Female and Male Infertility

International Hands-on Laboratory Management Activities


18 December 2023 - 31 December 2024

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Overview

The rationale for an international course aimed at gynaecology and clinical embryology professionals who want to acquire specific skills in reproductive medicine and biology is to meet the growing demand for specialized training in this area. This course offers a unique approach, as students will receive personal guidance from a tutor and engage in intensive hands-on activities to develop practical expertise.

The course aims to provide participants with comprehensive knowledge of reproductive medicine and biology, including assisted reproductive technologies, infertility diagnosis and treatment, genetic screening, and prenatal diagnosis. By combining theoretical and practical training, the course will equip participants with the skills necessary to provide high-quality care in their respective fields.

One of the most innovative aspects of the course is the personalized support provided to each student by a dedicated tutor. This mentorship will help participants identify their strengths and weaknesses and develop a tailored learning plan that meets their needs. Moreover, the intensive hands-on activities included in the course will allow students to put their theoretical knowledge into practice and develop their technical skills under the guidance of experienced professionals.

At the end of the course, participants will receive certification from an internationally recognized accrediting body, providing them with a valuable credential that can enhance their career prospects and professional reputation. Overall, this international course offers a unique opportunity for gynecology and clinical embryology professionals to gain specialized expertise and advance their careers.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to demonstrate advanced knowledge and practical skills in embryology techniques, including fertilization methods, embryo culture, embryo biopsy, and cryopreservation.

Participants will be able to develop and implement laboratory management and quality control protocols to ensure optimal conditions for assisted reproduction procedures and to minimize errors.

Participants will be able to provide effective patient counseling and support services to patients undergoing assisted reproduction procedures, including addressing emotional and psychological needs and providing accurate and clear information about procedures, risks, and outcomes.

Participants will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of regulatory compliance requirements and legal issues relevant to assisted reproduction procedures, including informed consent, confidentiality, and ethical considerations.

Participants will be able to identify and handle rare and complex cases in assisted reproduction, including cases involving multiple gestations, genetic disorders, and complex medical histories.

Participants will be able to effectively communicate and collaborate with other healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients undergoing assisted reproduction procedures, including gynecologists, urologists, genetic counselors, and mental health professionals.

Overall, this advanced course aims to provide assisted reproduction operators with the skills and knowledge necessary to provide high-quality care to their patients and to advance the field of assisted reproduction.

Accreditation

This program will be submitted for CME accreditation to EACCME® (European Accreditation Council for Continuing for Medical Education).

Certification of competence (optional)*

This program is preparatory to the certification of competences to be attained after a specific exam once the course is completed.

The certification of competence for professionals in the field of in vitro fertilization (IVF) is crucial to ensure the highest standards of care and expertise in assisting couples and individuals with fertility issues. A comprehensive scheme for competence certification in IVF professionals aims to validate their knowledge, skills, and ethical conduct, promoting patient safety and the delivery of effective reproductive healthcare.

By implementing a robust scheme for competence certification in IVF professionals, the field can uphold the highest standards of care, protect patient interests, and advance the science and practice of reproductive medicine.

(*this exclusive scheme has been designed and realized by Artemide in cooperation with a major International Institute for Certification of Competence and Training)

Language

The official language of this live educational conference will be English.

Target audience

The target audience for this advanced course is assisted reproduction operators, including embryologists and clinical personnel involved in assisted reproduction procedures. This course is designed for professionals who have completed basic training in assisted reproduction techniques and are seeking to advance their knowledge and skills to provide higher-quality care to patients.

The course is open to assisted reproduction operators in various healthcare settings, including private and public hospitals, fertility clinics, and research institutions. The course is also open to professionals from different countries and regions, as it aims to provide an international perspective on assisted reproduction.

Participants in this course are expected to have a strong foundation in the basic principles of assisted reproduction techniques and procedures, including fertility testing, in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, and cryopreservation. Participants should also have a basic understanding of laboratory management and quality control protocols.

Overall, this advanced course is designed for motivated professionals seeking to advance their knowledge and skills in assisted reproduction techniques and procedures to provide the best possible care to their patients.

