A tribute to Dr Marta Shahbazi (1985-2026)
The director and deputy director of PET pay tribute to Dr Marta Shahbazi – a prominent and inspiring figure in human embryo research, who was killed in last week's rail collision in Spain...
PET Director
Sarah Norcross is director of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) and Commissioning Editor of its flagship publication BioNews. Together with Sandy Starr, she organises PET's public events. Sarah often represents PET in the media nationally (including on the Today programme, BBC News, ITV News, 5 News, Good Morning Britain, Sunday Morning Live) and internationally (including on BBC World News, Mittagsmagazin and Fala Brasil and in Die Welt), as well as in more specialist publications (including Science magazine, the British Medical Journal and Reproductive BioMedicine Online). Sarah is also a Trustee at the British Fertility Society (BFS), Chair of the BFS Special Interest Group on Law, Policy and Ethics, and an External Adviser to the University of Cambridge's Reproduction Strategic Research Initiative.
Sarah serves on the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology's Working Group on Add-Ons, on the National Infertility Group convened by the Scottish Government, and on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's Patient Organisation Stakeholder Group. She was previously Co-chair of the campaigning organisation Fertility Fairness, and she also chaired a group of clinicians, scientists, patient support groups and medical research charities which campaigned and advised on the content of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 as it passed through the UK Parliament. She has advised on numerous research projects, most recently Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing and Donor-Conception and Egg Donation in the UK, Belgium and Spain. Previously, she worked as a Barrister carrying out advocacy in civil and criminal courts on the Northern Circuit.
by Sarah Norcross and 1 others
The director and deputy director of PET pay tribute to Dr Marta Shahbazi – a prominent and inspiring figure in human embryo research, who was killed in last week's rail collision in Spain...
Bringing you PET events as a podcast. In the 54th episode of its podcast, PET explores the genetics and genomics of infertility, with Professor Willem Verpoest, Professor Stéphane Viville, Professor Joris Veltman and Professor Micheline Misrahi...
by Professor Joy Zhang and 3 others
In this Vision Paper, the Centre for Global Science and Epistemic Justice and the Progress Educational Trust introduce 'Tuning EARS for the Future', part of the Wellcome-funded 'Constructive Conversations' programme...
Bringing you PET events as a podcast. In the 53rd episode of its podcast, PET examines the case of a donor whose sperm was used to conceive at least 197 children in at least 14 countries, when he (unknowingly) carried a genetic mutation that causes cancer...
by Sarah Norcross and 1 others
The director and deputy director of PET pay tribute to the late Professor Abha Maheshwari – clinician, clinic leader, researcher, journal editor and friend – and present highlights from her wide-ranging contributions to PET events...
by Sarah Norcross and 3 others
The PET team discusses public opinion of sex selection in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, as revealed by the recent PET/ESHRE report 'Fertility, Embryo Research and Genome Editing'...
Bringing you PET events as a podcast. In the 52nd episode of its podcast, PET explores fertility treatment challenges faced by LGBTQ+ people, with Kate Osborne MP, Dr Carolyn Wilson-Nash, Dr Jennifer Takhar, Michael Johnson-Ellis, Dr Susie Bower-Brown, Dr Chloe He and Natalie Gamble...
by Sarah Norcross and 3 others
The PET team discusses public opinion of fertility funding in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, as revealed by the recent PET/ESHRE report 'Fertility, Embryo Research and Genome Editing'...
Bringing you PET events as a podcast. In the 51st episode of its podcast, PET explores what is known about the impact of assisted conception on the health of resulting children, with Professor Barbara Luke, Professor Alastair Sutcliffe, Dr Faiza Afzal and Professor Vasanti Jadva...
by Professor Karen Sermon and 1 others
Professor Karen Sermon and Sarah Norcross explain why ESHRE and PET have collaborated to publish the wide-ranging report 'Fertility, Embryo Research and Genome Editing: Public Attitudes in Europe'...
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