PASSING OF PROFESSOR ROBERT G. EDWARDS

WE AT THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION ARE SADDENDED TO LEARN OF THE PASSING OF PROFESSOR ROBERT G. EDWARDS, OUR PATRON AND FOUNDING MEMBER OF OUR SOCIETY.

Edwards_Robert Professor Edwards was a great human being, and a unique scientist who revolutionized the field of reproductive medicine.

He was one of these rare scientists whose work had such an immediate impact both in his own field of research and the human society at large. More than 4 million children in the world today owe their existence to in vitro fertilization.

Our 16th World Congress on In Vitro Fertilization held in Tokyo Japan celebrated Professor Robert G. Edwards, the 2010 Nobel laureate in medicine and physiology; a recognition greatly deserved and much overdue for the foremost pioneer of IVF. A year later, he was knighted for "services to human reproductive biology".

Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife Ruth Edwards, their five daughters and family.

Welcome to ISIVF

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Gomel_Victor I am honored to assume the presidency of the International Society for In Vitro Fertilization (ISIVF).

Although World IVF congresses have been held for more than three decades, the society itself is quite young. Professor Robert Edwards, one of the founding members and patron of ISIVF, insisted on having a society dedicated to assisted reproduction, a society that would bring together the various disciplines that this field encompasses: scientists, clinicians, embryologists, geneticists, psychologists, nurses and other auxiliary and support personnel.

We have done reasonably well, despite the global economic crisis of the last several years and the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan that preceded our congress by 6 months. But we are still a young society that needs to progress and secure its survival.

During my tenures as Secretary and Vice President & Secretary I worked hard to help create and advance our Society. As your newly elected President, I intend to continue to dedicate my time to achieve the goals of ISIVF with a clear vision, drawing upon the wisdom and experience of our Board filled with talented members. I look forward to their support and to work closely with them to serve our membership and provide them with forums in which to communicate and discuss advances in the exciting field of reproduction and assisted reproduction.

Our last World congress in Tokyo, Japan, in September was most successful. You will find a report on the congress in our updated website www.isivf.com and photos from this event. You can also view all of the plenary lectures presented at the congress.

We are looking forward with great anticipation to our next World congress, which will be held on Sept 4th to the 7th inclusive, 2013 in Tunis, Tunisia, the land that started the “Arab spring.” Preparations for the congress are well underway.

We aim to increase and facilitate communication with our members, and receive their input, which I shall welcome. I will ask the Website master to create a space in which members can write their suggestions and requests. We must also increase our membership. The membership fee is very modest (only $ 50 for two years), this is by design; its payment indicates an interest and commitment on the part of the member.

We are continuously improving and updating our website: www.isivf.com. We want all of our members to actively participate in making our Society the best it possibly can be and in this vein, we ask that you be kind enough to provide suggestions and feedback, not only on our Website, but on any and all other matters which you may feel appropriate. This will assist our Society in offering its members the most up-to-date information and services that they truly deserve.

I invite you to join us in this endeavor; your presence will benefit the IVF community at large, and you personally with all the benefits and the networking opportunities the society offers.

Victor Gomel

Feedback Form

A brief review of the 16th World Congress on IVF held in Tokyo Japan in September 2011

The 16th World Congress on In Vitro Fertilization was successfully held in Tokyo, Japan. Over 1,000 delegates gathered at Keio Plaza Hotel, Tokyo, over a four-day period starting from September 10, 2011. It was a vibrant and intellectually stimulating event. This comprehensive meeting of the International Society for In vitro Fertilization (ISIVF) was organized in collaboration with The Japan Society for Fertilization and Implantation. This event maintains a 27 yearlong continuous tradition of World Congresses on IVF. Once again leading clinicians, scientists, and embryologists from all over the world were brought together in order to discuss and debate the hottest topics relating to Assisted Reproduction and reproductive medicine.

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This year's congress president was Dr. Osamu Kato, the world renowned Director of Kato Ladies Clinic. He was greatly aided by the unsurpassable congress Vice-President Prof. Hisao Osada, who was constantly present, relaxed and comfortably smiling, in all congress functions and venues.

The congress was held only a short time after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku District of Japan on March 11, 2011. All the members of the executive committee, who addressed the audience in the opening ceremony, expressed their admiration for the bravery and resilience of the Japanese people, in the face of unspeakable tragedy, and congratulated the local organizing committee, headed by Osamu Kato and Prof. Hisao Osada, for their vision, courage, commitment and determination in organizing a remarkable and unforgettable event despite the grave circumstances. The large number of participants to the congress from all over the world was a testament of confidence and support to the congress organization, and an expression of respect to the Japanese people.

