Your Fertile Years - What You Need to Know to Make Informed Choices by Professor Joyce Harper

Your Fertile Years 

When Joyce was in her twenties she started working in the field of fertility and she often had conversations with friends about their bodies and their fertility.  At this time she read ‘Ourbody, ourselves’ and felt it was a book that every woman should read…

Professor Joyce Harper
Professor Joyce Harper

Embryology & PGD Academy

Joyce started working on preimplantation genetic diagnosis in 1992, originally at the Hammersmith Hospital with Alan Handyside and Robert Winston and then she set up UCL Centre for PGD with Joy Delhanty.  Joyce ran her first PGD workshop as a joint venture with the Hammersmith Hospital and UCL in 1996 as she felt it was important to give hands on training in these highly specialized techniques.

Since 1996 she has run annual or bi-annual workshops at UCL covering hands on lab techniques involved in PGD and IVF.   She has run over 40 workshops in many countries, including South Africa, Australia, Egypt and India.  Over the years she has trained hundreds of people in embryology and PGD.

In 2014, with Alpesh Doshi, Joyce set up the Embryology and PGD Academy which runs training courses in all aspects of laboratory IVF and PGD.  The academy has delivered numerous workshops on vitrification, trouble shooting, embryo biopsy and PGD, in the UK and globally.

Joyce has made a video celebrating the first 20 years of workshops (1996-2016).

In 2018 the Academy launched the Certificate in Clinical Embryology.

The certificate is a distance learning course for embryologists.  It includes 8 taught modules, each with a face to face multi-choice exam.  Students complete a detailed log book to validate their practical skills and the final part of the certificate is an exit exam which consists of an essay, an oral and a practical exam.  The certificate offers clinical embryologist a unique education experience.

In 2022 we rebuilt the certificate on a new platform. We are offering each module at a special price of just £100. You can take individual modules or the full certificate. Click on the enrollment links below.

Module 1. The Laboratory – from gamete to embryo: https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/84403/enroll

1.  Introduction to the module:  Joyce Harper

2.  The history of events leading to the birth of the worlds first IVF babies: Kay Elder

3.  Introduction to laboratory equipment and staff: Xavier Viñals Gonzalez

4.  Culture media – development and composition: Joyce Harper

5.  Culture media:  sequential and single step – what embryologist should consider:  Kiri Beilby

6.  Semen assessment:  Steven Fleming

7.  Preparing sperm for ART: Alpesh Doshi

8.  Laboratory aspects of IVF:  Xavier Viñals Gonzalez

9.  Laboratory aspects of ICSI: Rachel Cutting

10.  The embryologist role in the egg collection: Alpesh Doshi

11.  How to do the PN check: Mara Simopoulou

12.  Blastocyst culture; advantages and disadvantages and in which patients?  Catherine Racowsky

13.  Embryo selection and scoring: Kay Elder

14.  Laboratory aspects of the embryo transfer procedure:  Alpesh Doshi

15.  How should we bring new technology into the IVF lab – a discussion of the adjuncts: Joyce Harper

16.  Assisted Hatching: Gloria Calderon

17.  Introduction to time lapse:  Walid Maalouf

18.  Model building with time lapse technology: Christina Hickman

Plus videos of Introduction to the IVF lab, sperm preparation, the egg collection, and ICSI

 Module 2.  Oocyte, sperm and embryo cryopreservation:  https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/84402/enroll

1.  Intro to the module: Joyce Harper

2.  Principles of cryopreservation: Barry Fuller

3.  Sperm freezing:  Steven Fleming

4.  Embryo cryopreservation: Laura Rienzi

5.  Oocyte cryopreservation:  Ana Cobo

6.  Ovarian tissue cryopreservation: Richard Anderson

7.  The frozen-thaw cycle:  Wael Saab

8.  Should we be doing freeze all cycles?  Abha Maheshwari

Plus videos of sperm freezing, sperm thawing, blastocyst vitrification, oocyte vitrification, blastocyst and oocyte warming

Module 3. Genetics, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and prenatal diagnosis: https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/84373/enroll

1. Introduction to the module:  Joyce Harper

2.  An introduction to genetics and inherited disease:  Joyce Harper

3.  Chromosome abnormalities: Joyce Harper

4.  Genetics of infertility: Darren Griffin

5.  Introduction to PGT: Joyce Harper

6.  Polar body, cleavage stage and blastocyst biopsy for PGT:  Alpesh Doshi

7.  Genetic diagnosis for PGT:  Alan Handyside

8.  PGT-A:  Roy Naga

10.  Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis:  Ageliki Gerovassili

11.  Prenatal diagnosis: Sarah Hillman

12.  Genetic counselling: Karen Sage

13.  Discussion of ethical issues: Joyce Harper

Plus videos of tubing cells and embryo biopsy.

Module 4.  Lab design, quality assessment and trouble shooting: https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/84264/enroll

1.  Introduction to the module: Joyce Harper

2.  Laboratory design and construction: Stephen Harbottle

3.  Laboratory communication, Maintaining Quality and Consistency in an IVF Lab Network: Jason Swain

4. Air quality in the IVF lab: VOCs monitoring: Ragaa Mansour

5. Quality management in the IVF lab: Alpesh Doshi

6. Trouble shooting and QA in embryo culture – Basak Balaban

7.  Monitoring your performance and KPIs:  Dean Morbeck

8.  Internal auditing of the IVF lab: Ronny Janssens

Module 5. New technology and ethical considerations in ART: https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/84401/enroll

1.  Introduction to the module: Joyce Harper

2.  Ethical considerations in ART: Dan Reisel

3.  Using donor eggs and sperm – what needs to be considered: Saghar Kasiri

4.  The global surrogacy market: Christina Weis

5.  Cross border reproductive care: Francoise Shenfield

6.  Embryo culture system: what will be next: Roger Sturmey

7.  Mitochondrial replacement techniques: Mary Herbert

8.  Genome editing: Helen O’Neill

9.  The future of reproduction: Joyce Harper

Module 6.  Clinical aspects of ART: https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/84400/enroll

1.  Introduction to the module: Joyce Harper

2.  Causes of male infertility: Amr Raheen

3.  Clinical andrology: Pippa Sangster

4.  Causes of female infertility and investigations: Anis Feki

5.  Clinical aspects of infertility treatments: Timur Gurgan

6.  Drug regimes in ART: Svend Lindenberg

7.  Monitoring an IVF cycle: Michel De Vos

8.  The failed cycle: Yacoub Khalaf

 Module 7.  Gametogenesis and preimplantation development: https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/84399/enroll

1.  Introduction to the module: Joyce Harper

2.  Anatomy of the female and male reproductive tract and meiosis: Joyce Harper

3.  Oogenesis: Yona Barak

4.  Spermatogenesis: Moncef Benkhalifa

5.  Fertilisation and oocyte activation: Karl Swann

6.  Preimplantation development; blastocysts in 2019: Giovanni Coticchio

7.  Implantation: Justin Chu

Module 8.  Reproductive health: https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/84398/enroll

1.  Introduction to the module: Joyce Harper

2.  Puberty and the menstrual cycle: Joyce Harper

3.  Contraception: Annette Thwaites

4.  Sexually transmitted infection:Joyce Harper

5.  Optimising fertility and chance of ART success: the role of modifiable factors: Karin Hammarberg

6.  Pregnancy and delivery: Eric Jauniaux

7.  Miscarriage and pregnancy termination: Eric Jauniaux

8.  All you need to know about the menopause: Ertan Saridogan