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Clinical Trials and Research Studies

Infertility Clinical Trials and Research Studies

The physician group at SRM was in academic medicine at the University of Washington (UW) for a number of years before SRM was launched in 2004. At the University of Washington our physicians received several prestigious National Institute of Health grants, and helped to make groundbreaking discoveries on reproductive aging. At SRM, we have continued our research endeavors to learn more about infertility, reproductive aging, and treatment options to best serve our patients and lead to new discoveries to help future patients.

We encourage our patients to learn more about our ongoing trials, as they offer unique advantages, including, in some cases, free or discounted access to new treatments before they’re widely available. If you choose to participate in a clinical trial, you may receive the new approach being tested. At SRM, as always, you will have the support of your physician and health care team.

Active Clinical Trials

ASPIRE

During this unprecedented time, we know there can be more questions than answers. To help promote the care and safety of our pregnant patients and their babies during the COVID-19 pandemic, our clinic has partnered with other clinics across the U.S. in the ASPIRE Study. We encourage you to consider participating in this study. All pregnant patients up to 10 weeks gestation are eligible to enroll. ASPIRE is recruiting pregnant women broadly, regardless of prior exposures to or infection of COVID-19.

To participate or learn more, please visit Aspire’s website.

Alternatively, please email aspire@ucsf.edu with your contact information. A study coordinator will be in touch regarding enrollment for the ASPIRE study.

EMPOWER

The EMPOWER Study is evaluating the use of an investigational biomarker test to diagnose endometriosis.

You may qualify if you are 18 to 49 years old, scheduled for a laparoscopy or other pelvic procedure for suspected endometriosis, and have no previous diagnosis of endometriosis via laparoscopy. You must not currently be pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to become pregnant. Your participation may last up to approximately 24 months and involve approximately 4 study visits. Your participation is voluntary.

Please contact our clinical research team to determine if you are eligible to participate at 206.301.5000 or SRMClinicalResearch@seattlefertility.com.

Embryo Donation: Medical and Psychological Outcomes

The Embryo Donation study is dedicated to assessing the medical and psychological outcomes on parents and children born from “donated” embryos through an online survey and a follow-up interview for self-selecting participants. The study consists of an online survey and the chance to complete an additional follow-up interview by telephone.

You may qualify if you underwent fertility treatment via embryo adoption/donation, became pregnant, and gave birth to a child. Participants will not be compensated for the study. Your participation is voluntary

Please contact our clinical research team to determine if you are eligible to participate at 206.301.5000 or SRMClinicalResearch@seattlefertility.com.

 

Research Studies

Abstract presentations:

PREVIOUSLY VITRIFIED EMBRYOS CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY WARMED, BIOPSIED OR REBIOPSIED, AND PROVIDE RESULTS. Nicole George, BS, Carolyn MacDonough, BS, Christopher Hibray, BS, Lynn B. Davis, MD, MS, G David Ball, Ph.D.. 75th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. October 12 – 16, 2019, Philadelphia, PA. 75th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 12 – 16, 2019, Philadelphia, PA.

INFERTILITY PATIENT CLINICAL JOURNEY OUTCOME DEPENDS ON INITIAL TREATMENT, STARTING WITH OVULATION INDUCTION (OI) VS IN VITRO FERTILIZATION (IVF): RESULTS FROM A LARGE REAL-WORLD DATABASE. Mary Mahony, PhD, Gilbert L. Mottla, MD, Kevin S. Richter, PhD, G. David Ball, PhD, Soudeh Ansari, PhD, Brooke Hayward, SM, MBA. 75th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 12 – 16, 2019, Philadelphia, PA.

DOES CATHETER TYPE AND/OR SONOGRAPHER IMPACT SUCCESS RATES FOR EMBRYO TRANSFER? Emily Sarah Lin, BA pending, Angela Claire Thyer, MD, Paul Chungyu Lin, MD. 75th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 12 – 16, 2019, Philadelphia, PA.

A COMPUTERIZED DECISION –SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR DAY TO DAY MANAGEMENT OF OVARIAN STIMULATION CYCLES DURING IN VITRO FERTILIZATION. Gerard S. Letterie, DO, Andrew MacDonald, MS. 75th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 12 – 16, 2019, Philadelphia, PA.

FREQUENCY AND CLAIMS BASIS FOR LAWSUITS OVER LOST, DISCARDED AND DAMAGED FROZEN EMBRYOS OVER A 10 YEAR PERIOD. Gerard Letterie, MD, Dov Fox, JD, DPhil, LLM. 75th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 12 – 16, 2019, Philadelphia, PA.

The Effect of Culture Media on Embryo Quality and the incidence of Cryopreservation.  McCann CR, Halverson R, Early J, Davis LB, Ball GD. Conjoint Meeting of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 12-17, 2013, Boston, MA.

