Meeting Committee  

Marina Gvakharia, M.D., Ph.D., HCLD/ELD(ABB), MT(AAB)

Dear peers,

I hope you enjoyed warm weather and much deserved time off from work this summer. As CRB board of directors, we feel that this newsletter qualifies as essential reading for every CRB member, so here it is.

I am your 2014-2015 meeting committee chair. I am writing to report on our progress with designing the CRB 2015 program to be at least as good as our 2014 meeting which, let me tell you, is a tall order. If you were there, you know what I am talking about. If you were not there, read Mark Dow’s report, so you can see for yourselves what a great meeting it was and what you have missed. And please be sure not to miss it again. Make your plans early – mark your calendars for May 14-16, 2015!

First, we had to choose the venue. This was surprisingly straightforward – Red Rock Resort and Casino in Las Vegas worked so splendidly this year, that we decided to stay there for one more meeting and enjoy great facilities, food, pools, casino, and, of course, the view of the canyon.

Next year, we are planning again to conduct now traditional pre-conference workshops. Subject this time is time-lapse microscopy. There will be theoretical instruction and hands-on practice with various time-lapse instruments. Participants will have an opportunity to load embryos into time-lapse instruments, start recording, review videos and reports, and familiarize themselves with the advantages that each instrument has to offer.

The theme for CRB 2015 will be “Evidence in Modern ART” – we will have our program geared towards understanding how much of what we do is based on hard scientific evidence and how much is “art of the ART”. So far, the program is shaping up to be very thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating. We will start with the lecture on the history of clinical IVF, so we can remember where we came from and appreciate how far we have traveled in a very short period of time. We will then discuss current evidence on stimulation protocols in relation to IVF outcomes, PGS, frozen vs. fresh transfers, effects of male age, time-lapse, quality control, laboratory design, risk management, use of information technology and other exciting topics. The roster of the distinguished speakers so far includes Rusty Pool, PhD, HCLD(ABB); Richard Scott, MD, HCLD/ALD(ABB); Kim Pomeroy, PhD, HCLD(ABB); Barry Behr, PhD, HCLD/ELD/CC(ABB); Ajai Nangia, MD; Jason Swain, PhD, HCLD(ABB) and Shoukhrat Mitalipov, PhD. Personally, I am counting on acquiring 60 additional IQ points by the end of the day on May 16, 2015. Join me!

Our keynote speaker is Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov from Oregon Health Science University. His lecture is titled “Is three a crowd? An update on nuclear transfer, cloning, and other exciting stories.”  In anticipation of this thought-provoking, cutting edge, and unbelievably exciting lecture, I am inviting you to visit Dr. Mitalipov’s laboratory webpage at http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/research/centers-institutes/stem-cell-center/mitalipov-lab/, so you can refresh your knowledge on the subject and make time pass quicker until the day of the lecture.

As usual, there will be oral presentations and poster sessions at the meeting. Please start thinking about your abstract and stay tuned for the abstract submission deadlines and instructions.

Roundtable discussions at CRB 2014 were hugely successful. We are planning on having them again in 2015. If you want to present a roundtable, please let me know – we still have several slots to fill.

As always, feel free to contact me with any suggestions and ideas you may have about our annual meeting. My fellow meeting committee members and I want to do a good job for you, and we are always open to your feedback. 

Until next time,

Marina Gvakharia

Chair
CRB Meeting Committee​