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Category: Blog

Join Us: Cancer Survivors’ Celebration

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University is proud to host a Cancer Survivors’ Celebration Walk & 5K on Sunday, June 1st in Chicago’s Grant Park.  No pledges are required to participate and registration is open until May 30th. This wonderful event…
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Korean Society for Fertility Preservation

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Fertility Preservation, Global Partner, Introductions
Tags: Fertility Preservation, Global Partner, Introduction, Oncofertility
The Korean Society for Fertility Preservation The Oncofertility Consortium is pleased to announce another Global Partner in Korea: The Korean Society for Fertility Preservation (KSFP).  Please see below information provided by KSFP in both English and Korean and review the Oncofertility Global Partners webpage to…
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Stupid Cancer Chicago Meet-up: June 25th

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, General, Patient Stories
Tags: Advocate, AYA, cancer, Personal stories
UPDATE: NEW VENUE INFORMATION BELOW! The Oncofertility Consortium is pleased to spread the word about an upcoming Stupid Cancer Meet-up with founder and CEO (and a wonderful friend of the Oncofertility Consortium), Matthew Zachary.  Mark your calendars for Wednesday, June 25th – read more below! Wednesday…
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We need your votes!

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, Communication, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility Saturday Academy, Patient Stories, science
Tags: cancer, education, Fertility Preservation, Northwestern University, Oncofertility, Oncofertility Saturday Academy
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is hosting  a contest for songs and videos demonstrating the cutting edge science funded by the office of the director.  The Oncofertility Consortium has two videos in the running and we’d love your support!   To vote for our…
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New Korean Oncofertility Global Partner

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Fertility Preservation, General, Global Partner, Introductions, Oncofertility
Tags: Fertility Preservation, Global Partner, Oncofertility
The Oncofertility Consortium is excited to announce another Global Partner: The Cheil General Hospital (CGH) & Women’s Healthcare Center in Seoul, Korea!  We had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Chanwoo Park last week at the Oncofertility Consortium offices here in Chicago, IL to discuss Global…
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Educational Opportunity: Having Children After Cancer

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
SHARE Cancer Support is hosting an educational event, Having Children After Cancer, on Wednesday, May 14th from 6:00-7:30pm EST.  Dr. Diana Chavkin, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (REI) specialist at Genesis Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, will discuss fertility preservation options before and after cancer treatment with a Q&A session to follow.  This event is available…
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Repropedia now available in Portuguese!

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
The Oncofertility Consortium is happy to announce the translation of Repropedia into Portuguese.  Repropedia is a reproductive dictionary created by an international team of scientists and clinicians led by investigators at Northwestern University.  This site provides information on common reproductive science terms that can be…
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Examining Information Processing

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Education, Oncofertility, Research, science
Tags: cancer, clinical research, fertility, Fertility Preservation, publication
The Oncofertility Consortium is pleased to welcome Dr. Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron as a guest blogger today. This is a blog post based on the article, Toward theoretical understanding of the fertility preservation decision-making process: examining information processing among young women with cancer by authors P.E. Hershberger, L. Finnegan,…
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Fertility-Friendly States

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, fertility, General, In the news
Tags: fertility, insurance, publication
Yesterday, the Huffington Post published an article outlining states that are ‘Fertility-Friendly’.  The article, ‘State-By-State ‘Fertility Friendliness’ Ranking Show Wide Range’ was written by Resolve: The National Infertility Association in partnership with EMD Serono Inc., a biotech drug company that makes fertility treatments.  While many…
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Insurance Coverage for Fertility Preservation

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Communication, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility
Tags: Advocate, cancer, Fertility Preservation, insurance, Oncofertility, publication
Chapter 14 of Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines addresses an extremely important issue in healthcare, insurance coverage.  The authors, Dr. Laxmi Kondapalli and Alice Crisci, wrote Incorporating Insurance Education into the Fertility Preservation Process to outline strategies that may facilitate access…
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AYA Twitter Chat TODAY 12:30pm CST (#YACancer)

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Patient Stories
Tags: Advocate, AYA, cancer, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, Personal stories, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Recently, Mashable featured Jenna Benn in a wonderful article: Wedding, Career, Chemo: When Cancer Derails the Millennial Dream.  Jenna Benn is a patient of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at and a wonderful friend and supporter of the Oncofertility Consortium. Due to the…
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The Rest is History

