Dr. Chelsey Leisinger, Laboratory Director When the Grand Rapids lab joined Ovation® Fertility, they became part of a larger network of laboratories. However, this lab is no stranger to being a part of big things, as they’ve long been helping patients become parents. When asked how they do it for this month’s Connect to Purpose, Off-Site Laboratory Director Dr. Chelsey Leisinger highlighted a few key…
At Ovation® Fertility, all lab team members share a passion for their work and a natural curiosity. This month’s Ovation Star Sue O’Brien, who is a senior embryologist in Vermont, is the perfect example of this. How Did You Get Into Your Line of Work? I’m an inquisitive person and have been since birth. As a child, I would cook in the kitchen with my…
Many Ovation® Fertility employees find their homes in the fertility field after working in different industries. Anahi Arellano, this month’s Department VIP, is one of these people, and we couldn’t be happier to have her on our team. How Did You Get Into Your Line of Work? I joined Ovation in 2018. I started with the organization as an administrative assistant. I then transitioned into…
Meet Nancy, Embryologist, Ovation Newport Beach Not everyone gets to say they make a living helping people start and grow their families. This knowledge is why Nancy Nugent loves working as an embryologist at Ovation® Fertility Newport Beach. This October marked Nancy’s 25th anniversary with the Newport Beach lab, so we’re celebrating her as our Ovation Star this month. How Did You Get Into Your…
Dr. Sammi Sun, Laboratory Director Ovation® Fertility Washington DC has been a network lab for about a year now. During this time, the team has been working hard to implement new technology to help bring the joy of parenthood through innovative science. According to the Laboratory Director Dr. Sammi Sun, “From implementing new technology to adopting new procedures, there have been a lot of positive…
Dana Hunt, Quality Specialist Dana Hunt’s work as the quality specialist for Ovation® Fertility is close to her heart. Why? In vitro fertilization allowed her and her husband to welcome a beautiful baby boy. Read on to learn more about this month’s Department VIP. How Did You Get Into Your Line of Work? I worked in oncology and hematology for 10 years before transitioning to…
Allison Johns, Andrology Lab Supervisor Allison Johns, the andrology lab supervisor for Ovation® Fertility Washington DC, is the perfect example of an employee who wears a lot of hats. According to the Laboratory Director Dr. Sammi Sun, “Allison is more than just our andrology lab supervisor. She is our supply manager and has managed to cut costs, making DC the location with the lowest supply…
Meet Belen Barajas, Patient Services Coordinator, Ovation San Antonio It can be easy to forget how overwhelming the infertility treatment process can be when you’re immersed in it every day as part of your job. However, Belen Barajas always considers the patient and what they’re feeling as she guides them as the patient services coordinator at Ovation® Fertility San Antonio. How Did You Get Into…
The San Antonio Team Helps Patient Bypass Problem With Donor Egg Shipment As the associate laboratory director at Ovation® Fertility San Antonio, Dr. Nirvika Singh Sharma knows what it’s like to bring the joy of parenthood through innovative science. She and the embryologists in her lab also understand that the path to parenthood sometimes includes some speed bumps. When these obstacles appear, the team in…
Meet Zachary Icen, Ovation Fertility Long-Term Storage Operations Coordinator Thanks to advances in reproductive medicine, long-term storage has become an important part of many family-building journeys. At Ovation® Fertility, Zachary Icen works as the long-term storage operations coordinator to ensure that these precious reproductive materials stay safe and sound. How Did You Get Into Your Line of Work? Before I started at Ovation, I was…
Meet Mar’Sheila, Junior Embryologist, Ovation Nashville Mar’Sheila Carter, Junior Embryologist One thing that stands out among the amazing people at Ovation® Fertility is the love they have for their work. Mar’Sheila Carter is a junior embryologist and the perfect example of someone who uses her passion for her work to help patients become parents. How Did You Get Into Your Line of Work? I feel…
The Nashville Team Improves Patient Satisfaction With Innovative Tech Dr. Aldo Esterhuizen, Ovation Fertility Nashville Laboratory Director Every day, the teams in Ovation® Fertility labs are focused on our purpose of bringing the joy of parenthood through innovative science. However, we aren’t just focused on helping hopeful parents have healthy babies. We’re also committed to making sure patients have a great journey to parenthood. As…
Meet Kobe, Ovation Fertility Director of Finance Whether they’re behind a microscope or a desk, every member of the Ovation® Fertility team plays an important role in bringing the joy of parenthood through innovative science. Learn how Director of Finance Kobe Watson keeps the financial side of Ovation running smoothly to ensure we provide the best care to our patients. How Did You Get Into…
Julie Dupre, Senior Embryologist, Ovation Lafayette When patients need a little extra help having a baby, the experience of the IVF lab team can make all the difference. Thankfully, Ovation® Lafayette has Senior Embryologist Julie Dupre on the team. Patients who partner with this lab reap the benefits of Julie’s more than 25 years of experience. How Did You Get Into Your Line of Work?…
