Nagham Younis, Grand Rapids Associate Lab Director, Ovation Fertility
Nagham Younis, PhD, is a member of ASA, CFAS, ESHRE, JSFG, MEFS and ASRM. She has been involved with IVF since 1996. Dr. Younis brings her extensive knowledge in the infertility field, along with her research and publishing background, to her position as Ovation® Fertility associate lab director at our Grand Rapids location.
An experienced fertility expert who has worked all over the world
After Dr. Younis received her master’s degree in zoology/embryology at the University of Jordan, she began her career in IVF as a senior embryologist. She went on to work in several countries, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Canada, as a senior embryologist and IVF lab director.
Dr. Younis also taught an embryology course at the University of Jordan. Dr. Younis held the position of general secretary of the Jordanian Society for Fertility and Genetics from 2016 through 2022, and served as an executive member of the Embryology Special Interest Group of the Middle East Fertility Society (MEFS) from 2018 until the present.
Dr. Younis is a woman who achieved “firsts” in her field
Dr. Younis has achieved some impressive “firsts” during her career in infertility. She was the first Canadian to receive Senior Clinical Embryologist certification from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in 2013. She also founded Ovatrain Academy, the first IVF training academy in Jordan and the only IVF training center accredited by MEFS in the Middle East area.
Dr. Younis has a variety of professional experience and certifications
From laboratory and teaching experience to research and publishing, Nagham Younis has a vast amount of experience. Dr. Younis has published her research in several journals and presented it at many professional meetings. She is particularly proud of her research into blastocyst culture and transfer, published in Fertility and Sterility; “The Value of the Modern Embryologist to a Successful IVF System,” published in the Middle East Fertility Society Journal; and research on pediatric fertility preservation, published in the Frontiers in Endocrinology.
Our Grand Rapids associate lab director holds several certifications, including a Certificate of Clinical Embryologist from the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, a Certificate of Senior Clinical Embryologist from the European Society for Human Reproduction, and a Certificate of Good Clinical Practice, among others.
Pursuing cutting-edge research in pediatric fertility preservation
Dr. Younis earned her PhD in reproductive physiology, which was a collaborative work between the University of Jordan and the University of Pittsburgh. In her PhD thesis in Pittsburgh, she worked with one of the premier researchers in fertility preservation, Dr. Kyle Orwig. Her work focused on how to preserve male children’s fertility before they begin gonadotoxic therapy.
Dr. Younis presented her recent PhD research regarding “In Vitro Spermatogenesis From Immature Testicular Tissues of Pediatric Patients Cryopreserved Before Gonadotoxic Therapy” at the annual meeting of the Middle East Fertility Society in 2021, the Tri-Repro Symposium on Reproductive Biology and Infertility; the Oncofertility Consortium in 2022, and the Annual Conference of the American Society of Andrology in 2022.
This pediatric research is very important to Dr. Younis, who says, “These little boys deserve a chance to preserve their future fertility. The treatment they will be going through is very, very toxic to their fertility and can almost destroy any hope they have of becoming parents in the future.”
Our Ovation Fertility associate lab director brings this passion for helping people become parents to every patient at our Grand Rapids laboratory.