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Training Batch Schedule July 2026

Batch - VII :    06th  to 20th  July 2026

The International School of Embryology a unit of Chennai Fertility Centre and Research Institute was established to offer training in Advanced Reproductive Techniques and Embryology for clinicians and embryologists. It will help them to know in-depth knowledge and have good hands-on training. The members of our teaching faculty aim to bring Clinician and Embryologists to the highest level of knowledge about Assisted Reproductive Technology and practical capability.

Our courses cover basics in Andrology, Embryology, ICSI & Cryosciences (Hands-on).

Limited Seats. For admission Contact  9003111598 / 8428278218 

Training Batch Schedule June - August 2026

• Batch - VI  :    01st  to 15th  June 2026
• Batch - VII :    06th  to 20th  July 2026
• Batch -VIII :    03rd  to 17th  August 2026

The International School of Embryology a unit of Chennai Fertility Centre and Research Institute was established to offer training in Advanced Reproductive Techniques and Embryology for clinicians and embryologists. It will help them to know in-depth knowledge and have good hands-on training. The members of our teaching faculty aim to bring Clinician and Embryologists to the highest level of knowledge about Assisted Reproductive Technology and practical capability.

Our courses cover basics in Andrology, Embryology, ICSI & Cryosciences (Hands-on).

Limited Seats. For admission Contact  9003111598 / 8428278218 

Tuesday, 9th June 2026, at 3pm EST/ 8pm UK/9pm CET.

The editors of Reproductive BioMedicine Online are very pleased to showcase the winner and runner-up of our annual prize paper award for the best paper published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online in the previous year.

Hosts:
Prof. Juan Garcia-Velsaco & Dr. Mina Alikani

Speakers:
Dr. Gerardo Mendizabal-Ruiz: A digitally controlled,
remotely operated ICSI system: case report of the first live birth

Dr. Steven Vasilescu: A biomimetic sperm selection device
for routine sperm selection

Q and A

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A 27-year-old man has produced sperm from testicular tissue that was removed and frozen when he was 10 years old, before he underwent chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation for sickle cell disease. The case is being described as a first-in-human proof of concept for a fertility preservation strategy that has been discussed for decades, but until now had not been shown to restore spermatogenesis in an adult patient using tissue banked before puberty.

The work, led by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in collaboration with Brussels IVF at University Hospital Brussels, addresses one of the most difficult problems in male fertility preservation. Adult males and post-pubertal adolescents can often bank sperm before chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or other gonadotoxic treatment. Prepubertal boys cannot. They do not yet produce mature sperm, which means the only realistic fertility preservation option is to cryopreserve immature testicular tissue containing spermatogonial stem cells, with the hope that future technologies will be able to use that tissue to restore fertility.

That future has now become more tangible. In 2008, before receiving conditioning therapy with busulfan and cyclophosphamide for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, one testis was surgically removed from the patient, divided into small fragments, and cryopreserved. Histology at the time confirmed preserved tubular architecture and the presence of spermatogonia. Years later, as an adult, the patient presented with persistent azoospermia between 2022 and 2024, meaning there was no sperm in his ejaculate. In December 2024, frozen-thawed testicular fragments were transplanted back to the patient.

The approach was autologous, meaning the tissue came from the same individual, avoiding the immunological complexity of donor tissue. Eleven fragments of immature testicular tissue were thawed. The researchers grafted tissue to both intra-testicular and subcutaneous scrotal sites, creating two biologically distinct environments for the transplanted fragments. Over the following year, they monitored recovery, graft survival, vascularization, hormone profiles, and semen parameters. After one year, the grafts were surgically retrieved and analyzed.

The most important finding was that spermatogenesis was detected in intra-testicular grafts. Histological analysis showed intact tubular architecture and maturation of somatic cells across the grafts. Spermatogonial stem cells and evidence of active spermatogenesis were identified in two of the four intra-testicular grafts. By contrast, no germ cells were detected in the subcutaneous scrotal grafts, which appeared more fibrotic. This distinction is scientifically important because it suggests that the adult testicular environment may provide signals or structural support that are not replicated when the tissue is placed under the scrotal skin.

The study also reported sperm recovery from the graft tissue itself. Enzymatic digestion was needed to retrieve spermatozoa, because the transplanted fragments were not connected to the excurrent duct system. In practical terms, this means the sperm would not be expected to appear naturally in the ejaculate, and natural conception would not be the likely route. Instead, any reproductive use would probably require surgical or laboratory recovery of sperm followed by assisted reproduction, most likely ICSI.

The case does not yet show that the recovered sperm can fertilize an oocyte or result in pregnancy. That distinction matters. Producing morphologically recognizable sperm and demonstrating active spermatogenesis is a major biological step, but reproductive competence still has to be proven. The patient is reportedly considering whether to undergo a second round of grafting to obtain more sperm or proceed toward IVF treatment with the sperm that has already been collected and frozen.

For the field of fertility preservation, the result is still highly significant. Testicular tissue cryopreservation has been offered by some centers for boys facing high-risk gonadotoxic treatment, but for many years it has been a promise made under uncertainty. Families were told that tissue could be banked, but that future fertility restoration could not be guaranteed. This report begins to close that gap. It shows that immature human testicular tissue can survive long-term cryostorage, revascularize after transplantation, and support spermatogenesis in vivo after being returned to the patient many years later.

The timeline is also notable. The tissue was frozen in 2008 and transplanted 16 years later. That duration gives confidence that long-term storage itself may not be the central limitation, provided the tissue is collected, processed, cryopreserved, and stored appropriately. For patients whose tissue is already banked, this is a particularly meaningful point. The earliest cohorts from testicular tissue banking programs are now reaching adulthood, and some are beginning to consider fertility options.

