Preliminary Main Scientific Programme

(Subject to Change)

Venue: Megaron Athens International Conference Centre

 Sunday, September 10, 2023
18:15-19:15 Opening Ceremony & Reception
 Monday, September 11, 2023
08:00-09:00 Posters
08:00-12:45 ASMR Course: Procedure and Technique for Embryo Transfer in Humans
09:00-10:00

Keynote Session I

  • Automation and Artificial Intelligence in the ART Laboratory
    • 09:00-09:30 Luca Gianaroli (Italy): An Automated Embryology Lab is the Wave of the Future
    • 09:30-10:00 Christina Hickman (United Kingdom): AI to Identify Embryo Ploidies
10:00-11:00 Short abstracts – Young Scientist / Young Clinician
10:15-11:00 Hubert De Watteville Endowed Lecture
Terhi Piltonen
(Finland): Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - Reproduction and beyond
11:00-11:30 Coffee Break
11:30-12:45

Concurrent Sessions I

  • Trilogy 1 - PGT-A: Current Challenges and Future Directions
    • 11:30-11:55 Svetlana Rechitsky (United States): The predictive value of mosaicism
    • 11:55-12:20 Luis Navarro-Sánchez (Spain): Technical developments in non-invasive PGT-A
    • 12:20-12:45 Manuel Viotti (United States): Transfer of mosaic embryos

  • Trilogy 2- Ovarian Stimulation
    • 11:30-11:55 Raoul Orvieto (Israel): Triggering, agonist, dual trigger
    • 11:55-12:20 Baris Ata (Turkey): Progesterone/progestin suppression of LH
    • 12:20-12:45 Filippo Maria Ubaldi (Italy): Dual stim and random start

  • Allied Health Professional Showcase

  • Invited Society Symposia – FSANZ

  • Egyptian Fertility & Sterility Society (EFSS) Symposium
    • 11:30-11:45 Gamal Serour (Egypt): Male infertility in Africa
    • 11:45-12:00 Emad Darwish (Egypt): Serum progesterone in freezed embryo transfer cycles
    • 12:00-12:15 Abubakar Elnashar (Egypt): Platelet rich plasma in reproductive medicine: Looking for evidence
    • 12:15-12:30 Mohamed Salam Gad (Egypt): Endometrial polyps and infertility
    • 12:30-12:45 Ibrahim M. Kandil (Egypt): Embryo transfer: Ultrasound Guided or Tactile; What is the Evidence?

12:45-14:00 Lunch Break - Posters
14:00-15:00

Keynote Session II

  • Environmental Effects on Reproductive Health
    • 14:00-14:30 Linda Giudice (United States): Endocrine Disruptors, the Climate Crisis, and Female Reproductive Health
    • 14:30-15:00 Antti Perheentupa (Finland): Chemicals, Pollution, and Male Reproductive Health
15:00-16:00 Short abstracts – Young Scientist / Young Clinician
(Parallel sessions)
16:00-16:30 Coffee Break
16:30-17:45

Concurrent Sessions II

  • Trilogy 3 – Egg and Embryo Quality Determinants
    • 16:30-16:55 Aleksandar Rajkovic (United States): Genetic determinants of oocyte development
    • 16:55-17:20 Laura Rienzi (Italy): Morphological evaluation using time lapse monitoring: current status
    • 17:20-17:45 Elpida Fragouli (UK): Embryo correction

  • Special Symposium 1: Reproductive Health Training Globally
    • 16:30-16:55 Rasha Kelej (Germany): Training of Embryologists in Africa or India
    • 16:55-17:20 Richard Kennedy (UK): Models for Training Reproductive Healthcare Professionals
    • 17:20-17:45 Jessica Opoku - Anane (United States): Training Reproductive Surgeons in Africa

  • Invited Society Symposia – RAHR, AFFS, TSRM

  • Hellenic Society of Fertility and Sterility (HSFS) Symposium: Debates on contemporary Fertility issues
    Chairs: George Pados (Greece), George Adonakis (Greece)
    • 16:30-17:00 Debate 1: Cryopreservation for fertility preservation due to age-related fertility loss
      Pro: Konstantinos Dafopoulos (Greece)
      Con: Efstratios Kolibianakis (Greece)
    • 17:00-17:05 Discussion
    • 17:05-17:35 Debate 2: Intramural myomas: to operate or not?
      Pro: George Pados (Greece)
      Con: Evangelos Makrakis (Greece)
    • 17:35-17:45 Discussion
17:45-18:45

Concurrent Sessions III

  • Panels
    I. IUI
    II. Hysteroscopy
    III. Endometrial receptivity
    IV. Fibroids

