Programme

Thursday 9 January – Global and Environmental

07:45 Registration, refreshments, exhibition and poster viewing

OPENING PLENARY SESSION 1

09.40 The human tide- Paul Morland, Associate Research Fellow, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK 

10.10 Where does reproductive science fit into “big picture” conservation – Bill Holt, Visiting Professor, Academic Unit of Reproductive and Development Medicine, University of Sheffield, UK

10.40 Ecotoxicology in the Artic: One health one fertility – Christian Sonne, Professor of Wildlife Population Health, Aarhus University, Denmark

11.10 Refreshments and exhibition
Manned poster presentations and poster judging, odd numbers

Exhibition, refreshments and poster viewing

Demo zones
11.15 – 11.30 – Cooper
11.40 – 11.55 – Gedeon
IVF simulator educational training session: ovum collection
Saeed Khan, Consultant Business Manager

12.10 ANNE MCLAREN MEMORIAL LECTURE
Placentation: the platform for life-long health – Professor Graham J Burton, Mary Marshall and Arthur Walton Professor of the Physiology of Reproduction Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, UK

13.00 Lunch, exhibition and poster viewing

Demo Zones
13.35 – 13.50 – Cooper

14.00 PARALLEL SHORT PAPER SESSIONS 1
To be announced in September

15.30 Exhibition, refreshments and poster viewing

Demo Zones
15.35 – 15.50 – Cooper

16.20-17.50 UPDATE SESSION 1

U1A Clinical

IVF in a changing world: Emerging techniques and technologies for all Segmented IVF – time to rethink?  Dr Abha Maheswari, Director, Aberdeen Fertility Centre, UK Embryo-endometrial cross talk: How can we mediate the conversation?- Professor Nick Macklon, Medical Director, London Women’s Clinic, Affiliate Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark PGT-A,(genetic testing) – Sebastien Mastenbroek, Assistant Professor, Centre for Reproductive Medicine, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

U1B Science	John Carroll, Monash University, Australia Kevin Sinclair, University of Nottingham, UK Karen Schindler, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA Niamh Forde, Leeds University, UK
U1C Embryology	Emerging risks in embryology DoHAB work – risk associated with extended culture – Peter Ruane, Research Associate, University of Manchester, UK Is misleading research the risk to embryology? – Jack Wilkinson, Research Fellow, Centre for Biostatistics, University of Manchester, Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility, UK Risks of embroyology development: Lessons from animal models – Pascale Chavatte-Palmer, Deputy Research Unit Director, French National Institute for Agricultural Research, INRA, Paris, France
U1D Nursing and Counselling	Transgender   Fertility and reproductive issues for trans and non-binary people – Lucy Evans, Endocrine Clinical Nurse Specialist, Tavistock & Portman Clinic, UK Funding transgender fertility treatment – James Barrett, Lead Clinician, Tavistock & Portman Clinic, UK Human capital: Staff training and support in this changing world – Debbie Evans, Director of Clinical Services, Herts & Essex Fertility Centre, UK

17.50- 19.00 Welcome wine reception in exhibition
Opportunity to meet with poster presenters.

18.15 – 19.15 Sponsor’s symposium by Merck
Controlled ovarian stimulation and personalisation, what are the options
Professor Nick Raine-Fenning, Medical Director, Nurture Fertility
Dr Robert Fischer, Reproductive Endocrinologist, Medical Director, MVZ Fertility Center Hamburg, Germany

 

Friday 10 January – Sociological

07.45 Registration, refreshments, exhibition and poster viewing


07.50 – 08.50 Sponsor’s symposium by Guerbet

PLENARY SESSION 2                                                                                                              
09.00 Elective egg freezing: Socio-demographic factors underlying an emerging global trend – Professor Marcia Inhorn, Anthropology and International Affairs, Council on Middle East Studies, Yale University, USA 

09.30 New ways  to grow a human – Dr Philip Ball, former editor of Nature, Science Writer, UK

10.00 DNA testing fallout. The end of donor anonymity?–Guido Pennings, Professor, Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium

10.30 Refreshments and exhibition
Manned poster presentations and poster judging, even numbers

Demo Zones
10.35 – 10.50 – Cooper
11.00 – 11.15 Gedeon
IVF simulator educational training session: guided embryo transfer
SaeedKahn, Consultant Business Manager