Meet Becky Morgan, Ovation Donor Services Manager Egg donor IVF cycles are complex and can be emotional for intended parents, so it takes an organized and compassionate person to keep the process running smoothly. Thankfully, Ovation Donor Services has Becky Morgan handling the operational aspects of donor egg IVF cycles and the Ovation donor egg program. How Did You Get Into Your Line of Work?…
Helping One Patient Turn “Lemons Into Lemonade” Brings the Team Back to Ovation’s Purpose Dr. Chelsey Leisinger, Ovation Fertility Lafayette Laboratory Director At Ovation®, our purpose is to bring the joy of parenthood through innovative science. The team members in our labs understand how much patients have been through by the time they need advanced fertility treatments like IVF, so they do everything they can…
Meet the New Lab Director for Ovation’s Texas Labs, Dr. Khalied Kaskar Dr. Khalied Kaskar, Laboratory Director for Texas Labs Our labs are at the heart of everything we do at Ovation® Fertility, and we have big news to share about our IVF and andrology labs in Texas. Dr. Tex VerMilyea will be focusing exclusively on his work as the vice president of scientific advancement…
Natalie Savage, Embryologist Before Natalie Savage became one of the amazing embryologists at Ovation Fertility® Indianapolis, she researched reproductive physiology in the animal world. While she now focuses on humans instead of animals, her passion for embryo development remains the same. How did you get into your line of work? Like so many embryologists, I thought that I wanted to be a veterinarian, and I…
Jennifer Matucha with Conor Beardsley and Paul Kappelman at PCRS At Ovation®, our purpose is to bring the joy of parenthood through innovative science. To make this happen, our teams work hard in the lab to help patients while also conducting research to advance the field. Recently, Jennifer Matucha, an embryologist at Ovation Fertility Indianapolis presented a poster at PCRS and won an award for…
Paul Kang, Storage and Implementation Supervisor Paul Kang has a degree in biology and served as a medic in the United States Army. Today, he uses his background to implement new systems and programs in Ovation® Fertility labs so that we can bring the joy of parenthood through innovative science. How did you get into your line of work? I went to college to study…
Kate Sukhum, Senior Software Developer Kate Sukhum has been providing her tech expertise to the Center for Surrogate Parenting, an Ovation® Company, since 2003. She’s proud of all her contributions to the team, but the one that stands out the most is helping to develop the CSP database of surrogates. How did you get into your line of work? I’m from Thailand, and I came…
Elizabeth Klein, Cryo Coordinator, Ovation Austin Elizabeth Klein pivoted from her background in animal science to join Ovation® Austin in 2021. She started out helping embryologists and andrologists as a laboratory assistant, but she now coordinates the transport of frozen reproductive materials for patients, making parenthood possible. How did you get into your line of work? Before I joined the Ovation team, I earned a…
Embryologist, Kyle Bellamy Our purpose at Ovation® is to bring the joy of parenthood through innovative science. Kyle Bellamy, an embryologist at Ovation Austin, shows the importance of bringing hopeful parents joy and peace of mind during every step of their journey. The path to parenthood isn’t always easy. This is especially true when complications like ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) arise during an in vitro…
Emily Taillon instantly came to mind when we asked Daniel Madero, director of third party services, to pick a Department VIP for the Center for Surrogate Parenting, an Ovation® company. He praised Emily’s work ethic, as she’s always proactively taking on new projects and working to learn new things. How did you get into your line of work? CSP was my first position in the…
Las Vegas Lab Director, Dr. Aguirre At Ovation®, our purpose is to bring our patients the joy of parenthood through innovative science. This month’s Connect to Purpose shows how Ovation Las Vegas does just that. Ovation Las Vegas is renowned for its high success rates, with an implantation rate of 84% and ongoing pregnancy rate of 62.8% in patients under 35 for 2021. Martha Aguirre…
Shyni Thomas, Embryologist, Las Vegas Shyni Thomas has been with The Fertility Center of Las Vegas since 1994 and Ovation® Las Vegas since it started in 2015. She has a degree in clinical laboratory sciences and extensive experience as an embryologist, which has given her the skills she uses every day in her work in the laboratory. How did you get into your line of…
Catherine Bihm, Consenting Supervisor, Ovation Fertility Catherine Bihm, Consenting Supervisor Catherine started out handling patient consents and scheduling in the Baton Rouge lab. When Cassie Miller, director of risk management, needed assistance with consents at other locations, she asked Catherine to become the consenting supervisor for a new team at Ovation® Fertility. How did you get into your line of work? I worked as a…
