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Experts

 
Professor Andrea Weghofer
Andrea Weghofer works as a consultant at the Department of Gynaecological Endocrinology & Reproductive Medicine at the Medical University in Vienna, Austria.
She graduated from Medical University Vienna and obtained her PhD as the first graduate of the University’s Reproductive Endocrinology programme. Dr. Weghofer completed her residency training at the Medical University in Vienna and fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Genetics at Yale University in New Haven. In the course of international research collaborations Dr. Weghofer concentrates her research efforts on in vitro fertilization, ovarian senescence and reproductive genetics. She has won a number of national and international awards for her scientific work, holds several board membership positions and currently serves as section editor for Reproductive Biomedicine Online.
 
Professor Joop Laven
Joop Laven is Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and was initially trained at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. After Medical School he completed his PhD thesis on clinical and experimental aspects of varicocele at Utrecht University in 1991. From 1991 till 1997 he continued his training at the University Medical Center St Radboud in Nijmegen. In 1997 he became board certified in OBGYN (FRCOG) and moved to the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. In 2000 he became certified subspecialist Reproductive Medicine. He is a member of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the Endocrine Society, SGI and the Royal Dutch College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He was one of the founders of the Dutch Society for Reproductive Medicine (DSRM) and was the first chairman of the board of the Dutch Society of Reproductive Medicine. For many years he had a particular interest in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome covering the full spectrum from the effects of the syndrome during adolescence and adult life on the menstrual cycle, fertility, body weight and cosmetic aspects. More recently the research focussed on more fundamental effects that PCOS may have on quality of life and long-term health risks as well as the genetic basis of the disease.

 

Professor Anja Pinborg
Anja Pinborg is a professor of assisted reproduction at the Fertility Department at the Juliane Marie Centre, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Her main research areas are: Assisted reproduction, Ovarian stimulation, Freezing of embryos, State of health of children born after assisted reproduction, Reproductive epidemiology. She has published more than 150 scientific papers and textbook chapters. She is a scientific editor at The Journal of the Danish Medical Association (in Danish: Ugeskrift for Læger) and she is on the board of directors for ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology).

 

Willem Ombelet (MD, PhD)
Willem Ombelet was born in Leuven in 1954 and qualified in medicine at the University of Leuven in 1979. He completed his training in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Bruges and Pretoria (South Africa). He is the founder of the Genk Institute for Fertility Technology and was chairman of seven ‘Andrology in the Nineties’ meetings. In 1998 he obtained his PhD degree at the University of Leuven with a thesis on ‘The value of sperm morphology and other semen parameters in diagnosis and treatment of human subfertility’. He became the Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the ZOL Hospitals in Genk in 1999 and was the President of the Flemish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (VVOG) from 2001 until 2004. Since 2002 he has been the chairman of the Scientific Committee of the VVOG. Until 2008 he was the editor of ‘Gynaïkeia’, the official journal of the Flemish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has also been a board member of the Belgian College of Reproductive Medicine since 1999 and a board member of the Belgian Society of Reproductive Medicine (BSRM) since 2008. He is a consultant (Reproductive Medicine) at the University of Hasselt and at the University of Ghent. He has authored more than 80 international peer-reviewed articles and is the recipient of two international awards. He is the (co-)editor of 16 books. Together with Koen Vanmechelen he has transgressed the boundaries of conventional medical practice to delve into unexplored dimensions and affinities with other medical disciplines, as well as with the world of art.

 

Dr Rita Vassena
Dr. Rita Vassena received a DVM and PhD from the University of Milan, Italy, with studies involving the evaluation of oocyte developmental competence in large animal models. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Fels Institute for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, where she focused her work on the early events of chromatin remodeling after somatic cell nuclear transfer. From 2007 to 2011 she was at the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona - Spanish National Stem Cell Bank, where she studied developmental competence of human embryos, as well as pluripotency in embryonic and induced stem cells. Since 2011 she is the Scientific Director of Clinica EUGIN, a European reference center for the treatment of infertility, where she coordinates research in the area of human IVF, and directs the basic research laboratory. Dr.Vassena has co-authored more than 30 research papers in several high ranking journals and is a frequent speaker at international meetings. She is past coordinator of the special interest group Stem Cells of ESHRE and currently serves in the Executive Committee of ESHRE.
 
Professor Jacky Boivin

Jacky Boivin is Professor of Health Psychology and Chartered Health Psychologist at the Cardiff University School of Psychology. She also leads the Cardiff Fertility Studies Research Group. Her most important contribution to fertility health in the past three decades has been a more rigorous investigation of psychological issues, which has debunked many misconceptions and provoked important changes to the delivery of psychosocial services to people with fertility problems.

Her studies have involved thousands of men, women and children in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australasia, using surveys, interviews, focus groups and experiments. She has published hundreds of peer-reviewed papers, and used these data to advise government, industry and charities. Her latest projects include development and adaptation of fertility awareness tools, fertility education and planning, and brief coping interventions for people with fertility problems.


Petra Thorn

Petra Thorn has been working as a family therapist offering infertility counselling for over 25 years. Her main areas of expertise are: psychosocial infertility counselling for individuals and couples; preparation for family building with donor gametes (egg donation, sperm donation, embryo donation etc.); parents who are talking to their children as well as family and friends about the donor conception of their child; supporting couples who have experienced miscarriages, stillbirths; couple and family therapy and training for professionals. Many of her scientific articles are published in German and English and she has written chapters for many books.