11.30 THE PATRICK STEPTOE MEMORIAL LECTURE
Tim’rous beasties an’ fellow-mortals: reproductive technologies in the 21st century – Andy Greenfield, Harwell, Oxfordshire, UK

12.20 Society AGMs
BFS AGM
ACE AGM
SRF AGM
–  Marshall Medal – Professor Marilyn Renfree, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Australia

13.20 Lunch, exhibition and poster presentations viewing

Demo Zones
14.00-14.15 – Cooper

14.20 PARALLEL SHORT PAPER SESSIONS 2          
to be announced in September

15.50 Exhibition, refreshments and poster viewing

Demo Zones
15.55 – 16.10 – Cooper

16.30-18.00 UPDATE SESSION 2

U2A Clinical	LUTEAL PHASE SUPPORT Physiology of corpus luteum: The science of luteal support – Colin Duncan,Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Science,MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, The University of Edinburgh, UK  What’s new in Luteal support – Mostafa Metwally, Consultant Gynaecologist and Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery, Jessop Wing, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK Progesterone for prevention of miscarriage- Arri Coomarasamy,Professor of  Gynaecology, Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, University of Birmingham, UK
U2B Science	Environmental impact on reproduction Reproductive function in a polluted world: Lessons from animal models – Richard Lea, Reader in Reproductive Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Nottingham University Hospital, UK  Environmental influences on a metabolic function and fertility – Vasantha Padmanabhan, Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, USA Environmental influences on early life development and susceptibility to adult disease – Kirsty Walters, Senior Lecturer, Ovarian Biology Laboratory UNSW Sydney, Australia
U2C Embroylogy	Emerging techniques and technologies Artificial Intelligence and machine learning – for embryo selection – Marcos Meseguer, Senior Embryologist, IVI Valencia, Spain Microfluidics for assisted reproductive technologies – Dr Séverine Le Gac, Professor, University of Twente, Belgium Human spermbots for cancer-relevant drug delivery – Dr Christine Schmidt, Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, UK
U2D – Nursing	Surrogacy update  The surrogacy journey –Sarah Templeman, Nurse Manager, Herts & Essex Fertility Centre, UK and Natalie Gamble, Fertility Lawyer, Natalie Gamble Associates, UK The role of the lawyer in surrogacy – it’s not all legal   – Helen Prosser, Lawyer, Brilliant Beginnings, UK Single parent surrogacy–Francesca Steyn, Head of Nursing, The Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health, London UK

18:00 Sponsor’s symposium

19.30 Conference dinner

Saturday 11 January – Technological

7.45 Registration, exhibition, refreshments and poster viewing

7.50 Sponsor’s symposium

PLENARY SESSION 3

9.00 Transgenic technologies: Gene editing in reproduction – Speaker to be confirmed

9.30 Microbiomes, reproductive health and fertility – Dr Jacques Ravel, Professor of Microbiology, University of Maryland, USA

10.00 FNUK Update

10.10 BOB EDWARDS MEMORIAL LECTURE 
Clinical embryology and andrology- Steve Troup, President, Association of Clinical Embryologists, UK

11.00 Exhibition and refreshments

11.30 – 12.30 PARALLEL SHORT PAPERS SESSIONS 3     

12.30 Lunch, exhibition and poster viewing

13.30-14.30 UPDATE SESSION 3

U3A Clinical & Embryology	Future challenges Regulating innovation in a changing world – Peter Thompson, Chief Executive, HFEA, UK Metabolic approaches to treating male fertility – Dr Channa Jayasena, Clinical Senior Lecturer Endocrinology, Imperial College London and Hammersmith Hospital, UK
U3B Science	Reproductive challenges of animal conservation Fertility preservation in wild and domestic species – Pierre Comizzoli, Staff Scientist, Department of Reproductive Sciences, Centre for Species Survival, Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park, Washington DC, USA Bringing back the white rhino using frozen sperm
U3C	Nurses role in fertility diagnostics The nurse role in diagnostics– Amanda Cook, Senior Nurse CRGH The role of ultrasound in infertility management – a nurse perspective– Jane Mutch, Matron The Hewitt Fertility Centre

FINAL PLENARY SESSION  

14.35 Debate: This house believes in legalising genetic enhancement of humans
Speakers tbc

15.15 Evolution of female promiscuity
Speaker tbc

15.45 Prize giving

16.00 Closing remarks – Jane Stewart, Chair, British Fertility Society, UK