The CRH represents at ETW2023

Professor Rod Mitchell, Dr Mike Rimmer, Dr Kathleen Duffin and PhD student Grace Forsyth joined fellow academic researchers and clinicians who have making significant contributions to reproductive biology and medicine.

The CRH’s PhD student Grace Forsyth presented her work which investigates whether germ cells can be protected from chemotherapy-induced damage. This was Grace’s first international conference and her talk was very well received.

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ECAT-CRUK Clinical Fellow Kathleen Duffin presented her data from the ORCHID-NET survey on fertility preservation in childhood cancer.

The ORCHID-NET consortium is an international network of experts in the field of male fertility preservation which has recently been launched by Professor Rod Mitchell and colleagues. It aims to bring together a collaborative network of male fertility preservation experts who will focus on improving fertility outcomes after childhood illness.

Read more about this new consortium here: www.orchid-net.com.

Professor Rod Mitchell (Fertility Preservation Principal Investigator at MRC CRH, paediatric endocrinologist and co-ordinator of the ORCHID-NET) kicked off the final day of ETW2023 with his plenary lecture ‘Pharmaceuticals as mediators of testicular toxicity and options for fertility preservation in males’.

This talk was a fascinating exploration into the impact of pharmaceuticals on fertility in young males and was described by a fellow member of the Edinburgh Fertility Preservation team Dr Kathleen Duffin as a ‘tour de force’.

Dr Mike Rimmer also presented his research into extracellular vesicles as mediators of chemotherapy induced infertility. Many congratulations to Dr Rimmer who won the ETW2023 poster presentation prize for this work.

Professor Mitchell was keen to emphasise the importance of collaborative team work in successful research endeavours and thanked his current and former CRH members and associates (Dr Mike Rimmer, Grace Forsyth, Dr Gabriele Matilionyte, Dr Kathleen Duffin and Dr Caroline Allen) for their valuable and essential contributions.

Well done to everyone involved.