In this e-newsletter:
1. ESHRE founder Prof. Robert G Edwards wins Nobel Prize
2. The EU - connection
Study says EU leading on e-health
3. ESHRE campus / educational activities
Abstract deadline - ESHRE Campus 'The maternal embryonic interface'
New Workshops 2011
4. ESHRE news
Abstract deadline Stockholm
New member of staff at the Central Office
5. News in reproductive medicine
NICE reviews fertility guideline
Thirty years old, but can we say IVF is safe?
FDA's future challenges - a review
6. ESHRE calendar
ESHRE warmly and proudly welcomes the announcement that the Cambridge reproductive biologist Robert Edwards has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
85-year old humble Robert Edwards would never, in his dreams, have thought that the birth of Louise Brown and what would follow would lead to this type of recognition 32 years later.
Edward's contribution to ESHRE over the years has been enormous; as a founding member with Jean Cohen and as editor of our journal Human Reproduction. "Edwards has been an inspiration to colleagues and we applaud his efforts to form a European community in a field that was extremely competitive," says ESHRE chairman Luca Gianaroli. "He was always a visionary, already in the 80s he was talking about the potential of stem cells to regenerate tissue, in-vitro maturation and PGD."
In 1968 Edwards first met Cohen at a conference on immunology and reproduction in Bulgaria, and later in 1972 at the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) congress in Tokyo. There, they began discussing the possibilities of IVF in humans. By that time Edwards had long progressed from mouse models to human reproductive biology. He recalled: "It was in 1965 that we achieved the breakthrough, which paved the way for IVF in humans. I was able to confirm the exact timing of human oocyte maturation, when in one experimental series, 46 of 48 oocytes cultured for 36-37 hours reached metaphase-II at 36 hours."
In the early 70s Edwards was faced with the difficulty that IVF embryos would not develop further than the two-cell stage. Together with Patrick Steptoe, a surgeon and obstetrician, they retrieved enough oocytes just before ovulation and were able to develop 16-cell embryos using IVF. Edwards, together with Steptoe and Jean Purdy published their results on fertilisation and cleavage of in vitro preovulatory human oocytes in a Nature paper.
However, all embryo implantations resulted in short-lived pregnancies. Somehow the hormonal treatment to increase oocyte production was interfering with the pregnancies. They decided to focus on the natural menstrual cycle, even though it meant having only one oocyte per cycle. Using the concentration of luteinising hormones in the urine, they predicted the correct stage of oocyte development, before retrieving it laparoscopically. Steptoe aspirated Lesley Brown's one follicle on 10th November 1977 and by late evening of the same day, fertilisation had taken place. After two days they transferred the eight-blastomere embryo to the uterus of Lesley Brown. This would lead to the birth of Louise Brown on July 25, 1978, the probably most celebrated babies of all times.
Edwards had kept the ongoing pregnancy such a secrecy that even Cohen heard the news on the radio. Later, together with Patrick Steptoe, Bob established the first IVF clinic (Bourn Hall) near Cambridge. But along the way he still had to face substantial hurdles, with many opposing his research and even the UK Government refusing to fund his research.
Edwards inspired many researchers to follow in his footsteps and in the last 30 years we have seen many developments in reproductive medicine. Edwards maintained that as a scientist his main interest had always been to arrive at a thorough understanding of human conception.
He had a strong interest in the field of human reproduction, in particular the control of sex determination, the typing of embryos for genetic defects and the development of genetically tailored stem cells to treat disease. "All these areas were what really drove me to develop IVF."
In 2000, Edwards founded Reproductive Biomedicine Online (RBM Online) which he published independently for 10 years.
Letter of Edwards and Steptoe sent to the Lancet in 1978.
In this section you can read about news and issues in the EU arena. For comments and feedback please send an email to hanna@eshre.eu.
Study says EU is leading on e-health
Europe is leading the rest of the world in eHealth. All 27 EU member states are currently working towards a system that shows electronic health records, patient summaries, allows for e-prescribing and incorporates telemedicine. The study compared eHealth activities from 2006-2007 to 2010 and showed that most members publish far more policy documents in eHealth today than ever before.
However, only Sweden and England are currently using e-records in either primary or secondary care on a regular basis. Telemedicine and e-prescribing is widely used in the Scandinavian countries, but countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, France, UK and Spain are hoping to expand these activities. Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic have pilot schemes in place.