Partnership Universities
and Clinics

Federico II University of Naples

IVF Red

Centro Fertilità Assistita

Genesis Medicina della Riproduzione

International Hands-on Laboratory Management Activities

Female & Male Infertility

18 December 2023 - 31 December 2024

Video lectures

The participants can follow twelve on-demand video lectures by top experts, available on Med.E.A. E-learning platform.

Main Video Lectures

Lecture 1
Andrology basic

Elisabetta Baldi, Italy
• Anatomy of testis and seminifer tubule ,type and function of cells involved in spermatogenesis, Hormonal control.

• Spatial and functional organization of seminifer tubule during spermatogenesis.

• Anatomy and function of the epididymis.

• Anatomy and physiology of the seminal vesicles, prostate and bulbourethral glands.

•The complete ejaculate

Lecture 4
Freezing and Thawing or Rewarming

Roberto Gualtieri, Italy
• Principle and theory of the cryopreservation

• Freezing biodynamics

• Slow freezing and Vitrification
• Freezing and thawing media and cryoprotectant

• Freezing devices

• Fertility preservation (oocyte and ovarian tissue)

Lecture 2
Folliculogenesis


Carlo Alviggi, Italy
• From primordial follicles to the antral stages and ovulation

• Hormonal control

• Tips on protocols for ovarian stimulation including protocols for in vitro maturation (natural or minimal stimulation cycles)

• Oocyte maturation and morphology

Lecture 5
PGT-A; PGT-M and PGT-SR


Romualdo Polese, Italy
• ESHRE and ASRM Guidelines

• The new PGT (Non-invasive NiPGT)

• Pros and Cons

• Embryo mosaicism and self-repair

Lecture 3
Embryo colture

Jacques Cohen, USA
• Incubator roles, types, and settings

• IVF lab: temperature role, the pH

• Embryo metabolism

Lecture 6
Quality Control

Federico Regoli, Italy
• The quality and safety of the IVF lab

• How to set up the IVF lab

• The instruments: principal care and checking

• The Key Performance indicators (KPI)

• The witness

• The paperwork and certifications

• Quality controls and quality assurance

Advanced Video Lectures

Lecture 7
New frontiers of sperm selections

Aaron J Hsueh, USA
• New methods of sperm selection

• What do they add to classic methods?

• What should be improved?

• AI and sperm selection

Lecture8
COC and oocyte quality


Giampiero Palermo, Italy
• Setup the embryology lab

• Preparing for egg collection

• Sperm selection

• IVF

• Embryo culture

• Time-lapse system

• Embryo evaluation and selection

Lecture 9
AI embryo selection

Mina Alikani, USA
• AI parameters used to assess embryo quality

• Improvements brought by AI in embryo selection

• Time lapse vs conventional incubation and AI

Lecture 10
How safe is it to freeze?

Lodovico Parmegiani, Italy
• Epigenetic effect

• DNA fragmentation

• Freezing without cryoprotectant

• What could be done to improve results

Lecture 11
PGT testing advancement and value

Jonathan Van Blerkom, USA
• AI in PGT testing

• NiPGT: is it worth it? How can it improve?

Lecture 12
Fisiology of fertilisation


Bran Dale, Italy
• Ovarian stimulation

• Ovum PK

• Simulation of the human ovum collection procedure with PickUpSim™

• Embryo Transfer (ET) Protocols

Modules descriptions

The participants will be able to select the Hands-on they would like to register for.

Total days of the 5 modules (with the possibility of one additional module): 26 working days in 3 clinics CFA Naples; Genesis Day Surgery Caserta; the University of Naples and IVF red.

Module 1
Andrology

Venue: CFA Naples Dates: to be announced
Duration: 7 days (working days)
• Physiology of the Spermatogenesis part one

• Physiology of the Spermatogenesis part two

• Semen analysis

Module 4
Embryology (3rd part)

Genesis Day Surgery Caserta
Dates: to be announced
Duration: 5 days (working days)
• Ooocyte , embryo and blastocyst Freezing and Thawing or Rewarming

• Fertility preservation

• Ovarian tissue cryopreservation

Module 2
Embryology (1st part)


Venue: CFA Naples; Genesis Day Surgery Caserta Dates: to be announced
Duration: 5 days (working days)
• Setup the embryology lab

• Preparing for egg collection

• Sperm selection

• IVF

• Embryo culture

• Time-lapse system

• Embryo evaluation and selection

Module 5
PGT

Venue: CFA Naples
Dates: to be announced
Duration: 5 days (working days)
• PGT-A; PGT-M and PGT-SR

• Transfer of human embryos and blastocysts: live observation of at least ten ultrasound-guided transfers performed with catheters of different types.

