research overview
- My recent studies have focused on the molecular composition and organization of the mammalian oocyte with particular emphasis on the etiology of failed fertilizations in women. Fertilization failure owing to the inability of a sperm to ‘dock’ to the oocyte plasma membrane (oolemma) was a new finding in the field of assisted reproductive medicine (Van Blerkom and Caltrider, 2013) and subsequently recognized as a surprisingly common occurrence after IVF. We have shown that docking dysfunction is associated with a chromosome-induced loss of sperm binding function (Van Blerkom and Zimmerman, 2016) and a possible mechanism for the etiology of tibias defect has been proposed (Van Blerkom and Zimmerman, currently under revision). At MCDB I developed a simplified, low-cost culture system for human in vitro fertilization treatment that has to date resulted in the birth of several hundred babies for couples who could not afford the usual high costs common in typical IVF programs. The clinical studies were performed with my Belgian colleagues and highly favorable pre- and perinatal outcomes from a multiyear study have recently been published (Ombelet et al, 2022,2023).The system and potential worldwide application, especially in low resource countries (Africa, parts of Eastern Europe, South America and Asia) are currently being evaluated by their respective regulatory agencies for exclusive use in government-sponsored infertility centers. The first African baby conceived using this system was born in Ghana. The system has received considerable interest and recognition, and the original prototype developed at MCDB (Van Blerkom et al, 2014) has been on display in the permanent collection of the British Museum of Science andTechnology.
