Oncofertility

Teresa Woodruff, Ph.D. - Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D. is a Thomas J. Watkins Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. She is the Chief of a newly created Division of Fertility Preservation and the Founder and Director of the Institute for Women's Health Research. She is the immediate past Director of the Basic Science Programs for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (2000-2007). She is the basic science Associate Editor for Fertility and Sterility (2008-present) and member of several editorial boards including Molecular Cellular Endocrinology, Journal of Molecular Endocrinology and Endocrine Reviews. She serves on the Endocrine Society council (2008-present) and the Society for the Study of Reproduction Board of Directors (2008-present). Her awards include the Distinguished Teaching Award from Northwestern University, the Endocrine Society's Richard E. Weitzman Memorial Award, The Alumae Award from Northwestern University, and the Distinguished Women in Medicine and Science Award. She was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2005. As a member of the faculty of the Undergraduate Program in Biological Sciences, Dr. Woodruff teaches graduate and undergraduate students in Systems Physiology and the medical student module on female reproduction. She also created the Oncofertility Saturday Academy (OSA) to provide science experiences to high school girls attending the Young Women's Leadership Charter School (YWLCS). She received her PhD from Northwestern University in 1989. Dr. Woodruff has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers as well as 40 editorials and book chapters. She is the Principal Investigator on 2 R01 NIH grants, a P01 grant and core facility, and is the PI and director of two NIH funded center grants (The Center forReproductive Research (U54) and the Oncofertility Consortium (UL1). In 2008 she was the recipient of a prestigious W.M. Keck Foundation Medical Research award (2008). The major goals of her laboratory are to identify the mechanisms underlying ovarian follicle development, selection and recruitment and to provide new angles on ovarian disease and fertility conserving options for women. Dr. Woodruff has established a team of oncologists, fertility specialists, social scientists, and education and policy makers to translate her research to the clinical care of women who will lose their fertility due to cancer treatment. She coined the term oncofertility to describe this work, a word that is now officially recognized as a new 'slang' term in the English language. She edited the first book on this topic called Oncofertility (Springer, 2007) where the scope of the problem and current technology, clinical practice tables, procedural guidelines and patient stories are collected. Hallmarks of Woodruff career include a strong focus on ovarian biology, on interdisciplinary approaches to problems and application of the work to the human. Laurie Zoloth, Ph.D. - Laurie Zoloth is a Professor of Medical Humanities, Bioethics, Jewish Studies and Religion. She is also the Director of the Northwestern University Center for Bioethics, Science and Society, and Director of the Brady Program for Ethics and Civic Life, in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. In 2009 she was appointed as the Charles Deering McCormick Professor for Excellence in Teaching. Lisa Campo-Engelstein, Ph.D. - Senior Research Fellow, Oncofertility Consortium and Center for Bioethics, Science and Society Sarah Rodriguez, Ph.D. - Senior Research Fellow, Oncofertility Consortium and Center for Bioethics, Science and Society

This book presents selected presentations from a wide-ranging forum of experts organized by the Oncofertility Consortium, an interdisciplinary group of researchers and clinicians, dedicated to improving fertility preservation options for cancer patients.

Oncofertility is an interdisciplinary field bridging biomedical and social sciences and examining fertility options, choice and goals in light of cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship

The Science and Technology of Oncofertility.- Reproductive Health After Cancer.- Designing Follicle-Environment Interactions with Biomaterials.- Gamete Preservation.- To Transplant or Not to Transplant - That Is the Question.- Clinical Cases in Oncofertility.- Cancer Genetics: Risks and Mechanisms of Cancer in Women with Inherited Susceptibility to Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.- Protecting and Extending Fertility for Females of Wild and Endangered Mammals.- Historical and Legal Perspectives.- Placing the History of Oncofertility.- Medical Hope, Legal Pitfalls: Potential Legal Issues in the Emerging Field of Oncofertility.- Domestic and International Surrogacy Laws: Implications for Cancer Survivors.- Adoption After Cancer: Adoption Agency Attitudes and Perspectives on the Potential to Parent Post-Cancer.- Clinical and Theoretical Ethics.- Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation and Bioethical Discourse.- The Lessons of Oncofertility for Assisted Reproduction.- Morally Justifying Oncofertility Research.- Ethical Dilemmas in Oncofertility: An Exploration of Three Clinical Scenarios.- Participation in Investigational Fertility Preservation Research: A Feminist Research Ethics Approach.- Reproductive 'Choice' and Egg Freezing.- The Impact of Infertility: Why ART Should Be a Higher Priority for Women in the Global South.- Oncofertility and Informed Consent: Addressing Beliefs, Values, and Future Decision Making.- Religious Perspectives.- Bioethics and Oncofertility: Arguments and Insights from Religious Traditions.- Sacred Bodies: Considering Resistance to Oncofertility in Muslim Communities.- Unlikely Motherhood in the Qur'?n: Oncofertility as Devotion.- Technology and Wholeness: Oncofertility and Catholic Tradition.- Jewish Perspectives on Oncofertility: The Complexitiesof Tradition.- Ramifications for Education and Economics.- The Oncofertility Saturday Academy: A Paradigm to Expand the Educational Opportunities and Ambitions of High School Girls.- MyOncofertility.org: A Web-Based Patient Education Resource Supporting Decision Making Under Severe Emotional and Cognitive Overload.- Anticipating Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation in the Health-Care Marketplace: A Willingness to Pay Assessment.- Perspectives on Oncofertility from Demography and Economics.- For the Sake of Consistency and Fairness: Why Insurance Companies Should Cover Fertility Preservation Treatment for Iatrogenic Infertility.- Repercussions of Oncofertility for Patients and their Families.- Healthcare Provider Perspectives on Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients.- Counseling and Consenting Women with Cancer on Their Oncofertility Options: A Clinical Perspective.- The Fertility-Related Treatment Choices of Cancer Patients: Cancer-Related Infertility and Family Dynamics.- Whose Future Is It? Ethical Family Decision Making About Daughters' Treatment in the Oncofertility Context.- Choosing Life When Facing Death: Understanding Fertility Preservation Decision-Making for Cancer Patients.- Health Care Provider Stories and Final Thoughts.- Discussing Fertility Preservation with Breast Cancer Patients.- Warning: Google Can Be Hazardous to Your Health: Fertility Preservation Is an Important Part of Cancer Care.- The Role of a Patient Navigator in Fertility Preservation.- Judaism and Reproductive Technology.- Reading Between the Lines of Cancer and Fertility: A Provider's Story.- A Rewarding Experience for a Pediatric Urologist.- Final Thoughts.