In recent years, cancer has been converted, in many cases, from a death sentence to a disease of manysurvivors. Aggressive cancer treatments take a significant toll on patient's quality of life. A recognizedcomplication for women after chemotherapy or radiation is the toxicity to the ovaries, which results in thedamage or loss of oocytes leading to impairment or loss of fertility. The purpose of the OncofertilityConsortium is to attack the fertility threat posed by cancer treatment by training a globally ready workforcewith the expertise to manage the reproductive needs of the woman with cancer. The impact of such aprogram in the general field of Women's Health can be tremendous for generating a multidisciplinaryforce of doctors for coping with fertility concerns. The long-term success of the oncofertility disciplinerequires the well orchestrated and focused development of a physician-scientist global workforce, which willimplement the research and clinical agenda and ultimately be the origin for the expansion and developmentof this new, interdisciplinary field of oncofertility. It is the intent of this T90/R90 proposal to train and educatethe first generation of oncofertility specialists in research directly related to the reproductive needs of thecancer patient and survivor. Such education and training programs will provide the foundations for the furtherdevelopment of this discipline that is at the intersection of oncology, pediatrics, reproductive science andmedicine, biomechanics, material science, mathematics, social science, bioethics, religion, policy research,reproductive health law and cognitive and learning science. Given the clinical and research training fellowsreceive, the executive committee of this training and educational program believes that the first generation ofoncofertility specialists should be bred from within the ranks of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility(REI), which is one of four subspecialty fellowships for advanced training after completion of a residency inObstetrics and Gynecology. Formal certification for this advanced training in Reproductive Medicine is underthe aegis of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility of the American Board of Obstetricsand Gynecology, Inc. (ABOG). Research is a central feature of fellowship programs and, therefore, theproposed oncofertility training program dovetails perfectly with the clinical and educational objectives inreproductive endocrinology. The proposed National and International Training Program in Oncofertility will bethe ONLY federally supported mechanism for research training of fellows critical for entry into the pipeline ofacademic oncofertility specialists.
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