Vitrification in Assisted Reproduction

Edited by

Michael J. Tucker, PhD, HCLD, FI Biol., is scientific director at Georgia Reproductive Specialists in Atlanta, and Director of IVF laboratories at Shady Grove Fertility in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA. He earned a doctorate in reproductive physiology from the University of Birmingham in the UK, and is a fellow of The Royal Institute of Biology. Dr. Tucker pioneered the first intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) birth in the United States, the nation's first birth resulting from a testicular biopsy, the world's first birth from frozen donor eggs, and the first pregnancy in the world from immature eggs that were matured after thawing in the IVF lab. His current research interests include pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, oocyte and embryo cryopreservation, extended embryo growth and selection, and gamete/embryo micromanipulation. He has authored numerous peer review papers and chapters over the last 30years, and has served as a scientific consultant and lecturer in more than 50 clinics worldwide.

Juergen Liebermann PhD, HCLD (ABB), is certified as a High-complexity Clinical Laboratory Director through the American Board of Bioanalysis. Dr. Liebermann has been working in the field of IVF since 1995. He is the laboratory director for FCI's Chicago/River North Embryology Lab, all FCI Andrology Labs, and the Endocrinology Lab. In his role as director of the Embryology Laboratory, he works with eggs, semen and embryos performing various procedures such as in vitro fertilization, egg vitrification, semen analysis, embryo selection for treatment, intracytoplasmic sperm injection and preimplantation diagnostic and screening of human embryos. Dr. Liebermann's postdoctoral thesis in 2004 qualified him as a university lecturer in Experimental Reproductive Medicine at the Bavarian University of Wuerzburg, Germany. He is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, the Society for the Study of Reproduction, and the American Board of Bioanalysis. He serves also as an ad hoc reviewer for various scientific publications and has reviewed more than 130 manuscripts for a variety of leading journals in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).