassah Medical Center and Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Founder and first director of the Environmental Health Track and one of the founders of the Advance School of Environmental Studies and the research Center in Agriculture and Environmental Health.

Prof. Levine has Published ~100 peer-reviewed scientific articles in the leading literature. His work examines the environmental, biological, and chemical threats to public health and the response needed, with focus on male reproduction and impact of maternal exposures on the developing fetus. His main fields of research are Air pollution impact on health, Chemical pollutants (pesticides, endocrine disrupting chemicals, etc.), Human Bio-monitoring as well as Control of communicable diseases and pandemic preparedness.

In 2017 Dr. Levine together with Dr. Swan and other colleagues published “Temporal Trends in Sperm Count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis” which received extensive, worldwide media coverage.

PROF. SHANNA SWAN

Dr. Shanna Swan is an Environmental and Reproductive Epidemiologist and Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. Her work examines the impact of environmental exposures, including man-made chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenol A, on reproductive health and the neurodevelopment of children.
Since 1998, Dr. Swan has been conducting multi-center pregnancy cohort studies—the Study for Future Families (SFF) and The Infant Development and the Environment Study (TIDES)—which include more than 1,500 mothers and their children followed from birth, to better understand how prenatal and early childhood exposure to stressors impact the reproductive health and neurodevelopment of children.

In 2017 Dr. Swan together with Dr. Levine and other colleagues published “Temporal Trends in Sperm Count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis” which received extensive, worldwide media coverage. It also led to her writing (with Stacey Colino): Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Health, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race which was published by Scribner & Sons in Feb 23, 2021, and is currently being translated into nine languages.

Harry Fisch MD is currently Clinical Professor of Urology and Reproductive Medicine at Weill College of Medicine, Cornell University. Dr. Fisch is a Board Certified Urologist and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Fisch is the Founder, Vice Chairman of the Board, and Chief Corporate Officer of Veru Inc.(NASDAQ: VERU) and has served as a director of the Company since October 2016.

Dr. Fisch holds a B.A. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton, an M.D. from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, and performed his surgical and urologic training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center.

PROF. ALLAN PACEY