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Brett Reggio, Ph.D , HCLD
Laboratory Director
Brett Reggio, Ph.D., HCLD, is the Laboratory Director at RCC. Dr. Reggio graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans with a BS in Biology in 1992, and then moved to Baton Rouge to pursue his MS (1997) and PhD (2002) degrees at Louisiana State University (LSU) in the Department of Animal Science.
While at LSU, Dr. Reggio concentrated on in vitro embryo culture systems and in producing cloned transgenic dairy animals capable of generating valuable pharmaceutical proteins in their milk, working closely with Genzyme Transgenics Corporation Biotherapeutics. One of these therapeutics (ATryn®) was approved in August 2006 by the European Commission for use in patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency undergoing surgical procedures. This was the first approval in the world of a therapeutic protein produced from a transgenic animal. In 2009, ATryn® made history by becoming the first biological product produced by genetically engineered animals to be granted FDA approval in the United States.
After leaving LSU in 2003, Dr. Reggio moved to Washington, DC to join the IVF team at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in order to use his skills in a clinical IVF setting. In 2005, Dr. Reggio became the IVF Laboratory Supervisor at the Northern California Fertility Medical Center in Roseville, California. He was then recruited to join the Reproductive Care Center in February 2007 as the Director of Research and Development.
Dr. Reggio completed his High Complexity Clinical Laboratory Director (HCLD) certification through the American Board of Bioanalysis (ABB) and became the Reproductive Care Center laboratory director in August 2008. Dr. Reggio is also a member of the College of Reproductive Biology (CRB) administered through the American Association of Bioanalysts’ (AAB).
He is a member of the American Society of Reproductive
Medicine (ASRM) and the European Society of Human
Reproductive and Embryology (ESHRE).
Alan Brake
Senior embryologist, M.S.
Alan Brake M.S. commenced his career in IVF in 1992, employed as an embryologist for a bovine IVF biotechnology company in Aberdeen, Scotland. Alan later trained in human IVF at the London Gynecology and Fertility Center, and in 1994 he was dispatched to the LG&FC's sister clinic in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to eventually supervise the IVF laboratory there.
Since 1998, Alan has been an embryologist in the United States, initially at IVF centers in Washington and northern California. In 2000, he was tapped to join a small company that employed a select team of embryologists providing specialist laboratory services to IVF clinics across the U.S. Between 2000 and 2008, Alan brought his expertise in embryology and embryo biopsy to more than forty IVF laboratories in the U.S. and Canada. It was on one such visit to RCC that we first met Alan.
Alan recently completed the Clinical Embryology and Andrology Masters degree program at Eastern Virginia Medical School. His thesis topic was the vitrification of reproductive cells, and Alan's insights are very valuable to our cryopreservation program where vitrification is used to freeze eggs.
Michael L Norton, MS is the Andrology and Endocrinology Lab Supervisor at RCC. Mike graduated with his BS in Biology from California State University Fullerton in 1991 and immediately began his Masters degree in Biology from the same university, graduating in 1995. For his thesis topic, Mike explored the molecular events during fertilization in the marine organism Ascidia ceratodes.
After receiving his Masters degree, Mike began to work on the MicroSort research project at Genetics and IVF Institute (GIVF). MicroSort is the only scientifically proven technique to separate X-bearing sperm from Y-bearing sperm as a gender selection method for X-linked disease prevention or family balancing. The MicroSort gender selection procedure is currently seeking final approval by the FDA.
In 2000, Mike became the Andrology lab supervisor at GIVF and was mentored in clinical andrology by Dr. Richard Sherins, a previous president of the American Society of Andrology. In 2006, Mike moved to Columbia Fertility’s Andrology Lab and developed a custom database solution for the lab. In September 2007, Mike was recruited by the Reproductive Care Center to supervise the Andrology and Endocrinology Labs.
The embryology and andrology laboratory at RCC has had the highest possible accreditation in the United States, by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), since 2001 and continues to maintain certification through CAP administered inspections and proficiency testing. Our Laboratory Accreditation Program number is 7127701.
Since 2001, the laboratory has maintained a Certificate of Compliance with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). CLIA was formed by Congress to establish quality standards for all laboratory testing to ensure the accuracy, reliability and timeliness of patient test results. Our CLIA number is 46D0911244.
The laboratory is a member of the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART). SART was established by member IVF clinics to set and maintain standards for assisted reproductive technology centers. This was done in an effort to better serve members and their patients. One of the key functions of SART is to help patients view national and individual clinic IVF success rates. Our success rates have been reported to SART since 1998.
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