Steering Committee

Basak Balaban, MSc

Başak Balaban, MSc obtained her Bachelor’s degree on 1993 from the University of Ankara,Turkey,working in the faculty of Biological Sciences. Following her clinical embryology training at the Ankara Sevgi Hospital-Turkey in between the years 1994-1996, she was certificated for the laboratory based procedural applications of IVF (In-vitro fertilization) at The Schoysman Infertility Manegement Foundation (SIMAF), Brussels, Belgium. She had also been certificated in 1996 by the Health Ministry of Turkey, for being the responsible embryologist of an IVF laboratory. She founded the IVF (In-vitro fertilization) laboratory in the German Hospital, Istanbul, Assisted Reproduction Unit in 1996 as the head of the IVF laboratory. She became the chief embryologist in the American Hospital of Istanbul, Assisted Reproduction Unit at the end of 1996. She is still the principal embryologist in this laboratory that performs over 1000 IVF/ICSI (ICSI-Intracytoplasmic sperm injection) cycles per year. Her major interest areas are embryo selection and in-vitro culture techniques, cryopreservation, and blastocyst culture. She has published and lectured extensively in these fields. She’s a board member of ESHRE CNR (Committee for National Representatives) since 2008. She had been the chair of Alpha society ; An international Society of Scientists in Reproductive Medicine from 2008 till 2012 for two terms and still a board member of the society. She had acted as the congress president of the society’s 2008 biennal meeting in Istanbul with more than 500 participants, and the main organizer of the biennals in Budapest and London with over 400 participants consecutively. She’s the congress president of the upcoming Alpha biennal in 2014 in Antalya, Turkey. She’s the chair of the Turkish Society of Clinical Embryologists (KED) since 2011.

Alla Kalugina, MD, PhD

Alla Kalugina, MD, PhD finished Medical University of Moscow in 1985, Russia. Following she worked at the Moscow Family Planning Center in field Obstetric and Gynecology between the years 1989-1994. She had clinical training in the field of ART (Assisted Reproduction Technology) at the Hadassa clinic in 1995, Jerusalem, Israel. She had been certificated in IVF in 1996 by Scientific Center of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Kulakov in Moscow. She founded the IVF (In-vitro fertilization) laboratory in the Family Planning Center, Moscow in1995. She became the chief of IVF department in the this Center. From 2005, she have head ART department of Russian-Finish clinic “AVA-PETER” in Saint-Peterburg. She defended a thesis in field of ART in 2009. Now she is Professor at the department of female reproductive health in the North-Western State Medical University, deputy head doctor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive medicine “AVA-PETER” clinic. Her major interest areas are Oncofertility, SET-programs, founding the Bank of oocyts of vitrification, introduction the array CGH method in clinical practic. She has published and lectured extensively in these fields. She’s a board member of Committee of RAHR (Russian Associate Human Reproduction) since 2000. She had organized the certification of ISO 9001:2008 in her clinic in 2009 and 2010 year.

Pasquale Patrizio, MD, MBE, HCLD

Pasquale Patrizio, MD, MBE, HCLD is a board certified specialist in Obstetrics & Gynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and Andrology. He is Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Medical Director, Yale Fertility Center and Fertility Preservation program. Dr. Patrizio has lectured throughout the world on the topics of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), Male Infertility and ICSI and Fertility preservation garnering a number of awards. Dr. Patrizio is an associate Editor for Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics and member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fertility and Sterility and Reproductive Biomedicine on Line. He serves as reviewer for many scientific journals including Lancet, Human Reproduction, Fertility and Sterility, and is a reviewer for NIH grants. Dr. Patrizio has authored 3 books, one being the textbook/atlas Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) which has been translated also into Spanish and Chinese, and two e-books (in Assisted Reproduction ) in addition to 393 scientific papers, including 60 book chapters, 135 peer-review publications and 198 abstracts. He is the Vice president of the International Society for Fertility Preservation (Jan.2013-December 2014), Vice President of the Special Interest Group in Regenerative Medicine for the ASRM and is Board member of the ISMAAR. His current clinical interests include: Improving the efficiency of assisted reproduction technology (ART), reducing the risk of multiple pregnancy, fertility preservation strategies and methods to simplify the clinical and laboratory aspect of IVF.

Atsushi Tanaka, MD

Atsushi Tanaka, MD is the director of Saint Mother Hospital, located in Kitakyushu City, Japan. He obtained his postgraduate degree from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Juntendo University. He established Saint Mother Hospital in 1990, which has since become one of the premier fertility clinics in Japan and now has 5500 ART cycles yearly. He has a long-standing interest in the scientific aspects of reproductive medicine, biology and spermatogenesis. He served as an expert member of scientific committee, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (from 1998 to 2000). He is a vice-president of the Japan Society of Fertilization and Implantation and he organized the annual congress of the society as a chairman in 2008. He is a president of Japanese Institution for Standardizing Assisted Reproductive Technology (JISART), and a councilor of the Japan Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Japanese Society of Mammalian Ova Research. He is joining grant research of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare since 2010.

Flippo Maria Ubaldi, MD, MSc

Filippo Maria Ubaldi is Medical Doctor, Clinical Director at the GENERA Centres for Reproductive Medicine in Rome, Marostica, Umbertide and Naples, Italy. With academic degrees in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Masters in Andrology and Reproductive Medicine, he is also intensely dedicated to educational, editorial and practitioner activities. Co-author of 8 books on Reproductive Medicine and of 150 scientific papers on national and international scientific journals of Reproductive Medicine, his author’s H-index is 40. Editor of the treaty on Reproductive Medicine ‘Medicina della Riproduzione Umana’ published in Italy in 2010. Invited as speaker at over 300 National and International congresses on the topic of Reproductive Medicine and has been Scientific Coordinator of more than 30 congresses and courses. Member of the ESHRE Executive Committee during 2005-2009, he has been Chairman of the 26th ESHRE Annual Meeting held in Rome in June 2010.In 2012 he achieved the national certification as full professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In 2014-2015 he has been member of the technical advisory board established by the Ministry of Health on heterologous fertilization.

PC Wong, MD

PC Wong, MD was the Head of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; as well as the Chief of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the National University Hospital (NUH) in 2001 - 2008. He is currently the Head & Senior Consultant, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, NUH and the Director of the Assisted Reproduction Programme in the Hospital. He has a long-standing interest in the various aspects of infertility, especially assisted reproduction. He was a member of the Editorial Board of ‘Human Reproduction’. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed and refereed papers and written several chapters in books and reviews. He is actively involved with postgraduate training and has been a member of the Specialist Training Committee as well as the Postgraduate Examination Committee. He was the First President of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE) and the founding Director of the Centre for Reproductive Education & Specialist Training (CREST).