The EU Commissioner Ilias Iakovidis (deputy head of ICT for health) said: "Services high on the agenda are the electronic transfer of prescriptions and the provision of telehealth services for doctors and patients in remote regions or for chronically ill patients at home."
Amongst the key challenges identified in the study were competition between IT suppliers and the alignment of local, regional and national strategies and systems.
For more information on the study please go to this website.
ESHRE CAMPUS: The maternal embryonic interface
(organised by the SIGs Early Pregnancy, Endometriosis/Endometrium and Stem Cells)2-3 December 2010, Valencia, Spain
This workshop incorporates the interests of three ESHRE special interest groups – Endometriosis Endometrium, Early Pregnancy and Stem Cells - and addresses themes common to each of these areas of both clinical and basic interest.
The two day meeting will include the following topics: "The Window of Implantation and Beyond"; "Endometriosis"; "Gametogenesis" and Implantation and Placentation".
Each session will provide a platform for discussion regarding: “state-of-the-art” tools for mechanistic study, what is new in the context of endocrine regulation and basic biology; the role of stem cells underpinning physiological and pathological processes; and clinical translation of the biology to the clinic.
Along with invited presentations there will be the opportunity for juniors to present short oral communications selected from submitted abstracts. The remainder of accepted abstracts will be presented in poster format.
ABSTRACT DEADLINE: 4 November 2010
Target audience: The course is aimed at clinicians, scientists and interested paramedicals working in the field of implantation, stem cells and endometriosis in the context of early pregnancy success and failure.
The following ESHRE workshops have been planned for 2011. Please note that this list is by no means final, since applications for campus activities are still being processed.
1-2 February
RCOG/ESHRE/ESGE Joint meeting – reproductive surgery in the 21st century and beyond
(SIG Reproductive Surgery in London, United Kingdom)
4-5 February
ART – do we disregard the oncological impact?
(SIG Reproductive Endocrinology in Kempten, Germany)
11-12 February
Insurance models for reproductive medicine
(TF Management of Infertility Units in Venice, Italy
23-25 February
Endoscopy in reproductive medicine
(SIG Reproductive Surgery in Leuven, Belgium)
3-4 March
Basic training course for paramedics working in reproductive health
(Paramedical Group in Berlin, Germany)
1-2 April
Practical aspects of non invasive selection of gametes, embryos and blastocysts in a modern IVF lab
(SIG Embryology in Salzburg, Austria)
6-7 May
How can surgery increase the success rate in ART?
(SIG Reproductive Surgery in Grado, Italy)
May or September
Basic genetics in infertility
(SIG Reproductive Genetics in Bucharest, Romania)
13-14 May
The embryo as a patient
(SIG Reproductive Endocrinology in Winchester, United Kingdom)
7-8 September
The management of infertility - training workshop for junior doctors, paramedicals and embryologists
(SIG Embryology, SIG Reproductive Endocrinology, the Paramedical Group in St. Petersburg, Russia)
3-4 October
Accreditation of a Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis Laboratory
(PGD Consortium in Athens, Greece)
28-29 October
Endometriosis and IVF
(SIG Endometriosis and Endometrium in Rome, Italy)
23-25 November
More information on workshops in 2010 and 2011 is available in our Calendar.
The abstract submission system is now online. The abstract submission deadline for the Annual Meeting in Stockholm will be the 1 February 2011. If you wish to submit an abstract please go to this website.
You can find the list of abstract topics below:
A. Cross border reproductive careB. Developing countries and infertilityC. Early pregnancyD. Embryology E. Endometriosis, endometrium, implantation and fallopian tubeF. Ethics and law G. Female (in)fertility H. Male (in)fertility I. Male and female contraceptionJ. Male and female fertility preservation K. Paramedical submissionsL. Psychology and counsellingM. Quality and safety of ART therapies N. Reproductive (epi)genetics O. Reproductive endocrinology P. Reproductive epidemiology and health economyQ. Reproductive surgery R. Stem cellsS. Translational research
A new staff member has joined the team at the ESHRE Central Office. Her name is Nathalie Vermeulen. She is 27, has a Ph.D. in medical sciences and was previously employed by a pharmaceutical company as Product Manager. Nathalie will be the “Research Specialist” and will assist Special Interest Groups in the development of guidelines.
