Cutting edge sessions

Shai Carmi

Shai Carmi's PhD is in statistical physics (2010), and he did postdoctoral training at Columbia University in population genetics. Since 2015, he has been a faculty member at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Public Health. His research focuses on statistical methods in genetics. Areas of applications include population genetics, ancient DNA, genetic genealogy, genome-wide association studies, polygenic risk scores, and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). His work on PGT focuses on the development of sequencing methods and the evaluation of PGT for polygenic (complex) diseases and traits.

Dean Morbeck

Dr. Morbeck is Chief Scientific Officer at Genea Fertility and a freelance consultant with Morbeck Consulting LTD. He has a strong background in leadership positions in the ART community. He most recently served as Chief Scientific Officer, Kindbody, and is an Honorary Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Monash University. His prior positions include Scientific Director at Fertility Associates New Zealand and Sunfert International Fertility Centre, Malaysia, and Associate Professor at the Mayo Clinic. He obtained his BS from the University of Wisconsin, his MS and PhD from North Carolina State University and his MBA from Augsburg College. His research has focussed on quality in the laboratory – from culture media, protein and oil, to how embryologists grade and decide to use blastocysts. He has a keen interest in improving the patient experience through better delivery of fertility care.

Dagan Wells

Dagan Wells has been involved in reproductive genetics for almost 30 years, principally focusing on preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). He spent several years at University College London, where he accomplished the first comprehensive chromosome analysis of cells from human embryos, revealing the wide diversity of cytogenetic abnormality that exists during the first few days of life. Prof. Wells later joined the faculty of Yale University and also served as a Director for Reprogenetics, at the time one of the largest providers of PGT services in the world. He now directs Juno Genetics, a state-of-the-art molecular biology laboratory, offering PGT, non-invasive prenatal testing, expanded carrier screening and other genetic tests related to infertility and pregnancy. Prof. Wells also continues to teach and direct research at the University of Oxford where he is an Associate Professor in the Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health. Prof. Wells’ work has frequently been noted for its innovation and has led to the publication of over 200 scientific papers. In the last decade his work has been shortlisted for eighteen major conference prizes (ASRM and ESHRE), winning ten. Prof. Wells is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal Society of Biology, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Institute of Biomedical Science. He currently serves on the Boards of several international journals and professional societies.