  • Global Leaders Advancing Reproductive Health
    • 17:45-17:55 James Henry Olobo-Lalobo (Uganda, UK): The South Saharan perspective of ART Laws
    • 17:55-18:05 Dame Lesley Regan (UK): Fertility care at the intersection of reproductive and human rights
    • 18:05-18:15 Philippe Descamps (France): Surgical strategies to improve reproductive health across the lifespan
    • 18:15-18:25 Hrishikesh Pai (India): Global entrepreneurship in fertility care
    • 18:25-18:35 Christos Coutifaris (USA): Building a reproductive research institute – from the ground up
 Tuesday, September 12, 2023
08:00-09:00 Posters
08:00-12:45 ASMR Course: Procedure and Technique for Embryo Transfer in Humans
09:00-10:00

Keynote Session III

  • Global Demographic Reproductive Trends
    • 09:00-09:20 TBA: WHO: Prevalence of Infertility Worldwide
    • 09:20-09:40 Bart Fauser (The Netherlands): Overview of global demographic changes and its society implications
    • 09:40-10:00 David Adamson (United States): The contribution of ART to global fertility rates, and access to care
10:00-11:00 Short abstracts – Young Scientist / Young Clinician
(Parallel sessions)
10:15-11:00  Jean Cohen Endowed Lecture
Dolores Lamb (USA): Exploring the genomic basis of congenital Genitourinary defects and potential health risks
11:00–11:30  Coffee Break
11:30-12:45

Concurrent Sessions IV

  • Trilogy 4 – Optimizing reproductive performance through surgical management
    • 11:30-11:55 Samantha Pfeifer (United States): Surgical management of uterine anomalies for reproductive success
    • 11:55-12:20 Camran Nezhat (United States): Robotics: Endometriosis, Fibroids and Infertility
    • 12:20-12:45 Rishma Pai (India): Hysteroscopic surgery - for whom and when?

  • Trilogy 5 – The Maturing Ovary
    • 11:30-11:55 Jeanne Conry (United States): Global impact of menopause in the context of active healthy aging
    • 11:55-12:20 Yingying Qin (China): Molecular concepts in ovarian maturing
    • 12:20-12:45 Andrea Genazzani (Italy): WHI studies, interpretation 20 years on

  • Trilogy 6 – Endometriosis and Infertility
    • 11:30-11:55 Sofiane Bendifallah (France): The latest in non-invasive diagnosis of endometriosis
    • 11:55-12:20 Eileen Manalo (Philippines): Challenges in fertility and ART for endometriosis patients
    • 12:20-12:45 Luk Rombauts (Australia): Surgical management for fertility optimization in patients with endometriosis

  • Invited Society Symposia – ALMER, CARM 

  • European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Symposium: Global and Sociocultural Dynamics in Infertility and Infertility Care
    Chair: Miray Nilüfer Cimşit Kemahlı (Turkey)
    • 11:30-11:55 Papreen Nahar (UK): Sociocultural Aspects and Infertility
    •  11:55-12:20 Anika König (Germany): Transnational Surrogacy and Donation in Different Cultures
    • 12:20-12:45 Francisco Guëll (Spain): Be better informed about fertility: European B²-InF project

  • International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) & International Society of Andrology (ISA) Symposium: Past, present and future in the management of couple infertility
    Chair: Linda Giudice (USA), Dimitrios Goulis (Greece)
    • 11:30-11:35 Linda Giudice (USA): Introduction
    • 11:35-11:50 Edgar Mocanu (Ireland): The past - The light side of the coin: “the female”…when a sperm is just enough
    • 11:50-12:05 Peter Liu (USA): The present - The dark side of the coin: “the male”…a canary in the coal mine
    • 12:05-12:25 Giovanni Corona (Italy) - Luca Gianaroli (Italy): The future - How to improve couple infertility outcomes the role of Education
    • 12:25-12:40 Discussion
    • 12:40-12:45 Dimitrios Goulis (Greece): Conclusions
12:45-14:00  Lunch Break - Posters
14:00-15:00

Keynote Session IV

  • Cross - Border Reproductive Care
    • 14:00-14:30 Rita Vassena (Spain): Current Status and Reasons
    • 14:30-15:00 Andrea Whittaker (Australia): Ethical/Society Implications
14:00-15:00 Demographic project
15:00-16:00 Short abstracts – Young Scientist / Young Clinician
(Parallel sessions)
15:15-16:00 David Healy Endowed Lecture
Nicolos Plachta (Argentina, US): A Close-up View of How the Early Embryo Forms
16:00-16:30 Coffee Break
16:30-17:45

