Microbiome in Reproductive Health, Dysfunction, and Cancer

Professor Julang Li, PhD, University of Guelph, Canada

Dr. Julang Li is a professor at the Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph. She was originally trained and employed as a Veterinarian at Foshan Veterinary College prior to her further postgraduate training in Canada. Dr. Li obtained her Ph.D. in Reproduction at the University of Ottawa. She became a faculty member at the University of Guelph in 2000.  One of the research areas of Dr. Li’s team is investigating the mechanisms and regulation of ovarian follicle development and oocyte maturation.

Svetlana Madjunkova, MD, PHD, CReATe Fertility Centre, Canada

Dr. Svetlana Madjunkova is Senior Director and Head of Reproductive Genetics Department at CReATe Fertility Centre Toronto, Canada and adjunct faculty with Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Temetry Faculty of Medicine, at University of Toronto. She holds an MD degree with honors and MSc and PhD in reproductive genetics. She also has completed fellowships and postgraduate trainings in advanced prenatal diagnosis at Catholic University, Leuven, and reproductive toxicology and genetics at SickKids and Mount Sinai and Hospitals in Toronto.

Her laboratory is uniquely positioned to provide advanced clinical preimplantation testing; fertility related genetic testing and translate research and new genomic technologies into clinical tests. Her research team works on projects aimed at improving embryo selection, preimplantation testing and promote research in reproductive failure and improving outcomes in ARTs. Her interest is in the development of novel technologies for non-invasive and comprehensive multi-omic assessment of infertile patients, developing embryo, fetus and offspring.

Her research is published in multiple high impact journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Human Reproduction Update, Fertility and Sterility, Genome research etc, at over 100 scientific communications and she is a frequent speaker at National and International meetings. Dr Madjunkova is a recipient of many awards and fellowships and recognized for her educative work.

Dr. Madjunkova is a member of the Board of Directors of Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society and the Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis International Society.

Professor Ofer Reizes, MD, PhD, Cleveland Clinic, United States of America

Ofer Reizes, PhD is professor and staff in the Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute (LRI) and the inaugural holder of The Laura J. Fogarty Endowed Chair for Uterine Cancer Research. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Maryland – Baltimore County and a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center – Dallas. He subsequently pursued a post-doctoral fellowship in developmental biology and metabolic disease from The Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical Center. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Reizes did a brief stint in Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals within the drug discovery division.

At the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Reizes’ laboratory is interested in unmasking chemoresistance mechanisms in breast and gynecologic cancers with a focus on improving patient outcomes. The findings include discovery of the impact of the gut microbiome in suppressing ovarian cancer as well as discovery of the protein CD55 in the nucleus. Dr. Reizes applies his previous drug discovery and development expertise to identification and approaches for cancer therapeutics. His research is published in multiple high impact journals including Cell, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Nature Communications, Cancer Research and Molecular Cancer.