The fourth annual gathering of oncofertility specialists occurred this week at Northwestern University’s Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, IL. More than 150 people from 24 states across the US and three countries joined in on two days of talks and workshops. The events ranged from seminars on follicle development to discussions on the complex issues that patient must deal with when simultaneously facing cancer and potential infertility diagnoses.
The keynote talk was presented by one of the founders of fertility preservation for cancer patients, Leslie Schover, Ph.D. Dr. Schover is a Professor at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center and has spent much of her career focusing on a variety of topics related to fertility and cancer. Her talk emphasized the complexities in patient decision-making in oncofertility and was well received by the audience of clinicians, science and humanities researchers, and educators.
The day ended with a dual poster session and reception that allowed oncofertility trainees to present their work to an international audience. In fact, some of the high school girls in the San Diego Oncofertility Academy sent posters to the conference. The session included video posters of new multimedia that allow scientists to share experimental results in real-time and across thousands of miles.
The second portion of the conference included workshops in the laboratory sciences and a discussion of new oncofertility education. These engaging discussions lead to many new ideas for the consortium as a whole and for next year’s conference-so stay tuned!