The Oncofertility Consortium Annual Conference assembles a diverse network of oncofertility constituents, including individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and professional levels to disseminate emerging basic and clinical research findings on reproductive health and infertility and develop enduring education materials in order to accelerate the pace and quality of field-wide scientific communication. This grant funding is intended to support the next five years of the Oncofertility Consortium Annual Conference, which will be held annually in November 2018 ? 2022. This meeting is the only one of its kind where researchers, scientists, clinicians, and the patient community participate in an interactive forum to discuss and review emerging technologies, research, and real-world options for protecting reproductive health from the negative effects of disease treatment, including chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and other disease-modifying agents. Conference attendees span the fields of cancer biology, oncology, immunology, reproductive biology, biochemistry, reproductive endocrinology, cryobiology, biomedical and tissue engineering, nursing, developmental biology, genetics, ethics, law, religion, economics, communication, public health, sociology, and psychology. Additionally, patients and their families, providers, and patient advocates are invited to share their intimate experiences regarding reproductive health in the midst of disease. The conference utilizes a variety of lecture formats, including traditional podium presentations, panel discussions, smaller educational courses, and poster and networking sessions. These courses and non-traditional lecture formats offer attendees the opportunity to attend smaller, more personal breakout sessions to gain a greater understanding of existing oncofertility services and how to expand and enrich their programs at their home institutions. Materials produced from the conference, including video recordings of lectures and publications of conference reports are available to interested audiences as permanently archived resources on the Oncofertility Consortium website. Archived materials allow us to broadly disseminate cutting-edge information to scientific and medical trainees and the global community of oncofertility professionals, many of who may not be able to travel to the conference. The Oncofertility Consortium?s annual conference generates new research questions and collaborations, and cultivates the interests of the next-generation of oncofertility leaders. As our field continues to evolve and grow, we remain deeply committed to our goals of furthering research, enriching education, and providing opportunities for both patients and practitioners to expand access to knowledge, techniques, and treatments. With advances in treatment for cancer and other diseases, survivorship issues are of increasing importance to this patient population and their providers. The Oncofertility Consortium Annual Conference remains the leading opportunity to disseminate advances in research and clinical care to improve the reproductive health options, including fertility, of disease survivors.
PROJECT RELEVANCE Patients diagnosed with cancer or non-oncologic conditions may face the possibility of infertility as a result of the disease itself or lifesaving treatments. The Oncofertility Consortium hosts the Oncofertility Consortium Annual Conference which attracts an international audience of the oncofertility community and is a place where new ideas for research projects develop, networks of clinical care converge, and the interdisciplinary community of oncologists, reproductive endocrinologists, research scientists, allied health professionals, humanities scholars, students, advocates, and patients participate in this cutting edge field. This grant will fund the annual meeting of this field.
| Miller, Elizabeth J N; Cookingham, Lisa M; Woodruff, Teresa K et al. (2017) Fertility preservation training for obstetrics and gynecology fellows: a highly desired but non-standardized experience. Fertil Res Pract 3:9 |