Comparison of Clinical Pregnancy Rates with Single Blastocyst Transfer when using Frozen Day 5 or Day 6 Embryos.  Hibray C, Britt M, Ball GD, Davis L, Halverson R.  Conjoint Meeting of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 12-17, 2013, Boston, MA.

Optimizing Embryo Selection for Single Embryo Transfer.  Halverson R, Ball GD, Waibel L, Davis LB.  Conjoint Meeting of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 12-17, 2013, Boston, MA.

Using the SART CORS Morphologic Measures to Predict Live Birth After Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).  Barbara Luke, Morton B. Brown, Judy E. Stern, Sangita K. Jindal, Catherine Racowsky, G. David Ball. Conjoint Meeting of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 12-17, 2013, Boston, MA.

A Prediction Model for Live Birth After Assisted Reproductive Technology. Barbara Luke, Morton B. Brown, Ethan Wantman, Judy E. Stern, Valerie L. Baker, G. David Ball.  Conjoint Meeting of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 12-17, 2013, Boston, MA.

The Effect of Embryo State and Embryo Source on Predicting Live Birth After Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).  Barbara Luke, Morton B. Brown, Ethan Wantman, Eric Widra, William Gibbons, G. David Ball.  Conjoint Meeting of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 12-17, 2013, Boston, MA.

Cancer In Women Before ART. B Luke, MB Brown, LG Spector, SA Missmer, R Leach, M Williams, L Koch, Y Smith, JE Stern, GD Ball, MJ Schymura. 69th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 20-22, 2014, Honolulu, HI.

Cancer In Women After Assisted Reproductive Technology. B Luke, MB Brown, LG Spector, SA Missmer, R Leach, M Williams, L Koch, Y Smith, JE Stern, GD Ball, MJ Schymura. 69th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 20-22, 2014, Honolulu, HI.

Is Preimplantation Screening Worth the Cost in High Reserve Patients? AC Thyer, NA Klein, LB Davis, GD Ball. 63rd Annual Meeting of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society, March 11-15, 2015, Rancho Mirage, CA.

Incorporating New Technological Approaches Into ART Practice: Clinical and Laboratory Coordination. GD Ball, C Bormann, A Bartolucci, C Coddington, E Wantman. 2015 Annual ESHRE Meeting, June 14-17, 2015, Lisbon, Portugal.

Laser Collapse of Blastocysts Prior to Vitrification Leads to Lower Spontaneous Abortion Rates. George N, Halverson R, McCann C, Hibray C, Letterie G, Ball D. 71st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 15-19, 2016, Salt Lake City, UT.

Vitrified/Warmed Donor Oocytes: Is 8 Better Than 6? Fisher S, Criniti A, Fisher T, Ball GD. 71st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, October 15-19, 2016, Salt Lake City, UT.

Embryo Euploid Rate Based on Day of Trophectoderm Biopsy. CR McCann, R Halverson, PS Dudley, GD Ball. 72nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 28 – November 1, 2017, San Antonio, TX.

Embryo Euploid Rate Based on Embryo Quality at the Time of Biopsy. CR McCann, R Halverson, PS Dudley, GD Ball. 72nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 28 – November 1, 2017, San Antonio, TX.

The Impact of Elective (eSET) and Double Embryo Transfers on Live and Associated Multiple Births for Fresh and Frozen/Thawed Transfers: Results from a Large Real-World Database.  KS Richter, GL Mottla, B Kaplan, GD Ball, B Hayward. 72nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 28 – November 1, 2017, San Antonio, TX.

Comparison of Implantation Rates of Euploid Embryos Based on Day of Biopsy and Patient Age. C Hibray, CR MacDonough, NA Klein, GD Ball. 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Embryo Quality and Rate of Development as Predictive Tools for Embryo Selection. CR MacDonough, RL Halverson, NA Klein, GD Ball. 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Risk of Prematurity and Infant Morbidity and Mortality by Maternal Fertility Status and Plurality. Barbara Luke, Morton B. Brown, Ethan Wantman, David B. Seifer, Amy T. Sparks, Paul C. Lin, Kevin J. Doody, Bradley J. Van Voorhis, Logan G. Spector. Oct. 4 2018

Manuscript publications:

Use of Hyaluronan in the Selection of Sperm for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): Significant Improvement in Clinical Outcomes – Multicenter, Double-blinded and Randomized Controlled Trial.  Worrilow KC, Eid S, Woodhouse M, Perloe M, Smith S, Witmyer J, Ivani K, Khoury C, Ball GD, Elliot T, Lieberman. Hum Reprod 2013 Feb; 28 (2): 306-14.

A Prediction Model for Live Birth and Multiple Births Within the First Three Cycles of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Luke B, Brown MB, Wantman E, Stern JE, Baker VL, Widra E, Coddington CC, Gibbons WE, Ball GD. Fertil Steril 102 (3), 774-752, 2014.

Using the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome System Morphological Measures to Predict Live Birth After Assisted Reproductive Technology. Luke B, Brown MB, Stern JE, Jindal, SK, Racowsky C, Ball GD. Fertil Steril 102 (5), 1338-44, 2014.

