What should we do:

• When a high percentage of eggs are immature?
• When the fertilization rate is low?
• When ET fails due to cervical constriction?
• When blastulation rates are low/there is a blast-only policy?
• When semen quality is borderline for IVF?
• Timings in the lab vs. outcomes? (OPU to IVF or to ICSi, What sperm selection method is best?)?
• Should "time-to-pregnancy" represent the most important driver of our actions?
• Should we embrace the view of aiming for many oocytes in order the increase chances for a second child from the same stimulation cycle?
• What would represent the best parameter to define a high-quality IVF program?
• What should we do when IVF outcomes in our clinical are suboptimal?

Thomas Ebner, PhD, graduated with honours from the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria, in 1992. Completing his doctorate and post-doctoral thesis, he became a university professor in Linz, Salzburg and Graz. He has published more than 160 papers and book chapters as first and co-author. Research interests include time-lapse imaging, non-invasive IVF selection processes, andrology, vitrification and culture media. He was certified as a senior clinical embryologist by ESHRE in 2008 and re-certified in 2012. He was EC Board Member ESHRE and of ALPHA – Scientists in Reproductive Medicine. .

Scott Nelson is the Muirhead Chair in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Glasgow. Scott’s additional roles include Scientific Director of The Fertility Partnership, Medical Director of Access Fertility and visiting Professor at the University of Bristol. His research covers use of biomarkers to individualise care and epidemiology including e-health records and data linkage.

Dr. Sebastiaan Mastenbroek is an Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam and one of the Senior Clinical Embryologists of the Center for Reproductive Medicine of the Amsterdam UMC. An important focus of his research has been Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS / PGT-A). Publication of his RCT on PGS in the New England Journal of Medicine started a fiercely debated controversy on the use of PGS as it showed that the technique actually lowered pregnancy rates after IVF instead of increasing them. He is an associate editor of Human Reproduction Open, editor of the Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility Group, chair of the Science Committee of the Dutch Society for Clinical Embryology, board member of the special interest group ART of the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, board member of the SAF foundation, and board member of the Amsterdam Reproduction and Development Research Institute.

Giovanni Coticchio holds a a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology and a qualification of full professor. He is Chief Scientific Officer of IVIRMA Global Research Alliance, 9.baby Bologna, Italy. He has published over one hundred and ten peer-reviewed papers, several book chapters and two books. Since June 2021, he has served as member of the Executive Committee of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).

Edgardo Somigliana graduated in Medicine in 1994 and completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1999. In 2006, he completed a PhD in Prenatal Medicine. He is currently the head of the ART Unit and of the Obstet-Gynecol emergency service of the Policlinico Hospital in Milan, Italy. Since 2016 he is also Associate Professor at the Università degli Studi of Milan, Italy. He is editor in Chief of Human Reproduction Open. His major scientific interests are infertility and endometriosis. He is author or co-author of more than 420 articles in international journals and has an h-index of 70 (Scopus).

Astrid Stecher graduated in Biology with a focus on Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz (Austria) in 1993. She joined the field of embryology in the team of Prof. H. Zech in 1995 and was involved in setting up several IVF laboratories in the Zech Group. She is currently Head of IVF laboratory at NextFertility IVF Prof. Zech Bregenz. Her main areas of interest are optimization of In vitro culture conditions, early events of oocyte activation, assessment of embryo morphology and development, non-invasive selection methods and quality management in the IVF laboratory.