IVFAustralia- Excellence in Fertility Care
- Research and Development
At IVFAustralia, we are continually developing our practice to ensure that our patients are provided with the very highest standards of infertility care.
Our research and development programme keeps us at the forefront of emerging technology and gives our patients access to the latest scientific developments in assisted reproductive technology, giving them the best possible chance to overcome fertility concerns.
IVFAustralia is the largest group of dedicated fertility sub specialists in NSW, supported by a team of experienced scientists, nurses and counsellors, in a network of local fertility clinics.
Our collective medical, scientific and organisational strength enables us to better meet patient expectations and provide the multidisciplinary care and technology that is required today to achieve high pregnancy and live birth rates.
The depth of IVFAustralia’s resources enables us to provide clinical and scientific advancements in assisted reproductive technology that will lead the future of IVF treatment in this country.
IVFAustralia Research
The research undertaken at IVFAustralia is focused on continually improving the outcomes for our patients.. To make this possible , the research projects that we undertake encompass research into medical treatments and advanced scientific technologies but also include study of the psychological factors that affect the emotional health and wellbeing of our patients.
Outcomes from our research, together with new data obtained from international research, are monitored and rapidly translated in to practice to ensure that our patients continue to receive the best in international standard fertility care.
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) is a rapidly improving area and innovations resulting from research both locally and internationally are regularly introduced by our specialist doctors and scientists.
As an organisation IVFAustralia makes a major investment into the scientific research conducted by its specialists and scientists, some of which is summarised on these pages.
Invited Speakers
As experienced clinicians and scientists many of our team are highly regarded in the profession not only for their expertise in the area of Assisted Reproductive Technologies, but also more widely in the area of women’s health. This high level of recognition means that our team are regularly invited to speak at professional meetings both nationally and internationally.
Journal / Professional Magazines
In recognition of the significance of our team’s research and clinical experience they are widely published in scientific and medical journals and professional magazines. A number of our specialists and staff have also received prestigious awards. For example one of our young scientists won the award for Best Presentation by a Young Scientist for her research Sex ratio of infants born as a result of human IVF blastocyst transfer at the Fertility Society of Australia’s Annual Meeting 4-7 September 2005 in Christchurch New Zealand and was an invited speaker at the June 2006 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Prague.
Professional Development
IVFAustralia takes very seriously our role in developing and nurturing the scientists, nurses and fertility specialists of tomorrow. Our senior specialists and staff have developed training programs across a number of the universities in NSW
Research Governance - IVFAustralia Ethics Committee
Research undertaken within IVFAustralia must comply with legislated guidelines, and requires approval from IVFAustralia’s Ethics Committee. Research must demonstrate its potential for contribution to knowledge and scientific merit. The IVFAustralia Ethics Committee is constituted in line with the NHMRC National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans and objectives include:
- To ensure that all research involving human participant within IVFAustralia is reviewed, approved and monitored in line with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans as issued by the National Health and Medical research Council (NHMRC).
- To provide advice to IVFAustralia on ethical aspects of clinical infertility practice
Its members include:
| Assoc Prof Garth Leslie |
Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and Chairperson |
| Mascia Buzzolini-Vasquez |
Layperson |
| Douglas McLelland |
Layperson |
| Jessica Rowe |
Layperson |
| Prof Douglas Saunders |
Person with knowledge of, & current experience in areas of research regularly considered by the Ethics Committee |
| Julie Hamblin |
Lawyer |
| Dr Michael Carey |
Person with knowledge of, and current experience in, the professional care, counselling or treatment of people |
| Rev’d Robert Sutherland |
Minister of Religion |
| Dr John Ryan |
Person with knowledge of, & current experience in areas of research regularly considered by the Ethics Committee |
To contact the Ethics Committee: ethics@ivf.com.au
Current Research Projects
Luveris trial
During an IVF cycle, the drugs cause a fall in the level of some hormones. In some women, the fall in one hormone (called luteinizing hormone) can be quite marked. It is not known whether this fall affects the chances of the woman conceiving.
In order to study this, a randomised controlled trial has been developed to study what happens to the chances of achieving a pregnancy, if women with a marked fall in luteinizing hormone are given hormone supplements to correct the fall.
Embryonic stem cell collaboration
In a collaboration with Professor Bernie Tuch of the Diabetes Transplant Unit at the University of New South Wales, IVFAustralia has supplied human embryos for the development of embryonic stem cell lines. These embryonic stem cell lines have been used for basic research into stem cell biology with the ultimate aim of generating pancreatic stem cells that may, in the future, assist young children to overcome their diabetes. This project holds a licence from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Polscope development
Polarised light may help the ICSI process by allowing the scientist doing the procedure to clearly see and avoid the area of the egg where the genetic material is stored. We are currently performing a randomised control trial to compare a new approach using polarised light with the standard approach for doing ICSI.
Advanced andrology assessment
In recent years, there have been significant advances in the understanding of how sperm work. It has become clear that factors in the sperm cell such as excessive generation of free oxygen radicles and breaking up of the DNA may be more important markers of poor fertility than simple sperm counts. We are developing the capacity for detailed assessment of these factors and are developing a project to study the effects of possible new treatments for male fertility.
Collaborative Research Project: Psychological Support for Older Mothers
As a consequence of improving IVF pregnancy rates, more women are able to conceive babies at an older age. Dr Cathy McMahon, Lecturer in Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, in association with IVFAustralia, is investigating ‘Delayed Childbearing: Are there psychological protective factors for older women?’.
This study aims to explore the experience of pregnancy for couples in different age groups who are expecting their first baby i.e. women who have their first baby after the age of 38 and their partners compared with women 35 years and under and their partners. This study has been approved for an ARC Linkage grant.
Other studies
Sex ratio of infants born as a result of human IVF blastocyst transfer.
Research undertaken at IVFAustralia found that embryos, conceived using the IVF technique not ICSI, and where the embryo is grown to a blastocyst before being transferred back to the woman, resulted in a 56 per cent chance that the child will be a boy. This appears to be a consequence of embryo selection in the laboratory. |