Application of a Validated Prediction Model for In Vitro Fertilization: Comparison of Live Birth Rates and Multiple Birth Rates with 1 Embryo Transferred Over 2 Cycles Vs 2 Embryos in 1 Cycle. Luke B, Brown MB,  Wantman E, Stern JE, Baker VL, Widra E, Coddington CC, Gibbons WE, Van Voorhis BJ, Ball GD, Am J Obstet Gynecol 212, 676.e1-7, 2015.

Cancer in Women After ART. Luke B, Brown MB, Spector LG, Missmer SA, Leach RE, Williams M, Koch L, Smith Y, Stern JE, Ball GD, Schumura MJ. Fertil Steril 104 (5), 1218-1226, 2015.

Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology and Assisted Reproduction in the United States: a 2016 Update. Toner JP, Coddington CC, Doody K, Van Voorhis B, Seifer D, Ball GD, Luke, B, Wantman, E. Fertil Steril 106 (3) 541-546 2016.

30 Years of Data: Impact of the United States In Vitro Fertilization Data Registry on Advancing Fertility Care. Jain T, Grainger DA, Ball GD, Gibbons WE, Rebar R, Robins J, Leach RE. (Accepted)

Use of the Interview in Resident Candidate Selection:  A Review of the Literature. Stephenson-Famy A, Houmard B, Oberoi S, Manyak A, Chiang S, Kim S, 2015. Grad Med Educ 7:  539-48.

Book Chapters:

Human Oviduct and Endometrium: Changes over the Menstrual Cycle.  In: Knobil and Neill’s Physiology of Reproduction, Fourth Edition. Mazur EC, Large MJ, DeMayo FJ: Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 2015, pp. 1077-97

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals:

FOXO1 is required for binding of PR on IRF4, novel transcriptional regulator of endometrial stromal decidualization. Vasquez YM, Mazur EC, Li X, Kommagani R, Jiang L, Chen R, Lanz RB, Kovanci E, Gibbons WE, DeMayo FJ.  Mol Endocrinol 29(3):421-33, 2015.

Ancient Transposable Elements Transformed the Uterine Regulatory Landscape and Transcriptome During the Evolution of Mammalian Pregnancy. Lynch VJ, Nnamani MC, Kapusta A, Brayer K, Plaza SL, Mazur EC, Emera D, Sheikh SZ, Grützner F, Bauersachs S, Graf A, Young SL, Lieb JD, DeMayo FJ, Feschotte C, Wagner GP. Cell Rep 10(4):551-61, 2015.

Progesterone Receptor Transcriptome and Cistrome in Decidualized Human Endometrial Stromal Cells. Mazur EC, Vasquez YM, Li X, Lanz R, Jiang L, Chen R, Creighton C, Gibbons WE, Kovanci E, DeMayo FJ.  Endocrinology 156(6):2239-53, 2015.

The Promyelotic Leukemia Zinc Finger Transcription Factor is Critical for Human Endometrial Stromal Cell Decidualization.  Kommagani R, Szwarc MM, Vasquez YM, Peavey MC, Mazur EC, Gibbons WE, Lanz RE, DeMayo FJ, Lydon JP. PLoS Genet 12.4 (2016): e1005937.

Proteoglycans in Leiomyoma and Normal Myometrium: Abundance, Steroid Hormone Control, and Implications for Pathophysiology. Barker NM, Carrino DA, Caplan AI, Hurd WW, Liu JH, Tan H, Mesiano S. Reprod Sci. 2016 Mar;23(3):302-9. doi: 10.1177/1933719115607994. Epub 2015 Sep 29.

Relationship Between Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Serum Levels and the Risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. Johnson MD, Williams SL, Seager CK, Liu JH, Barker NM, Hurd WW. Gynecol Endocrinol. 2014 Apr;30(4):294-7. doi: 10.3109/09513590.2013.875998. Epub 2014 Jan 23.

Social Media in the REI Clinic: What Do Patients Want? Broughton, D.E., Schelble, A., Cipolla, K., Cho M, Franasiak, J. Omurtag, K. Assist Reprod Genet (2018) 35: 1259

Relationships of Sex Hormone Levels With Leukocyte Telomere Length in Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander Postmenopausal Women. Song, Cho, Brennan, Chen, Manson, Hevener, You, Butch, Liu. Diabetes, June 2018; 10(6):502-511

Hydroxylase-Derived Steroids in Follicles of Nonobese Women Undergoing Ovarian Stimulation for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Positively Correlate With Lipid Content of Luteinized Granulosa Cells (LGCs) as a Source of Cholesterol for Steroid Synthesis. Amin M, Simerman A, Cho M, Singh P, Briton-Jones C, Hill D, Grogan T, Elashoff D, Clarke NJ, Chazenbalk GD, Dumesic DA. 21- Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Apr; 99(4):1299-306.