Module 3
Embryology (2nd part)

Venue: University of Naples and IVF red
Dates: to be announced
Duration: 7 days (working days)
• Micronanipolation

• Equipment set up

• Sperm selection

• ICSI

• Embryo transfer

Module 6
Clinical Module

Venue: University of Naples and IVF red
Dates: to be announced
Duration: 5 days (working days)
• Ovarian stimulation

• Ovum PK

• Simulation of the human ovum collection procedure with PickUpSim™

• Embryo Transfer (ET) Protocols

venues

CFA Naples

Naples, Italy

centrofecondazioneassistita.com

Genesis Day Surgery Caserta

Caserta, Italy

iatropolis.it

University of Naples and IVF red

Naples, Italy

ivfred.com

Chairs

Brian Dale

CFA Naples
Naples, Italy

Raffaele Ferraro

Genesis Day Surgery Caserta
Naples, Italy

Federico Regoli

Artemide
Vincenza, Italy

Riccardo Talevi

University of Naples and IVF red
Naples, Italy

Faculty

Carlo Alviggi

University of Naples Federico II
Naples, Italy

Mina Alikani

Reproductive Science Center of New Jersey
Eatontown, NJ, USA

Elisabetta Baldi

University of Florence
Azienda Ospedaliero - Universitaria Careggi (AOUC)
Florence, Italy

Jacques Cohen

Althea Science and ART Institute of Washington
Hudson, NY, USA

Brian Dale

CFA Naples
Naples, Italy

Roberto Gualtieri

University of Naples Federico II
Naples, Italy

Aaron J. Hsueh

Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California, USA

Giampiero Palermo

Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, NY, USA

Lodovico Parmegiani

Nextclinics International
Bologna, Italia

Romualdo Polese

CFA Naples
Naples, Italy

Federico Regoli

Artemide Srl
Vicenza, Italy

Jonathan Van Blerkom

University of Colorado, Boulder
Colorado Reproductive Endocrinology Rose Medical Center
Denver, CO, USA

Full registration

Video lectures and Modules

3 participants per module

Module 1

1.800€ - 4 days

Module 2

1.800€ - 5 days

Module 3

2.500€ - 7 days

Module 4

2.000€ - 5 days

Module 5

2.000€ - 5 days

Module 6

2.000€ - 5 days (upon request)
Registration Fees

3 participants per module

10% discount

on the registration for 2 modules

15% discount

on the registration for 3 modules

20% discount

on the registration for 4 modules

25% discount

on the registration for 5 modules

30% discount

on the registration for 6 modules
Reduced Fee

Access to the MedEA Academy E-learning platform

12 video lectures by top international experts in the field
Online Forum
Q&A section
Library (links to articles)
Coffee breaks and launches
MedEA Attendance certification and Diploma
CME certification
Certification of competence (only for participants who completed the 5 modules) *
*If requested, the certification of competence for a single module may be possible with an additional fee.
Registration Includes

registration

Video Lectures

12 Video Lectures

Lecture 1

Andrology basic

Lecture 2

Folliculogenesis

Lecture 3

Embryo colture

Lecture 4

Freezing and Thawing or Rewarming

Lecture 5

PGT-A; PGT-M and PGT-SR

Lecture 6

Quality Control

Lecture 7

New frontiers of sperm selections

Lecture 8

COC and oocyte quality

Lecture 9

AI embryo selection

Lecture 10

How safe is it to freeze?

