Debate sessions

Marcelle Cedars

Dr. Marcelle Ivonne Cedars Dr. Marcelle Cedars is the Director of the UCSF Center for Reproductive Health and the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. As Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, she coordinates the relationship between science and research being done at UCSF and personalized care for medical center patients. Cedars received her medical training at the University of Texas Southwestern School Of Medicine, completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, and did her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology at UCLA. Her clinical and research interests include ovarian aging, polycystic ovary syndrome and assisted reproduction. She is an NIH-funded researcher and has chaired the FDA panel on Obstetrical and Gynecological Devices, served as President of the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and is currently President Elect for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Juan A. Garcia-Velasco                            

Juan García-Velasco, MD, PhD, is Director of IVI Madrid. He is also the Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain, where he is Director of their Master’s Degree Programme in Human Reproduction. Professor García-Velasco graduated from University Medical School, Madrid, in 1990 and received his Obstetrics and Gynaecology certification from La Paz Hospital, Madrid, in 1995. He completed his PhD in Medicine from Autonoma University, Madrid, in 1995 and from 1997 to 1998 he studied at Yale University, New Haven, CT (USA), under a Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship. His main research interests have been in Recurrent Implantation Failure and Endometriosis. He is the Principal Investigator of projects funded by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health, Spain, and has received awards from the Spanish Fertility Society, Spanish Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles as well as 22 book chapters on human reproduction, endometriosis and hypo- and hyper-ovarian stimulation response. He is Co-Editor of RBMOnline.

Antonio Gargiulo

Luca Gianaroli

Dr. Luca Gianaroli is specialist in Reproductive Medicine since the end of the Seventies. He is the Scientific Director of S.I.S.Me.R. (Italian Society for the Study of Reproductive Medicine) and he holds the position of Scientific Director of I.I.A.R.G., the International Institutes of Advanced Reproduction and Genetics and of IIRM SA. He is Honorary Professor at the School of Biosciences of the University of Kent.
Active member of several international scientific societies in which he has covered and currently covers roles of primary importance, he has served as Chairman of the Italian Society of Reproduction and of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). He is a member of the ESHRE Certification Committee and past coordinator of the steering committee of the ESHRE Certification for Reproductive Endoscopic Surgeons. He was the coordinator of the ESHRE Task Force on Management of Fertility Units until 2015.
In 2015 he was appointed Chairman of SIOS.E (Italian Society of Sterility and Embriology).
In 2014 he was appointed as Fellow ad eundem of the Royal College of Obstetricians and gynaecologists.
Dr. Gianaroli is author of more than 250 papers in international scientific journals and publisher or co-publisher of 9 books.

Beverley Hunt

William H. Kutteh

Dr. William H. Kutteh, MD, PhD is a native of North Carolina and has been practicing reproductive medicine since completing his fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern. Dr. Kutteh received his Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology then obtained his M.D. at Wake Forest University. Dr. Kutteh was faculty at UT Southwestern then the Director of Reproductive Endocrinology at the University of Tennessee. He currently is Clinical Professor of Ob/Gyn at Vanderbilt University, Professor and Director of Reproductive Endocrinology at Baptist Memorial Hospital, Professor and Director of Fertility Preservation at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Director of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Center at Fertility Associates of Memphis. Dr. Kutteh is Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology, and Immunology. He has authored more than 250 publications and has lectured nationally and internationally. Dr. Kutteh has been named one of America’s Top Obstetricians and Gynecologists each year since 2002, and was named to the Top 1% of Reproductive Endocrinologists in the US by US News in 2012. He has served as Program Chair and Faculty for courses in Reproductive Immunology, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, Failed Implantation, and Genetics at ASRM, ACOG, CFAS, and ESHRE.

Michelle Nisolle

Prof M. NISOLLE is President of the GYN-OBST Department at University of Liege (BE). Her clinical activity is focused on the endoscopic management of benign pathology (endometriosis and uterine fibromatosis), and she is particularly involved in endoscopic surgery teaching. She is member of many international societies and journals committee for peer review process. Her research focuses on endometriosis. She is author and co-author of 143 book chapters and 251 publications in national and international journals.

Richard J. Paulson

Catherine Racowsky

Dr. Catherine Racowsky is Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard Medical School and is currently a University Consultant in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine at the Hopital Foch in Suresnes, France. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Zoology at the University of Oxford, her Ph.D. in Reproductive Physiology from the University of Cambridge, UK and did her post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Racowsky is the Immediate Past President of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), having served as President for 2019-2020. She has been a member of several committees including the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology Executive Council, the International Taskforce for Stem Cell Research, US government oversight committees including one for the Institute of Medicine and the ASRM Practice Committee.
Dr. Racowsky is a past Associate Editor of Human Reproduction and Fertility & Sterility and is currently a member of the editorial board of Fertility and Sterility and the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics. Her research interests include investigating the effects of maternal and environmental factors on egg quality, studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying egg maturation in vivo and in vitro, expanding methodologies for assessing human embryo developmental competency, and improving quality control and quality management in the clinical IVF laboratory. She has authored over 170 peer-reviewed papers on various aspects of mammalian egg and embryo physiology, has published numerous news releases and book chapters, and has co-edited eight books.

Bettina Toth

Professor Bettina Toth is the head of the Clinic of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine at the Medical University Innsbruck since october 2016. Since 2019 she is the coordinator of the ESHRE SIG early pregnancy and implantation. Her scientific work focuses on reproductive immunology, mainly immunologic factor in the peripheral blood and endometrium as well as hemostasis and pregnancy disorders with more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. The Clinic in Innsbruck is performing fertility surgery including hysteroscopy and laparoscopy.

S. Zev Williams, U.S.A.

Zev Williams, MD, PhD, is the Chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and the Wendy D. Havens Associate Professor of Women’s Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). A nationally-recognized clinician and researcher in the area of recurrent pregnancy loss and infertility, he leads the Columbia University Fertility Center.

Søren Ziebe

Søren Ziebe is professor, M.Sc., D.Sc. and Head of Department at the Fertility Clinic, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen and University of Copenhagen.
He has previously been President of the Nordic Fertility Society and twice the Chairman of the national Danish Fertility Society. He has also for many years been a member of the ESHRE Executive Committee and coordinator of training and education for ESHRE.
Professor Ziebe has published many scientific articles, and has been Chairman and Organizer of several international congresses and meetings, including “State of the ART” conferences and ESHRE 2005 in Copenhagen. He has further been appointed Council of Europe expert and executive board member of the EU funded Danish/Swedish ReproUnion project. Professor Ziebe is chair of the Danish Fertility Awareness group.