Concurrent Sessions V

  • Trilogy 7 – PCOS
    • 16:30–16:55 Zi-Jiang Chen (China): Genetic basis of PCOS
    • 16:55–17:20 Ioannis Messinis (Greece): Reproductive hormone secretion and follicular maturation in PCOS
    • 17:20–17:45 Basil Tarlatzis (Greece): Management of infertility in PCOS
  • Trilogy 8 - Male Infertility
    • 16:30–16:55 Yuan Yan (China): Potential clinical value of in vitro spermatogenesis
    • 16:55–17:20 Chris Barratt (United Kingdom): High throughput screening to identify therapeutics that benefit and threaten male fertility
    • 17:20–17:45 Paul Turek (United States): Paternal age and reproductive outcomes
  • Invited Society Symposia – MEFS, JSRM, FIGO, ASRM
17:45-18:45

Concurrent Sessions VI

  • Panels
    I. Environment and infertility
    II. Automation and AI in fertility practice
    III. PGT-A
    IV. Fertility preservation
 Wednesday 13 September, 2023
08:00-09:00 Posters
 09:00-10:00

Keynote Session V

  • Management of Premature Ovarian Failure
    • 09:00 – 09:30 Helen Picton (UK): Approaches to Restore Fertility in POI Patients
    • 09:30 – 10:00 Marie-Madeleine Dolmans (Belgium): Freezing Gonadal Tissue
10:00-11:00

Concurrent Sessions VII

  • The Great Debates 1: PGT – A for everybody, everywhere?
    • Pro: Oladapo Ashiru (Nigeria)
    • Con: Svetlana Rechitsky (United States)

  • The Great Debates 2: Uterine septae: to resect or not to resect - that is the question!
    • Pro: Ben Mol (Australia)
    • Con: Samantha Pfeifer (United States)

  • The Great Debates 3: Luteal support for FET cycles: natural, m-natural and stimulated cycle vs. HRT cycles
    • Pro Natural cycles: Lan Ngoc Vuong (Vietnam) 
    • Pro HRT: Marcos Horton (Argentina)
11:00-11:30  Coffee Break
11:30-12:45

Concurrent Sessions VIII

  • Special Symposium 2 - Emergency preparedness in reproductive health
    • 11:30–11:55 Rachel Cutting (United Kingdom): Natural disaster preparedness in the IVF laboratory
    • 11:55–12:20 Steve Ory (United States): Impact of COVID on global access to ART services
    • 12:20–12:45 Marleen Temmerman (Belgium): Reproductive health services in humanitarian settings

  • Trilogy 9 – Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes
    • 11:30–11:55 Carmen Sapienza (United States): Epigenetics and reproduction
    • 11:55–12:20 Anja Pinborg (Denmark): Obstetrical outcomes of ART pregnancies
    • 12:20–12:45 Ben Mol (Australia): Long-term outcomes of ART offspring

  • Invited Society Symposia – ISAR, CSRM

  • Indian Fertility Society (IFS) Symposium: POOR RESPONDERS - still a clinical challenge
    Chairs: TBA
    • 11:30-11:45 Pankaj Talwar (India): DOR - Age, genetics and beyond
    • 11:45-12:00 Surveen Ghumman (India): Ovarian reserve testing - In search for a golden egg
    • 12:00-12:15 Kanad Dev Nayar (India): Can Adjuvants and rejuvenative therapies increase ovarian reserve?
    • 12:15-12:30 Kuldeep Jain (India): Simulation regimes and outcome - is there a right choice?
    • 12:30-12:45 Q&A’s

12:45-14:00 Lunch Break - Posters
14:00-15:00

Concurrent Sessions IX

  • Special Symposium 3 – Challenges in ART Clinical Practice
    • 14:00–14:20 Han Zhao (China): Zona pellucida and euploid embryo lethal defects – diagnosis and mitigation
    • 14:20–14:40 Alessandro Conforti (Italy): Ovarian stimulation and genetic variants of gonadotropins and their receptors
    • 14:40–15:00 Carlos Simon (Spain): Improving endometrial receptivity in ART cycles

  • Special Symposium 4 – Third Party Reproduction
    • 14:00–14:20 Guido Pennings (Belgium): Ethical Considerations
    • 14:20–14:40 Joyce Harper (United Kingdom): Regulated and unregulated donor sperm; what are the challenges
    • 14:40–15:00 Nandita Palshetkar (India): Gestational surrogacy and same sex parenting through the global lens

  • Special Symposium 5 – News in Clinical Practice
    • 14:00–14:20 Edgar Mocanu (Ireland): FIGO Ovulatory Disorders Classification
    • 14:20–14:40 WHO: Telemedicine - how do it right
    • 14:40–15:00 Christian M. Becker (UK): ESHRE Endometriosis Guideline
15:00-16:00 Prize Ceremony
16:00-17:00

Keynote Session VI

  • Gender Differences in Healthy Aging
    • 16:00 – 16:30 Alan De Cherney (United States): Reproductive hormones and its complications
    • 16:30 – 17:00 Angela Maas (The Netherlands): Cardiometabolic Dysfunction and QOL
17:00-17:45  Closing Remarks