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, children, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Patient Stories
Tags: cancer, fertility, Fertility Preservation, infertility, Oncofertility, patient navigation, Personal stories
Today, we are honored to have another patient guest blogger; long-term survivor Colleen Cira.  Read through her incredible story below and join the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center this evening, March 25, from 5-8pm for “Drinks with Docs (& Healthcare Providers)” at Bridge House…
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Night of Humor & Healing

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
On April 9, 2014, the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center will host a “Night of Humor & Healing” for young adult cancer survivors ages 16-40 years old at the famed Second City Theater.  The evening will include dinner, drinks, networking, and a one-hour hilarious…
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Evidence-Based Medicine in Oncofertility

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Communication, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Research, Virtual Grand Rounds
Tags: clinical research, education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, Research
Educating Providers on Evidence-Based Medical Guidelines is a chapter of Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines where the authors, Lauren N.C. Johnson and Dr. Clarisa R. Gracia, outline previous medical paradigms and how they have changed to incorporate new evidence-based medical guidelines in…
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Preserving Oocyte Reserve

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Research, science
Tags: Fertility Preservation, publication, Research
Today we welcome Dr. So-Youn Kim from Dr. Woodruff’s Lab at Northwestern University as our guest blogger.  Dr. Kim will review a recent article published by Dr. John C. Schimenti in Science 2014. ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS PRESERVING OOCYTE RESERVE By: So-Youn Kim, PhD According…
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Communication: From Professionals to the Public

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
We live in a digital age where more information is available at our fingertips than ever before.  We now have access to information in a matter of seconds that used to take weeks to locate through time intensive literature reviews at the library.  Chapter 12…
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What is Shared Decision Making?

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Bridges across Disciplines is divided into two parts.  Part I is Communicating with Patients and Their Families and outlined in Chapters 1-10.  Part II, Communicating with Healthcare Professionals, Stakeholders and the Public starts with Chapter 11, An Interprofessional Approach…
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Perspectives on Fertility

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, children, Communication, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility
Tags: cancer, education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, publication
Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines devoted an entire chapter to the communication strategies and issues faced by oncology providers.  Chapter 10 is entitled Fertility Communication to Cancer Patients: A Hematologist-Oncologist’s Perspective and is authored by Sara Barnato Giordano.  As cancer treatments…
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Tomorrow is International Childhood Cancer Day

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
Tomorrow, February 15, 2014, is International Childhood Cancer Day.  A day devoted to the strength, courage and resiliency of children with cancer and their families.  The International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) and the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organizations (ICCCOI) represent pediatric oncologists…
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Virtual Grand Rounds on February 13, 2014

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, CME, Education, General, Virtual Grand Rounds
Tags: cancer, education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, Sperm Banking
JOIN US!  This Thursday, February 13th at 10am Central Time, the Oncofertility Consortium is proud to host our next Virtual Grand Rounds.  This presentation will be given by Dr. Robert E. Branningan and focus on Fertility Preservation in the Male: Optimizing the Delivery of Care.  Dr.
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Communication Disparities

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, children, Education, ethics, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility
Tags: cancer, ethics, Fertility Preservation, patient navigation
The next chapter in Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines addresses Disparities in Adolescent Patient-Provider Communication Regarding Fertility.  The authors, Amanda B. Fuchs and Dr. Robert E. Brannigan, provide detailed information regarding the disparities between providers and their adolescent patients even though…
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2014 World Cancer Day

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, In the news, Research, science
Tags: Advocate, cancer, education, ethics, Fertility Preservation, quality of life
If you’re not already aware, today is World Cancer Day.  World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration which calls upon government leaders and health policy-makers to significantly reduce the global…
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Communicating Oncofertility to Children

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, children, Education, General, Research
Tags: cancer, education, Northwestern University, publication, Research
We’re jumping back into the chapter reviews of Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines.  Today, we’re reviewing Chapter 8, Communicating Oncofertility to Children: A Developmental Perspective for Teaching Health Messages by Dr. Ellen Wartella, Dr. Alexis Lauricella and Lisa Hurwitz.  Communicating health…
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Global Partner: Portuguese Centre for Fertility Preservation

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Global Partner, In the news, Introductions, Oncofertility
Tags: education, fertility, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility
The Oncofertility Consortium is happy to welcome the Portuguese Center for Fertility Preservation as a Global Partner.  We currently work with reproductive specialists from all over the world in an effort to better serve children, adolescents and young adults with cancer and other fertility-threatening diseases.  Learn more about…
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