Lecture 11

PGT testing advancement and value

Lecture 12

How safe is it to freeze?
300
(12 Video Lectures)
Registration Fees

Access to the MedEA Academy E-learning platform

12 video lectures by top international experts in the field
Online Forum
Q&A section
Library (links to articles)
MedEA Attendance certification and Diploma
Registration Includes

Scientific Program

Download Scientific Program

· Martin O. Savage ·

Martin Savage is Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London. He was head of the Paediatric Endocrine Unit at Barts and the London School of Medicine from 1982 to 2007. He has interests in growth disorders, specifically those with abnormalities in the GH-IGF-1 axis and in phenotype-genotype relationships of GH-IGF-1 axis defects, notably GH resistance. He published the first human case of an IGF-1 gene defect in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1996.  His other interests are Cushing’s syndrome and growth in chronic inflammatory diseases. He was General Secretary of the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) from 1997 to 2004. He has lectured in 61 countries and has published 472 original articles, reviews, textbook chapters and books. In 2007, he was awarded the ESPE Andrea Prader Prize for contributions to paediatric endocrinology and in 2018 he received a Visionary Award from the American Human Growth Foundation. In 2022, he received a Research Excellence Award from the Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal in Riyadh, and the British Society of Paediatric Endocrinology & Diabetes James M. Tanner Lifetime Achievement Award. He continues to lecture nationally and internationally.

· Carlo Alviggi ·

Carlo Alviggi earned his MD degree in 1994, from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Naples “Federico II” in Naples, Italy; he specialized in obstetrics and gynaecology in 1998, and gained a PhD in 2001, from the same university. During his career, he collaborated with: The Imperial College of London, in London, UK; the Laboratory of Immunology of the Italian National Research Council in Naples; and the Autoimmunity and Tolerance Laboratory of the University of California in Los Angeles, CA, USA. This network resulted in various publications, some of which concern new hypotheses on the pathogenesis of pelvic endometriosis. He is now an associate professor in reproductive medicine at the Fertility Unit of the University of Naples “Federico II”. Professor Alviggi’s current research interests are the role of luteinizing hormone (LH) in folliculogenesis; the use of LH-containing drugs in patients undergoing ovarian controlled stimulation for IVF; the pathogenesis of pelvic endometriosis; oncofertility; reproductive endicrinology and the genetics of human reproduction. He has participated in several national and international (phase 2 and 3) multicentric, prospective randomized trials. Professor Alviggi has published extensively and has been invited to lecture at over 200 international meetings dealing with reproductive medicine and gynaecological endocrinology; he is also starter and co-founder of the Poseidon group, an international collaborative network dedicated to low prognosis patients in Assisted Reproductive Technology and vice-President of the “Società Italiana di Fertilità e Sterilità – Medicina della Riproduzione”.

· Sandro C. Esteves ·

Sandro Esteves, MD., Ph.D. is a board-certified urologist and consultant in assisted reproduction with over 25 years of clinical experience in all areas of reproductive medicine, with specialization in male reproduction.

He is listed by Expertscape among the top three world experts in the areas of male infertility, azoospermia, varicocele, and sperm retrieval techniques. Sandro has been also included in the list of the world’s most influential scientists.

He is the Founder and Medical Director of the ANDROFERT Andrology & Human Reproduction Clinic, in Campinas, Brazil. Dr. Esteves established the first Brazilian Fertility Clinic with a primary focus on male infertility, as well as the very first to introduce quality management as per the ISO 9001 standards and IVF cleanroom technology (ISO 14644-1).

Sandro is also a Collaborating Professor of Urology at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP, Brazil) and Honorary Professor of Reproductive Medicine at Aarhus University (Denmark). Dr. Esteves received his Master’s in Surgery from the University of Campinas Medical School and his Ph.D. in Urology from the Federal University of São Paulo Medical School. His post-doctoral training was at the American Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States. He has received many research grants and awards from national and international societies.

Prof. Esteves is the author of 10 textbooks in the fields of infertility and reproductive medicine. He was also the co-editor of several Journal Supplements and has published over 400 hundred scientific papers in journals like Lancet, Nature, Human Reproduction Update, Human Reproduction, Fertility and Sterility, etc. His current Hirsch index (h-index) is 63 while his citation count is over 12K. He is a member of ‘Faculty Opinions’ in the area of reproductive endocrinology & infertility. Dr. Esteves is Associate Editor of Frontiers in Endocrinology (Reproduction), Andrology, International Brazilian Journal of Urology, Regional Editor of the Société Internationale d’Urologie Journal, an editorial board member of Nature Reviews Urology, and a dozen of other peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is also a co-founder of the POSEIDON group and currently serves as a Chair of the Male Infertility Section of the WHO Infertility Guidelines Development Group.

Dr. Esteves is a very much requested speaker and presents over 50 lectures annually. He also regularly conducts infertility workshops, provides consulting services in the area of quality management for ART Clinics,