2018 CRB Symposium
Shawn Breen, Ph.D., HCLD/TS (ABB)

The 22nd annual CRB/AAB meeting held in beautiful Orlando, Florida, was another successful and enlightening meeting with the focus on emerging and current technologies. Thanks to our wonderful organizing committee for inviting a great group of speakers.

And, congratulations to the American Board of Bioanalysis (ABB) on its 50th year anniversary.

Dr. Thomas Pool began the second day, May 17, of the symposium with a great review of where we began and what the future may hold for us as embryologists with the advent of metabolomics, microfluidics, morphokinetics, and more precision/personalized medicine. Dr. Pool reminded us to “never lose sight of the fact that you are a scientist. Methods will change – the fundamental science will not” and we are living in a very exciting time of new technology and possibilities. Dr. Sarthak Sawarkar followed by discussing the future of genetic testing and CRISPR. Dr. Sawarkar did an excellent job of explaining the ins and outs of CRISPR and never-ending possibilities. I came out thinking how easy it is for us to utilize CRISPR…leading to several ideas and taking me back to my basic research roots. Dr. Cengiz Cinnioglu did a great review of the potential advantages of mitochondrial DNA testing along with PGT testing. The male side was not forgotten and included an elegant discussion and presentation by Dr. Douglas Carrell discussing the advantages and increased sensitivity and potential of epigenetic/methylation profile testing compared to traditional semen analysis. Rounding up the day was Dr. Kimball Pomeroy’s presentation reviewing the expectations of donor eggs and factors influencing outcomes from an egg bank’s perspective while recognizing the differences and similarities between fresh and frozen oocytes.

The third day, May 18, began with a debate between Dr. Richard Paulson and Dr. Carlos Simon regarding the pros and cons of PGT, when should we utilize it and the current limitations of the technology. The discussion was a good reminder to all of us that pressure from patients often leads to utilizing new technology, but we also need to recognize that there are still limitations to the technology. Dr. T. Arthur Chang’s talk ignited a great conversation regarding extended embryo culture beyond Day 6 and when it may be an option for patients that may otherwise not produce a blastocyst within 5 to 6 days. Dr. Chang also presented some of his lab’s innovative work with extended embryo culture systems and artificially constructed extraembryonic support systems. The day finished up with uterine biology - interesting talks on Dr. Marcus Davey’s work on development of the artificial womb and Dr. Carlos Simon’s review of the importance of endometrial receptivity. Dr. Davey showed a fascinating video of how his artificial womb using the sheep model worked and how it may revolutionize human neonatal care in the future. Lastly, Dr. Simon reminded us about the importance of endometrial receptivity and the importance of not disturbing the natural uterine microbome.

The academic luncheon roundtables were held on May 17, and the sponsor hosted roundtables were held on May 18. There were eleven topics presented each day, which generated interactive discussion among the attendees along with continuing education credit. Roundtables included discussion from improving performance and efficiency through QC/QA, sperm DNA fragmentation and tools for semen analysis, disaster preparedness, blastocoel cell free DNA analysis, optimizing oocyte freezing and embryo culture systems, HVAC optimization, and liability insurance to name a few of the topics. There were so many great topic areas, I wish I could attend more than one each day.

There was a great group of oral abstract and posters this year. Thank you to all those who participated. Awards were given to the best oral and poster abstracts. The best oral abstract was “Variable IGF1R mRNA Expression in Individual GV and In Vitro Matured M2 Human Oocytes” presented by Dr. Winston, and the best poster abstract was “Optimizing Cryopreservation of Human Testicular Tissues” presented by Dr. Valli-Pulaski.

The final day, May 19, began with great talk by Dr. Richard Scott regarding the franchising and business side of running an IVF lab. Some other interesting topics were also bought up. Dr. Mitchel Schiewe discussed the idea of reproductive tourism, where patients are making their IVF experience a vacation either to decrease costs or to get away from other every day stressors. Dr. Gerard Celia discussed the cost reducing approaches to IVF, such as mild or natural/modified IVF cycles, IVM cycles, and vaginal culture systems, such as INVOcell. Lastly, the meeting ended with presentations on HIV/AIDS, Florida Rules and Regulations, and Medical Errors.

We had an overwhelming amount of good comments/reviews regarding this year’s meeting. Thank you to everyone who participated in the meeting and to those who returned a survey. If you missed the meeting, there is always next year.

We look forward to seeing everyone at another great symposium next year in New Orleans, May 16-18, 2019, at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.

Shawn Breen, Ph.D., HCLD/TS (ABB)