In two weeks time Louise Brown will be 25 years old. Many of the scientists and doctors who pioneered the developments leading to her birth will be attending Fertility 2003 next week to discuss future developments over the next 25 years. The Fertility 2003 conference will bring together both medical and scientific research, with advances in animal reproduction being used to improve treatment in humans. A classic example of this is the far better success rates seen in animal compared to human IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation).
This prestigious triennial conference is a meeting of the UK's three leading Fertility societies, the British Andrology Society, British Fertility Society and Society for Reproduction and Fertility, and will be hosted by the University of Aberdeen. Over 600 delegates from all over the world will attend the 133 talks and 102 posters between Sunday and Wednesday, 13-17 July. Keynote lectures by world leaders in the field include highly topical talks on advances in stem cell medicine by Professor Roger Pedersen, University of Cambridge and at the other end of the scale, reproductive problems of the ageing population, by Professor Roger Gosden from the East Virginia Medical School. The meeting will hear about the latest technologies used in reproductive research, including a presentation by Professor Eli Adashi from the University of Utah at Salt Lake City. The role of environmental chemicals in disrupting the development of fetuses in the womb will be reviewed by a leading Scottish expert, Professor Richard Sharpe from the MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit & University of Edinburgh.
Dr Paul Fowler, Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University, and Chair of the Local Organising Committee, said: "We will explore all aspects of fertility and conception, starting from sperm and egg right up to reproductive problems of the elderly, from the fertility clinic to the most topical issues facing reproductive sciences in the laboratory today."
There will be five prize sessions where young doctors, nurses, scientists, counsellors and students will have access to an international platform to present work on such diverse issues as stem cells, egg freezing, counselling of egg donors and miscarriage. Three state of the art symposia will look at new technologies inreproductive research, the effects of normal fetal development on reproduction in the adult and reproductive problems of ageing, including one asking whether the menopause is an evolutionary accident! Other presentations will include those by scientists working at the Roslin Institute which created Dolly the Sheep and will discuss genes in the ovary and testis of the developing embryo that are required to obtain a normal adult. The breadth of topics is large, covering such issues as IVF sex selection, IVF for HIV positive patients, single embryo transfer, semen quality of British men, the effects of Chlamydia infection, recreational drugs and lifestyle on fertility, as well as detailed scientific studies at every level of reproduction. A local Youth Theatre will join delegates to explore issues of age and IVF through an interactive display.
The conference will also acknowledge life-long contributions to cutting edge reproductive research and medicine, for instance the award of the prestigious Marshal Medal to Professor Harry Charlton FRS at the University of Oxford. Previous recipients include Professor, Sir, Dugald Baird who held the Regius Chair of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of Aberdeen when he proposed the "Fifth Freedom", the inalienable human right of a woman to have control of her own fertility.
The conference will be opened formally by Professor Stephen Logan, Provost of Medicine & Medical Sciences on Sunday, July 13 at Elphinstone Hall. The Lord Provost of Aberdeen, Mr John Reynolds, and councillors, will welcome over 400 delegates to the Beach Ballroom on Monday evening for a traditional Scottish ceilidh. Professor C Duncan Rice, Principal of the University of Aberdeen has sponsored three poster prizes, which will be awarded during the conference dinner on Wednesday at Ardoe House Hotel on Royal Deeside.
For further details about the Programme of next week's Fertility Conference, contact Dr Paul Fowler, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Aberdeen, tel: 01224 552633, or email: p.a.fowler@abdn.ac.uk, or visit: www.fertility2003.com
Issued by Public Relations Office, External Relations, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen. Tel: (01224) 272960 Fax: (01224) 272086. Contact: Angela Ferguson.