Laxmi Kondapalli being interviewed by Dayle Cedars from Channel 7 news in Denver
One of the many, if not one of the most, important aims of the Oncofertility Consortium and its emphasis on fertility preservation research and clinical care, is “training the next generation.” Not only is the mission of the Consortium to improve fertility outcomes for patients undergoing cancer treatment, but it is also to ensure that future basic scientists and clinicians continue to expand current knowledge, research, clinical practice, and training in fertility preservation outcomes. Laxmi Kondapalli, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado and Women’s Reproductive Health Research Scholar in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility is a realization of this goal. Let’s start at the beginning…
In March 2006, Laxmi was finishing up her residency training at Northwestern University in Obstetrics and Gynecology when she met Teresa K Woodruff, PhD, Director of the Oncofertility Consortium. Laxmi shared her interest in Reproductive Endocrinology (REI) with Dr. Woodruff, but expressed her desire to do basic science/bench research first, before embarking on clinical training and practice. According to Laxmi, “Meeting Dr. Woodruff changed the trajectory of my career. She has incredible vision, particularly for someone who is not a clinician, on how to bridge science with individual care.”
Shortly after her meeting with Dr. Woodruff, Laxmi started working in the Woodruff Lab in August 2006. It was at the start of her tenure in the lab when she found out that Dr. Woodruff was one of the finalists for the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap Grant (aka, the grant that brought the “idea” of the Oncofertility Consortium to fruition). Together, they put the 1,000 page grant together over a 10 week period with help from members of the Woodruff Lab and other academics from within Northwestern and around the country. Laxmi explains, “It was being at the right place at the right time and the Oncofertility Consortium was a perfect fit for me because of my interest in REI and because it was a way for me to really see how you can translate work that we do in the laboratory to really impact clinical and patient care.”
In 2007, the Oncofertility Consortium was funded by the NIH, and Laxmi was A) not only a first-time grant writer, but a grant writer for one of the biggest grants given out (“for me, it was a valuable experience on so many levels”), B) processing and freezing A LOT of ovarian tissue in her lab work and C) navigating patients with the Fertility Preservation Patient Navigator who was receiving referrals from all over the country to do tissue freezing. By 2008, after two years in the Woodruff Lab working hands on with tissue, Laxmi was ready to embark on an REI fellowship and she had her sights set on an institution that would allow her to expand her work in fertility preservation while ideally being involved with the Oncofertility Consortium.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the amazing, fabulous Laxmi Kondapalli success story!