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Prof. Robert
Edwards

The 16th World Congress on In Vitro Fertilization celebrated Professor Robert G. Edwards, the 2010 Nobel laureate in medicine and physiology; a recognition greatly deserved and much overdue for the foremost pioneer of IVF. The joy we all felt by this great honor bestowed upon Prof. Edwards, the honorary patron and a founding member of the Society, was marred by his absence due to his current health issues. He was greatly missed.

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It was noted by Professor Victor Gomel, Secretary and Vice-President of the International Society of In vitro Fertilization that the prestigious award not only deservedly honors Prof. Robert Edwards, but also honors the whole field of reproductive medicine, which has been transformed by him. As the Nobel Foundation wrote: "Today, Robert Edwards' vision is a reality and brings joy to infertile people all over the world." Prof. Gomel made a very personal review of Prof. Edwards the man and his numerous important scientific contributions in his address during the opening ceremony of the congress. As many of those attending the ceremony were well acquainted with Professor Edwards this was a truly moving inauguration.

Scientific Program

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The scientific sessions were so rich and encompassing that any attempt to summarize and review even the major highlights will be unfair to the many superb lecturers that maybe left without well-deserved acknowledgement. Overall, participants were offered an outstanding overview of the important and the latest topics in the ever-developing field of reproductive medicine in well-attended sessions. Most notable were:

Natural and mild stimulation IVF cycles, an approach advocated and practiced in Japan for sometime;
Non-invasive assessment of embryo quality;
Fertility preservation;
Cryopreservation and vitrification for oocytes, embryos and ovary;
In vitro maturation and its numerous applications, including fertility preservation;
New developments in stem cell research and current clinical trials using stem cells;
The current role of reproductive surgery in the era of ART;
New developments in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis;

In addition, several national IVF and/or Reproductive Medicine societies presented sessions at the congress.

Social Program

Faculty and participants alike were greatly impressed by the exquisite traditional Japanese welcome and hospitality they received throughout their stay. This was evident already from the cocktail and dinner that followed the opening ceremony and from the superb social program every day thereafter. Memorable dinners accompanied with wonderful traditional Japanese shows of music and dance.

The Kato Clinic

One of the exceptional opportunities offered to the participants of the Congress was a guided tour of the famous Kato Ladies clinic. This is the world's largest IVF clinic, performing well over 22,000 procedures each year. The participants were able to view the clinic at large, the Operating Rooms and IVF lab, and were informed about the natural and minimal stimulation approach strongly advocated by, and used in this institution. In addition, the friendly and knowledgeable staff of the clinic willingly answered the many questions of the impressed visitors from all over the world.

The videos of the Opening lecture and Plenary lectures and the final program and abstracts booklet have been released.

>> Click here to watch those excellent, exciting lectures <<

Professor Robert Edwards

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Founding member and Patron of our Society, Nobel Prize winner in medicine for 2010

Our Website

In addition to the following improvements made to our site, we periodically review and update the contents, to ensure you have access to the latest information regarding our Society and ART

We are proud to launch our new website "isivf.org" to offer expanded functionality to our members.

The new website is designed to enable ISIVF to manage its day-to-day activities without vendor support. Below are the features and improvements of the new website:

The website design has been updated to give the site a fresh and modern look and feel.
New menu structure and additional content was added to enhance the website.
New membership component has been implemented to process new memberships, collect dues, send invoices and run reports. The system has been integrated to work with the pre-existing credit card merchant account.
Membership directory has been implemented so that members can look up their colleagues, obtain mailing and email addresses.
A "library" interface has been created to upload abstracts and presentation recordings into a central location.
A special news feed has been developed to pull relevant information in the field and embed into the website automatically.

We are well aware that some of you may have suggestions to make on how we may even better improve the quality and functionality of the site, we certainly would appreciate receiving your comments which will be carefully considered.

We do trust that you'll find this site more user friendly, and be the source of information you will find useful.

Tunis Workshop

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Our society held a full day workshop “Affordable, Accessible, Safe and Patient Friendly ART: The Road to the Future” on October 9, 2010, in conjunction with the Tunisian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, during their joint congress with the Federation of the National Gynecology and Obstetrics Societies of the Mediterranean and the Maghreb Societies of Gynecology and Obstetrics, held in Tunis, Tunisia. The workshop, directed by a well recognized international faculty, created much interest and was extremely well attended.