3rd International Conference on the Cryopreservation of the Human Oocyte – November 2008
Dr. Nicole Noyes presented a lecure, Impact of Embryo Developmental Stage at Freeze on Clinical Outcome, in Bologna, Italy. The conference, which offered a comprehensive and state-of-the-art view of basic science and clinical application of the storage of the mature female gamete, was held in association with the Tecnobios Procreazione Symposium 2008, which provided clinicians, embryologists and basic scientists with an opportunity to focus on and discuss some of the most innovative advances in the field of reproductive biology and medicine.

ASRM Honorable Mention - November 2008
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recently awarded members of NYUFC an Honorable Mention for Technical Achievement in Video in the Assisted Reproductive Technologies category for their video titled Time-Lapse Microscopy: A High Resolution Method for In Depth Analysis of Tripronuclear (3pn) Zygotes.

Congratulations to Dr. M. Elizabeth Fino, Yael Kramer, Caroline McCaffrey and Dr. Nicole Noyes, as well as Drs. Kris Gunsalus and Fabio Piano of the NYU Center for Functional Genomics.

Complete ASRM List of Awards

Health Impact Award - September 2008
NYU Fertility Center received a Health Impact Award from Wellsphere, one of the leading comsumer health websites in the world. Presented to organizations and individuals who are making the biggest impact on the lives of patients and other people in their fields, we are honored to receive this recognition and take a place beside other outstanding organizations that include the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, just to name a few.

$1 million Research Funding Grant Awarded – September 2008
Dr. Nicole Noyes of NYU Fertility Center along with Dr. Kristin Gunsalus of NYU's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology was recently awarded $1 million from the National Institutes of Health. Their collaborative study, titled "A Systems Biology Approach to Mammalian Early Embryogenesis," will build a systems view of early embryonic development in mouse and human, an approach that has been very successful in the worm, C. elegans. This work will have direct implications for diagnosis of embryonic viability in a clinical setting and the mouse work will provide insights into complex phenotypes associated with a variety of developmental and metabolic disorders, as well as other disease processes, including cancer.

Hands-On Blastocyst Workshop - August 2008
On August 15-16, 2008 The NYU Fertility Center and the Cork Fertility Center, Cork, Ireland, held "A Hands-On Blastocyst Workshop" at the Fota Island Hotel in Cork, Ireland. One hundred attendees from Ireland, Europe and the US heard lectures by the combined faculties and participated in practical workshops conducted by embryologists from both NYU and Cork.

Participants from NYU included Jamie Grifo, MD, PhD, Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at NYU School of Medicine who spoke about pre-implantation diagnosis and oocyte freezing; Alan Berkeley, MD, Director of IVF at NYU Fertility Center, whose topics included extended culture in assisted reproduction and IVF stimulation protocols, Dr. Lewis Krey, Director of the Embryology Laboratory at NYU Fertility Center who spoke about quality control in the IVF laboratory, embryo cryopreservation and early embryonic development, and Dr. Caroline McCaffrey, Co-Supervisor of the NYU Fertility Center’s Embryology Lab, whose topic was extended embryo culture techniques. Dr. McCaffrey also directed the hands-on laboratory portion of the program, along with NYU senior embryologists Adrienne Chin and Melicia Clarke-Williams. These workshops included practical training in the handling of blastocysts in culture and embryo cryopreservation, including the new technique of vitrification.

The program was supported by a grant from Rochford Medical Ltd (UK).

New Teen Website MyBodyandMe.org Launched – December 2007
Dr. Nicole Noyes recently completed an educational website for teens and young adults covering important topics such as sexually transmitted infections, puberty, pregnancy, body image and birth control options. The website, MyBodyandMe.org is hosted by NYU and has unique animations to help young people understand how body processes and infections happen.

Second World Congress on Human Oocyte Cryopreservation - December 2007
Dr. Nicole Noyes presented a lecture "Egg Storage for Deferring Reproduction: Medicalization of a Social Issue" in Bologna, Italy at a conference run by Dr. Eleonora Porcu and the European Society for Human Reproduction & Embryology.

American Fertility Association’s Family Building Award - November 2007
Dr. Nicole Noyes was given the American Fertility Association’s Family Building Award at the 2007 Kokopelli Ball held at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan.