Session 11: Moving Sperm Forward

Session 11: Moving Sperm Forward

Hosts Dr. Jacques Cohen and Dr. Denny Sakkas

AI Driven Innovations in Automated Semen Analysis: Building A Better Mousetrap.
Dr. Ashok Agarwal

“Nature doesn’t use a centrifuge: Microfluidics and the future of sperm preparation”
Matt Feldman

Sperm DNA Fragmentation – Unlocking the secrets for the ART professional
Dr. Sandro Esteves

Organized by the International IVF Initiativ

Professor Ashok Agarwal

Ashok is the Head of Andrology Center and Director of Research at the American Center for Reproductive Medicine since 1993. He holds these positions at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where he is Professor of Surgery (Urology) at the Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Ashok was trained in Male Infertility and Andrology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and later worked as Assistant Professor of Urology at Harvard from 1988 to 1992. Ashok has over 28 years of experience in directing busy male infertility diagnostic facilities and fertility preservation services. Ashok has received several awards for his innovative teaching style. He is a recipient of ”IVF Expert of the year for 2019” by the American College of Embryology for significant contributions to human reproductive embryology. Ashok is very well published and is 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 (n=760), citation scores (Scopus: 34,280; Google Scholar: 73,277), and h-index (Scopus: 100; Google Scholar: 132). He is currently an editor of more than 40 medical text books/manuals related to male infertility, ART, fertility preservation, DNA damage, and antioxidants and active in basic and clinical research. His laboratory has trained over 1,000 scientists, clinicians, graduate, and undergraduate students from the United States and more than 55 countries. Ashok is the recipient of over 100 grants. His current research interests include proteomics of male infertility and the molecular markers of oxidative stress and DNA integrity in the pathophysiology of male reproduction. Ashok has no conflict of interest.

Sandro C. Esteves, MD., PhD.

Professor of Urology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
Professor of Reproductive Endocrinology, Faculty of Health, Aarhus University, Denmark
Research Collaborator, Cleveland Clinic's Center for Reproductive Medicine, USA
Head, Department of Human Reproduction, Brazilian Society of Urology (São Paulo section).

Dr. Esteves has been practicing reproductive medicine with a focus on andrology and male infertility for the last 25 years. He is also intensively dedicated to educational and scientific activities, with contributions in the areas of male infertility, reproductive endocrinology, ART, cleanroom technology, and quality management.
Sandro has authored/co-authored over 300 papers, including peer-reviewed article and book chapters. His H-index is 52 (google scholar) with over 7K citations. He has also edited/coedited 10 textbooks and served as guest editor of 6 special issues in peer-reviewed journals.
Sandro serves as an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Endocrinology (Reproduction) and International Brazilian Journal of Urology. He also serves the Editorial Board of several journals in the areas of andrology and reproductive medicine.
He is a much-requested international lecturer and gives approximately 50 lectures annually. He has been invited as guest speaker in over 40 countries.

Matt Feldman

Matt Feldman is a recovering scientist and a communicator. After training in human genetics and biochemistry, he left the lab to become a champion for medical innovation. Matt is Communications Director at DxNow.