Danya Toups, Andrologist, Baton Rouge Danya Toups joined Ovation® Fertility Baton Rouge as an andrologist with experience working in a microbiology lab for a hospital in Houston. She loves being able to meet the patients who she helps on their path to parenthood. What were you doing before you started working as an Ovation andrologist? Before I moved to Louisiana, I worked in a microbiology…
Baton Rouge Lab Director, Dr. Leisinger Ovation® Fertility exists to help women and men overcome the complex causes of infertility and have the families they’ve always dreamed of. To make this possible, our lab teams have a commitment to science and to our patients, which the crew in Baton Rouge shows us this month. On the science side of things, Baton Rouge had a wonderful…
Alexa Terry, Andrologist, Ovation Fertility Fort Worth Alexa Terry joined Ovation® Fertility Fort Worth as an andrologist with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and an interest in embryology. In less than a year, she’s already playing a pivotal role in supporting the lab’s operations. What were you doing before you started working as an Ovation andrologist? When I got my bachelor’s degree in microbiology and…
Paulette Leverett, Operations Specialist, Ovation Fertility Storage Solutions Paulette joined Ovation® Fertility doing administrative work in our San Antonio lab before transitioning to Fertility Storage Solutions, where she enjoys working with both our labs and our patients. How did you get into your line of work? I absolutely love my position with Fertility Storage Solutions. I didn’t start my career in this field, but it…
A Successful Inspection Highlights Fort Worth’s Role in Making Parenthood Possible Everyone at Ovation® Fertility knows lab quality makes a huge difference in whether a fertility treatment cycle helps a patient become a parent. It’s why our lab teams work hard behind the scenes every day. From preparing semen samples for analysis to using ICSI to fertilize eggs, the people in our labs are committed…
Amy Plaster, LCSW, joined Ovation® Fertility to use her degree in social work to support hopeful parents with family building. Seeing pictures of the beautiful babies born using donor services makes all her hard work as a donor services coordinator worth it. How did you get into your line of work? After I got my master’s degree in social work, I began helping families who…
Kelsey Jackson is a former egg donor who joined Ovation Cincinnati with a degree in medical lab sciences and experience working in a blood bank at a children’s hospital. She believes her unique combination of personal and professional experience makes her a better andrologist. How did you get into your line of work? I’ve been interested in the medical field since I was little. When…
Ovation laboratories are famous for putting science first. However, that’s not their only claim to fame. Everyone from our laboratory directors to our embryologists works hard to keep our labs organized and running smoothly to offer high-quality support to fertility patients from around the United States and the world. If anyone needed further proof of this, the results of a recent CAP inspection confirmed it…
Meet Judi Beachum, Vice President, Human Resources Judi Beachum joined Ovation as our new HR leader on November 29, 2021. She comes to us with a wealth of experience in healthcare human resources, as well as a special story about why working in the fertility care field feels like coming home. Why did this job at Ovation feel like the right fit for you? I…
Ovation puts science first so that we can help patients become parents and make infertility a thing of the past. Education plays a huge role in making this possible, which is why we proudly support the Fertility Docs Uncensored podcast. Carrie Bedient MD, Abby Eblen MD and Susan Hudson MD, all Ovation affiliate physicians, record and regularly release podcast episodes to bring fertility information to…
Christene Anthony, Senior Intended Parent Case Manager, Center for Surrogate Parenting Christene Anthony has been with the Center for Surrogate Parenting (CSP) since 2015. Throughout her career, she has worked in industries that range from mortgage banking to counseling, which has given her the relationship building skills she uses every day in her work with intended parents who are pursuing surrogacy. How did you get…
Iris Ortiz has been with the Austin team since July 2008, back in the days when it was Austin IVF. She has a wealth of experience managing the front office and credits her big heart and organizational skills with helping her keep everything running smoothly in Austin. How did you start working at Ovation Austin? I started out at the front desk of Ovation Austin…
By Mitchel C. Schiewe, Ph.D., HCLD, Lab Director, Ovation Fertility™ Newport Beach Ovation Fertility doesn’t just perform the most advanced vitrification procedures that safely cryopreserve embryos and other reproductive material for storage, we are helping to write the book! European publisher InTech recently informed us that a book chapter I authored on vitrification quality-control practices for human embryos has had nearly 1,200 views and more…
New Sperm Tracking Method Means More Streamlined Fertility Treatment By Matthew “Tex” VerMilyea, Ph.D. At Ovation Fertility, we’re excited about new sperm tracking research that uses military-grade precision to identify motility in sperm used in fertility treatment. For prospective parents, it means higher accuracy in semen analysis and the prospect of using more natural egg fertilization, such as IUI, rather than traditional IVF. For clinicians,…
