Virtual World Conference on Luteinizing Hormone in ART · Second Edition
7 September - 31 December 2020

Overview

The role of luteinizing hormone (LH) during folliculogenesis has intrigued the scientific and medical community for at least three decades. There is now an emerging galaxy of research that is exploring this enigmatic subject. The availability of recombinant drugs is offering, for the first time, the opportunity to examine the role of follicle stimulating hormone and LH separately. An emerging topic during last year’s conference was the role of LH supplementation in improving outcomes in a subgroup of low prognosis patients selected according to the POSEIDON classification.

During this online journey, the management of these low prognosis patients’ was discussed in detail. Notably, we moved beyond controlled ovarian stimulation to further investigate the involvement of LH in personalizing the luteal phase and in male infertility. In addition, the extra-gonadal effects of LH, including potential immunomodulation at the endometrium, is part of the agenda.
Following the precedent set at last year’s conference, considerable time was devoted to basic science, alongside such controversial issues as progesterone rise and pharmacogenomics. This year we had attracted prominent scientists from the worlds of endocrinology, andrology, immunology, and embryology to take part in our engaging exploration of the LH galaxy.

Learning Objectives

The online journey left with the ability of users:

Target Audience

This programme was designed for clinicians and biologists working in assisted reproductive medicine, who wanted to acquire up-to date information to improve their current practice.

Virtual World Conference on Luteinizing Hormone in ART · Second Edition

7 September · 31 December 2020

Preliminary Programme

Download the PDF preliminary programme

Accreditation

An application has been submitted to EACCME for the accreditation of the 6 live Meet the Expert events.

Chairs

Carlo Alviggi

Naples, Italy
Biography

Robert Fisher

Hamburg, Germany
Biography

Sandro Esteves

Campinas, Brazil
Biography

Peter Humaidan

Aarhus, Denmark
Biography

Faculty

Federico II University
Naples, Italy

Androfert – Andrology and Human Reproduction Clinic
Campinas, Brazil

Fertility Centre Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany

Paris, France

Aarhus University, Denmark

Louvain, Belgium

Heraklion, Greece

Nottingham, UK

Modena, Italy

Québec, Canada

London, UK

Rome, Italy

Preliminary Programme

Agenda

Scientific program

Video Lectures

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Meet the Expert

> Meet the Expert 1

Moving away from earth: lessons from gonadotropins system

Marc-André Sirard / Canada

Antonis Makrigiannakis / Greece

> Meet the Expert 2

Moving away from earth: lessons from gonadotropins system

Sandro C. Esteves / Brazil

Daniele Santi / Italy

> Meet the Expert 3

Fly through the starts: how to maximize success in controlled ovarian stimulation

Sandro C. Esteves / Brazil

Carlo Alviggi / Italy

> Meet the Expert 4

Fly through the starts: how to maximize success in controlled ovarian stimulation

Jean-Noël Hugues / France

Sesh K. Sunkara / UK

> Meet the Expert 5

A new universe to explore: medical trends in ART

Nick Raine-Fenning / UK

Filippo M. Ubaldi / Italy

> Meet the Expert 6

A new universe to explore: medical trends in ART

Peter Humaidan / Denmark

Philippe Lehert / France

Funding

Med.E.A Srl educational programs are organized solely to promote the exchange and dissemination of scientific and medical information. No forms of promotional activities are permitted. There may be presentations discussing investigational uses of various products.
These views are the responsibility of the named speakers and do not represent an endorsement or recommendation on the part of Med.E.A. Srl. Our educational activities are supported by independent grants from the Healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany; FUJIFILM EUROPE GMBH, Fujifilm Italia S.p.A., FUJIFILM France S.A.S., Androfert Andrology & Human Reproduction Clinic; MVZ Fertility Center Hamburg GmbH; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Reproductive Medicine Agency (Nova Clinic)

· 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”.

· Robert Fischer ·

Robert Fischer is the founder and Medical Director of the Fertility Center Hamburg (FCH) in Hamburg, Germany. Dr Fischer trained in obstetrics and gynaecology at the University Hospital of Münster, Germany, from 1979 to 1982 and at the Queen’s Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, UK. In 1983, Dr Fischer pioneered the first German outpatient IVF unit in Hamburg and became its Medical Director. The unit moved to a new location in 1998, and its name was changed to the “Fertility Center Hamburg”.

In July 1998, the Fertility Center Hamburg was one of the first centres, both in Germany and worldwide, to introduce quality management, and it was certified according to the ISO 9001 and accredited for IVF laboratories (ISO 17025). Dr Fischer’s main research interests are in the development of stimulation protocols, luteinizing hormone supplementation, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist triggering, as well as further development of quality management systems in IVF centres. He is a founding member of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE); a founding member of the POSEIDON (Patient Oriented Strategies Encompassing IndividualizeD Oocyte Number) group);  Member of the  Scientific Committee of Excellence in Medical Education (EXCEMED- formerly the Serono Symposia International Foundation) and Scientific director of  Med.E.A.( Medical Education Academy)

· 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,

· Peter Humaidan ·

Professor Peter Humaidan is a specialist in reproductive endocrinology, professor at The Fertility Clinic Skive Regional Hospital, Aarhus University, Denmark and Honorary professor at Odense University, Denmark. During his scientific work he has primarily focused on developing individualized treatment protocols for the infertile patient. His doctoral thesis (DMSc) explored the role of LH during the follicular and luteal phases in controlled ovarian stimulation. His main fields of interest are triggering of ovulation with GnRH agonist, role of LH during the follicular and luteal phases, role of the female genital tract microbiota for reproductive outcomes, OHSS prevention, and role of sperm DNA fragmentation for spontaneous and assisted reproduction. He is the founder of the international society “The Copenhagen GnRHa Triggering Workshop Group” who introduced the GnRHa trigger in modern IVF, changing trigger policies worldwide. Moreover, he is co-founder of the POSEIDON group which suggested a new stratification of the poor responder patient, and a past board member of the ESHRE SIG Endocrinology Group. He is in the Elsevier, Stanford global list of 2% top scientists, and he authored and co-authored 250 + articles (H-index 67, Google Scholar) in international peer reviewed journals as well as chapters in textbooks and the Danish guidelines for OHSS prevention. Peter Humaidan has a wide international scientific network and is frequently invited as a speaker at international conferences.