In that capacity she will perform the following duties:
• Searching for existing guidelines and, if indicated, guideline approval and selection• Conducting a stepwise literature search• Documenting and storing the search strategies used • Selecting preliminary evidence • Assessing quality of selected evidence• Summarizing evidence by evidence tables and grading• Formulating and classifying recommendations according to standardized phrasing • Recording evidence gaps • Updating the literature search every two years for every guideline
After giving birth to a baby boy, Ian, Veerle De Rijbel returned to the central office in August. Her temporary replacement Sophie Agten is no longer working for ESHRE and will be sorely missed. Veerle will, as before, make arrangements for executives and speakers for committee meetings and scientific activities.
Human Reproduction
Editor’s choice
Molecular Human Reproduction
New Research Horizon Reviews
Initiated at the end of 2007, this series of reviews provides brief summaries of current knowledge in basic science topics in reproductive medicine, accommodating the option of including snippets of unpublished data or hypotheses pointing to new research horizons.
Klatsky, P. et al., Detection and Quantification of mRNA in Single Human Polar Bodies: a Minimally Invasive Test of Gene Expression During Oogenesis
Teklenburg, G. et al., The molecular basis of recurrent pregnancy loss: impaired natural embryo selection
Ito, M. et al, Age-associated changes in the subcellular localization of phosphorylated p38 MAPK in human granulosa cells
Human Reproduction Update
Editorial
Brown, JB, Types of ovarian activity in women and their significance: the continuum (a reinterpretation of early findings)
You can find more news and articles in our Press Room and in our Journals.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently updating its 2004 NHS guidance on the assessment and treatment of patients with fertility problems.In the light of important technological advances in the last years, NICE will review different areas such as the effectiveness of different embryo/blastocyst transfer strategies (timing of transfer and number of embryos), the effectiveness of IUI, with or without ovulation induction agents, the effectiveness of mild versus conventional IVF, sperm washing and tests for ovarian reserve.
The new guideline will not be published before 2012. For more information visit the NICE website. Articles in the media related to this issue can be found in the Telegraph and in Medical News.
Dr. Karl Nygren, reviewed current evidence of safety in IVF during the World Congress of Fertility and Sterility in Munich, last month. In his keynote lecture: 'Thirty years old, but can we say IVF is safe?' he summarised that IVF is 'safe enough from what we know'. "The risks are small, and need to be kept in perspective, especially when set against the potential benefit of having a child. But we can't be complacent, we need to keep monitoring, especially with new techniques, and although the risks are low, they always need to be explained to prospective parents."
Read more >
In a NEJM perspective published this month, Georgetown University School of Medicine family medicine physician Susan Okie gives a comprehensive overview of change, and planned change, within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Being more proactive, restoring its credibility, persuading Congress to increase funding, and dealing with new scientific developments and globalisation are amongst the FDA's priorities Okie identified in her review.
So far, leaders of the FDA are analysing difficulties such as legal and regulatory requirements and have urged to accelerate responses to imminent health threats. Internal task forces have been assigned to reexamine the decision making process on the safety and effectiveness of drugs. Reforms recommended by the Institute of Medicine are likely to lead to changes within the agency. According to the FDA's Commissioner Margaret Hamburg who spoke to Okie, the agency hopes to collaborate more closely with scientists and academia and other health research agencies, especially in the areas 'biomarkers, bioimaging, clinical-trial analytics and pharmacoepidemiology'.
Finally the agency plans to introduce a risk-based strategy for targeting priority inspections in order to 'grapple with the expanding task of ensuring the safety of products made overseas', reports Okie. For an outline of FDA's strategic action plan please visit the FDA website. The NEJM perspective can be viewed here.
More news can be found in our PRESS ROOM or you can subscribe to our RSS feed for professionals in the field of reproductive medicine.
Promoting excellence in clinical research: from idea to publication
(organised by the ESHRE journals editors)
5-6 November, Thessaloniki, Greece
Women’s health aspects of PCOS
(organised by the SIG Reproductive Endocrinology)
18 November, Amsterdam, Netherlands
(organised by the SIG Reproductive Surgery)
24-26 November, Leuven, Belgium
Fertility preservation in cancer
(organised by the TF Fertility Preservation in Severe Diseases)
25-26 November, Bologna, Italy
Mark your calendar for our 27th Annual Meeting / Stockholm, Sweden/ 3-6 July 2011