Session 16: To ICSI or Not to ICSI: How to Maximise Success
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Session 16: To ICSI or Not to ICSI: How to Maximise Success
Hosts Dr. Alison Bartolucci & Dr. Mina Alikani
Introduction
Dr. Dean Morbeck
Minimalist Approach to ICSI Use
Dr. Caroline McCaffrey
Maximizing Fertilization Rates
Dr. Joe Conaghan
How does the sperm trigger oocyte activation and what can be done if activation fails?
Dr. Karl Swann
Dr. Dean Morbeck
Dean Morbeck is the Scientific Director at Fertility Associates New Zealand, Sunfert International Fertility Centre, and an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Auckland. He oversees science in IVF clinics throughout New Zealand and Malaysia that annually perform >4000 fresh cycles. Prior to moving to NZ, Dean was an Associate Professor at the Mayo Clinic. He has a keen interest in quality of care, as evidenced by his publications on media composition and laboratory KPIs. He completed his MBA in 2015, which he is putting to use to improve both the science and patient experience at Fertility Associates and Sunfert. Dean is a shareholder of Fertility Associates and is on the Advisory Boards of Apricity, ARTCompass, The World Egg Bank and Vivoplex.
Dr. Caroline McCaffrey
In 2018, NYULFC joined the Prelude Network, a network of top-tier fertility centers across the United States offering comprehensive fertility care. Dr. McCaffrey is an active member of many national and international organizations including ASRM, the Fertility Preservation Special Interest Group, ESHRE, American College Of Embryology (ACE) as well as the NY Metropolitan Embryologist Society and has served on the Board of SART. Dr. McCaffrey has presented at national and international meetings as well as authored and co-authored many peer reviewed publications including several book chapters on various topics related to IVF.
Dr. Joe Conaghan
Dr. Conaghan has over three decades of experience in human embryology and is best known for his studies on embryo culture and metabolism. He trained in Embryology and Andrology at the Hammersmith Hospital in London and graduated with a PhD in human embryology from the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at the University of London. He’s a Board-Certified High-complexity Clinical Laboratory Director in the disciplines of Embryology and Andrology. In 1995, Dr. Conaghan moved from London to San Francisco where he served as the IVF laboratory director at UCSF for 5 years. He then moved to Pacific Fertility Center where he has been the director for 20 years. He is big advocate for eSET in IVF, and therefore for high standards for culturing and vitrifying embryos. Dr. Conaghan ensures the highest quality of patient care with state-of-the-art-facilities and an experienced team of embryologists, and is committed to continuing education for IVF lab professionals. He lives in Half Moon Bay with his wife and 3 children.
Dr. Karl Swann
Karl Swann completed his BSc Degree and the PhD in the Physiology Department at UCL under the supervision of Michael Whitaker. He worked as a postdoc in Japan with Shun-ichi Miyazaki studying Ca2+ oscillations at fertilization in hamster oocytes and returned to London to work with David Whittingham at St George’s Hospital Medical School. In 1994 he was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at UCL. In 2004 he was appointed as the Chair of Reproductive Cell Biology in Cardiff University. He is now based in the School of Biosciences in Cardiff and is involved in teaching physiology and cell biology as well as research. He has held an HFEA Research Licence for 15 years to study human oocyte activation and is an Editorial Board Member of the journal ‘Reproduction’.
In 1990s Karl Swann first described the existence of a soluble sperm protein that could trigger Ca2+ oscillations in mouse, hamster, and human oocytes. He pioneered the theory that the sperm activates the oocyte by introducing a soluble sperm protein after gamete fusion. This mechanism of oocyte activation is now widely recognized as the way the sperm activates development in IVF and ICSI. His lab first showed that the sperm factor is a phospholipase C (PLC). Then in collaboration with Tony Lai in Cardiff University he helped show that the factor is a PLCzeta. He continues to work in oocyte activation and metabolism in mouse and human oocytes and is currently collaborating with the Wales Fertility Institute.
