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86 - Embryo Disposition: Implications and How to Protect Your Clinic, an interview with Igor Brusil

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The disposing of embryos has long been a controversial topic in the world of IVF. Clinics can’t afford to keep embryos around when patients have stopped paying their bills. But the ethical and legal implications keep embryo disposition from being a simple decision. Plus, patients aren’t really properly educated on what the limitations of cryopreservation are and clinics aren’t always fully prepared with proper consents and contracts when the time comes to freeze embryos.

On this episode of Inside Reproductive Health, Griffin spoke to Igor Brusil, attorney-at-law and per diem embryologist and legal counsel for the American College of Embryology in Houston, Texas. After working as an embryologist, Igor became interested in the ethical and legal implications of lab procedures, specifically embryo disposition. This led him to pursuing a legal degree and working as counsel for a variety of clients, but his focus remained in healthcare law, risk management, and professional liability.

He brought his unique experience to the show, sharing his thoughts on what clinics can do to protect themselves when it comes to the issue of embryo disposition.

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85 - Venture Capital and Its Interests in the Fertility Field, an interview with Dr. David Sable

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Venture Capital has been slowly making its way into the field over the last several years. But just what is it looking to improve?

On this episode of Inside Reproductive Health, Griffin talks to Dr. David Sable, a retired REI and current serial investor in biotechnology and other companies that aim to make the field more efficient and accessible by the patients we aim to treat. They discuss what it is going to take to scale to a million cycles in the US and 15 million around the world. From lessons from oncology to bottlenecks holding us back, Dr. Sable shares his biggest hopes for the fertility field and what entrepreneurs need to do to get it to the next level.

Dr. David Sable co-founded and served as director of the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, was founder of Assisted Reproductive Medical Technologies, and was co-founder of Reprogenetics. In addition to serving as a reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Sable also sought to help the field as a whole by finding investors to create new technology to increase the amount of people served by the field. Today, Dr. Sable is a life sciences portfolio manager, an adjunct at Columbia University, and serves as director, advisor, and board member for a wide range of biotech and advocacy organizations.

Learn more about Dr. David Sable at www.dbsable.com or find him on Twitter @dbsable.

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69 - COVID-19 and the 1st Trimester: What the ASPIRE Study Could Mean for Your Fertility Clinic, an interview with Dr. Eleni Jaswa and Dr. Marcelle Cedars

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The first trimester of pregnancy is crucial. Organ development is taking place, the placenta is being developed, things that can affect the trajectory of the entire pregnancy, or the baby’s life. But as of now, there is no data on the potential impact of COVID-19 during this critical stage of development.

But soon, that will all change. And what will it mean for fertility clinics once there is scientific data?

On this special live episode of Inside Reproductive Health, Griffin spoke with Dr. Eleni Jaswa and Dr. Marcelle Cedars, two of the Principal Investigators of the ASPIRE study being conducted through UCSF Center for Reproductive Health. This study hopes to reach 10,000 pregnant women in their first trimester and monitor them, looking for any impact that COVID-19 might have on fetuses through babies aged 18 months. They share the ultimate goal of the study, just how they are going to do it, and what you can do to be involved to help patients make more informed decisions when it comes to the potential risks of COVID-19.

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51 - All About the Sperm: Testing Standards, Accessibility, and Anonymity - An Interview with Dennis Marchesi

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Donor gametes are a crucial pillar of the field of fertility, but what happens behind the scenes? On this episode of Inside Reproductive Health, Griffin talks to Dennis Marchesi, Director of Laboratory Operations at Xytex, a sperm bank located in Georgia. Together, they talk about the nuances of different labs working together, how Xytex is dealing with cultural changes that are affecting anonymity of donors, and the impact mail-away testing kits are having on the lab.

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42 - Insights from a Futurist: Genetic Engineering, An Interview with Jamie Metzl

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Preimplantation genetic testing has opened up a world of helping families have successful pregnancies. But when does the testing and selection of embryos go too far? In this episode of Inside Reproductive Health, Griffin talks to Dr. Jamie Metzl, author of Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity. They discuss the implications of advanced technologies such as the future of embryo screening and gene-editing. More importantly, Dr. Metzl discusses the significance of understanding the coming technologies and how those in the fertility field can help prepare their patients and the rest of the world for these changes.