The clinical context is broader than cancer. Gonadotoxic treatment is most often discussed in relation to childhood cancer therapy, but this case involved sickle cell disease treated with high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. Many childhood conditions require therapies that can damage or destroy future fertility. For prepubertal boys, testicular tissue banking may be the only fertility preservation option available before treatment begins.

There are still important limitations. This is a single case, and the results are currently reported in a preprint that has not yet completed peer review. The number of sperm recovered was limited, semen parameters did not significantly change during follow-up, and the successful spermatogenic activity was restricted to intra-testicular grafts. The safety profile also requires ongoing attention, especially for patients treated for malignancy, where reintroducing tissue may carry a theoretical risk of reintroducing malignant cells. That concern may vary depending on the original diagnosis and will remain central to patient selection.

Even with these cautions, the study changes the conversation. It suggests that prepubertal testicular tissue banking is not only a speculative preservation strategy but may become part of a real fertility restoration pathway. For reproductive scientists, the case reinforces the biological potential of spermatogonial stem cells and the importance of the testicular niche. For clinicians, it highlights the need to identify eligible patients before treatment begins, because the opportunity to collect tissue exists only before gonadotoxic therapy has done its damage.

For IVF laboratories, the downstream implications are also worth watching. If this approach becomes more widely adopted, the recovered sperm will likely be rare, surgically obtained, and precious. Handling, cryostorage, sperm identification, ICSI workflows, and chain-of-custody procedures will all need to be carefully adapted to the clinical reality of extremely limited gamete material. As with other forms of fertility preservation, laboratory precision will be central to translating the biological breakthrough into reproductive outcomes.

The most measured interpretation is that this is not yet a complete fertility restoration treatment. It is, however, a first human demonstration that the central biological mechanism can work. Tissue frozen before puberty can survive, can be returned to the adult body, and can generate sperm. For families who consented to tissue banking years ago without any guarantee that it would ever be usable, that is an important and hopeful development.

Sources and References

4 May 2026. The Guardian

• Man produces sperm from testicular tissue frozen as a child in breakthrough trial

12 March 2026. MedRxiv

• First successful transplant of human immature testicular tissue after gonadotoxic therapy during childhood: complete spermatogenesis in intra-testicular grafts

6 May 2026. IFL Science

• First-ever transplant of testicular tissue frozen for nearly 20 years found to produce sperm

Training Batch Schedule June 2026

Batch - VI :    01st  to 15th  June 2026

The International School of Embryology a unit of Chennai Fertility Centre and Research Institute was established to offer training in Advanced Reproductive Techniques and Embryology for clinicians and embryologists. It will help them to know in-depth knowledge and have good hands-on training. The members of our teaching faculty aim to bring Clinician and Embryologists to the highest level of knowledge about Assisted Reproductive Technology and practical capability.

Our courses cover basics in Andrology, Embryology, ICSI & Cryosciences (Hands-on).

Limited Seats. For admission Contact  9003111598 / 8428278218 

Tuesday, 14th April 2026, at 3pm EST/UK/9pm CET.
 

Moderators: Dr. Emna Ouni, Dr. Debbie Monjean and Dr. Gerardo Mendizabal-Ruiz         

Presenters:      

Dr. Emna Ouni: Label-free imaging in IVF: a game of light and shadows

Dr. Nicolas Plachta: Imaging how the embryo forms in real time

Dr. Erick Vargas-Ordaz & Dr. Fab Horta Nunez : Metabolic imaging of early embryos using a light-sheet on-a-chip device

Q and A

Image courtesy of The Plachta Lab

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Training Batch Schedule 2026

• Batch - V :    11th  to 25th  May 2026
•  Batch - VI :    01st to 15th June 2026
• Batch - VII :  06th to 20th July 2026

The International School of Embryology a unit of Chennai Fertility Centre and Research Institute was established to offer training in Advanced Reproductive Techniques and Embryology for clinicians and embryologists. It will help them to know in-depth knowledge and have good hands-on training. The members of our teaching faculty aim to bring Clinician and Embryologists to the highest level of knowledge about Assisted Reproductive Technology and practical capability.

Our courses cover basics in Andrology, Embryology, ICSI & Cryosciences (Hands-on).

Limited Seats. For admission Contact  9003111598 / 8428278218 

Training Batch Schedule May 2026

Batch - V :    11th  to 25th  May 2026

The International School of Embryology a unit of Chennai Fertility Centre and Research Institute was established to offer training in Advanced Reproductive Techniques and Embryology for clinicians and embryologists. It will help them to know in-depth knowledge and have good hands-on training. The members of our teaching faculty aim to bring Clinician and Embryologists to the highest level of knowledge about Assisted Reproductive Technology and practical capability.

Our courses cover basics in Andrology, Embryology, ICSI & Cryosciences (Hands-on).

Limited Seats. For admission Contact  9003111598 / 8428278218 

Tuesday, 31st March 2026, at 3pm EST/UK/9pm CET.

Moderators: Dr. Chris Venter, Dr. Rhonda Zwingerman and Dr. Diego Martin

Presenters:

Shaghayegh Moghimikandelousi: Wearable technologies for biomonitoring in assisted reproduction

Dr. Meir Olcha- Precision Medicine
Presentation kindly sponsored by FertilAI

Dr. Aryeh Warmflash: Prediction of clinical pregnancy using endometrial organoid and blastoid systems
Presentation kindly sponsored by Simbryo Technologies

Q and A

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