ARCS (the Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists) held its Annual Symposium 2024 in Birmingham.
PET director Sarah Norcross was delighted to join embryologists and to speak at this important meeting.
The symposium had a packed programme and the day got off to a strong start with a presentation from Professor Rod Mitchell '20 years of fertility preservation for pre-pubertal boys'.
Following on from Professor Mitchell was Professor Manuela Perrotta who gave the audience an overview of the Remaking Fertility PET has had the pleasure of working with Professor Perrotta on several projects. You can learn more about her research in the fertility sector in this podcast.
Transgender care was sensitively covered by Kelly Tilleman, director of the IVF laboratory at UZGent. After whom was Professor Suks Minhas a consultant urologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He turned the discussion back to the challenges in the assessment and treatment of the infertile male.
Sometimes at a conference some of the energy is lost in the afternoon, but the debate 'This house believes that add-ons are a valuable part of patient choice in fertility care' was so entertaining that nobody's eyelids were drooping! This is thanks to Bryan Woodward, X&W Fertility and Professor Ying Cheong, University of Southampton who turned in stella performances which included references to George Michael and Celine Dion, song lyrics, a mask and Bryan taking off his shirt and tie to reveal a t-shirt! Amid the comedy serious points were made and Professor Cheong who was arguing against the motion won the debate.
The ARCS symposium may have taken place on Friday the 13th but it was a great success with lots of interesting presentations and plenty of time for networking. Many thanks to Meurig Gallagher for organising the day and to Professor Jackson Kirkman-Brown, chair of ARCS, for the invitation to speak.