Melanie R. Freeman, PhD1, M. Shaun Hinds, BS1, C. Kay Howard, BS1, Julie Howard, BS1, and George A. Hill, MD2 1Ovation Fertility, Nashville, TN; 2Nashville Fertility Center, Nashville, TN Objective: To evaluate the outcomes for eSET (elective single embryo transfer) and eDET (elective double embryo transfer) in frozen embryo transfer cycles. Design: Retrospective study Materials and Methods: Data analysis of ongoing pregnancy and live birth…
Matthew VerMilyea, PhD, of Ovation Fertility quoted in Medpage Today The choice of culture media for nurturing embryos before implantation in assisted reproduction procedures had no major impact on live birth rates, but did affect pregnancy rates and birth weight in a Dutch randomized trial. The G5 media formulation was not only linked to significantly higher rates of implantation and clinical pregnancy, but significantly lower…
Ovation Fertility partner physician, Glenn Weitzman, MD, traveled to Malawi to provide life-changing gynecologic surgeries Ovation Fertility partner physicians are known for changing the lives of their patients in the United States. However, patients from all around the world can benefit from the expertise and compassionate care of an Ovation Fertility partner physician. Recently, Dr. Weitzman and Nurse Jenni Whitefield, traveled to Africa with a…
Partner physician, Dr. Kaylen Silverberg discusses preimplantation genetic testing and getting pregnant faster on Fox News New York Dr. Kaylen Silverberg, an Ovation Fertility physician is using preimplantation genetic testing to better assess the likelihood that any given embryo will implant and grow into a healthy baby . “We’re looking at the genes in a way that allows us to select the healthiest embryo out of…
Ovation Fertility™ Nashville laboratory director Melanie Freeman, PhD explains culture media Culture media is an important part of IVF, but patients don’t often think about it. Ovation Fertility Nashville laboratory director Melanie Freeman, PhD is here to explain what culture media is and what types of culture media the Nashville fertility lab uses. Culture media is a complex solution that’s used to support cell growth…
Ovation Fertility™ Newport Beach lab director highlights “most productive and creative period” of IVF Mitchel C. Schiewe, Ph.D., Ovation Fertility Newport Beach laboratory director, recently published a review paper about the development of assisted reproductive technology, ART, and the four technologies that changed the IVF industry. Genetic testing of preimplantation embryos Vitrification Lasers in ART Intracytoplasmic sperm injection According to Dr. Schiewe, “The purpose of…
Ovation Fertility™ Newport Beach lab director, with the freedom to question the status quo, improves sperm freezing protocols An embryologist and IVF lab director studies and manipulates testicular tissue to collect and preserve viable sperm for IVF and ICSI procedures. Over three-plus decades Mitchel C. Schiewe, M.S., Ph.D., HCLD (ABB), ELD (ABB), made a series of observations about protocols for handling and freezing sperm retrieved…
If you’ve watched the news or surfed the Web recently, you’ve probably heard about the Zika virus. It poses a risk to unborn babies, and it can be spread by mosquito bites and sexual contact with infected individuals. Our partner fertility doctors can provide more information about the virus and recommend precautions for fertility patients. The Zika virus started in Brazil and has since spread through South…
Many people start to question their personal resolutions now that the New Year is in full swing. While originally designed to enhance the quality of their lives, sometimes these resolutions don’t make it to February. If you are a fertility patient, however, keeping some key resolutions can have a lasting impact. Our Ovation Fertility experts around the county believe that focusing on positive enhancements can…
Dr. Kaylen Silverberg was recently invited to attend the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. This meeting, sometimes called the Super Bowl of Biotech, was held from January 11-13, 2016. The invitation extended to Dr. Silverberg highlights his place of prominence, and that of Ovation Fertility, in the global medical community. The invitation-only conference, sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co., is in its 34th year…
Ovation Fertility Newport Beach IVF center sheds light on selecting the best embryo to transfer during IVF In the past, embryologists and fertility specialists would grade embryos (A, B and C), just like a report card, based on what they could see and how and when the cells were dividing. A new study conducted by an Ovation Fertility Newport Beach IVF center, debunked two previously…
At this year’s American Society for Reproductive Medicine global meeting, Ovation Fertility physicians and embryologists demonstrated a collegial approach to reproductive medicine. The newly formed alliance of the nation’s top IVF centers and laboratories was represented in poster sessions with displays of groundbreaking research, and at the lectern as presenters and moderators. A primary focus for this year’s ASRM meeting was genetic screening and the…
