IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2012 - 9

W it h her pro p o s a l, Wo o d r u f f
secured an NIH grant for the Oncofertility Consortium. Today, the consortium consists of researchers from
Northwestern, the University of California, San Diego, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Missouri, and
Oregon Health and Science University,
as well as numerous other institutions.
A main goal of the consortium
is to provide funding that will allow
researchers to develop new techniques
for the preservation of ovarian tissue
as well as a method to regulate egg
development in vitro. If the consortium
can achieve these techniques, they will
be able to cryopreserve ovarian tissue
or eggs in order to help women achieve
pregnancy once their cancer treatment
is completed.
The consortium also investigates the
political and ethical impacts of post-cancer fertility. The consortium, Woodruff
says, "brings together interdisciplinary
teams from basic science and medicine
but extends to patient decisioning, ethics, law, communication sciences, and
education-bringing together all intellectual communities of the academy."

The Science of Oncofertility
The grants fund work that encompasses the fields of reproductive medicine,
oncology, biomechanics, and materials science. The Woodruff Lab focuses
on reproductive medicine and includes
16 employees-post-doctoral fellows,
research associates, research technicians, undergraduate students, and
graduate students.
In the lab, researchers study a variety of questions concerning the ovary
and developing egg. "Understanding
the basic biology of these tissues is
necessary to develop ways to identify a
'good egg'," Woodruff says.
In pursuit of the goals outlined by
the Oncofertility Consortium, the lab
focuses on areas that together provide
researchers with a picture of the complicated female reproductive system:
ovarian follicle development, development of "an in vitro follicle culture systems that can mimic the normal in
vivo patterns of follicle development,"

or both ovaries to another spot in the
and, lastly, the study of inhibin and
body outside of the treatment area.
activin (the endocrine hormones that
govern the reproductive system) so that
researchers can better understand the
Female Patients
reproductive cycle and infertility.
Are Different
This knowledge, Woodruff says, can
Women's reproductive health is an area
be applied to a variety of clinical scethat often has been misunderstood
narios: "This information can be used
and mistreated, particularly diseases
to improve methods for cryopreservasuch as polycystic ovarian syndrome,
tion and storing of oocytes and ovarendometriosis, fibromyalgia, as well as
ian tissue, to develop new materials
infertility and its many causes. While
to support in vitro follicle growth and
Woodruff's work centers mainly on
oocyte maturation, and to develop new
oncofertility, she is interested in many
ways for clinicians to use ovarian tisaspects of women's health.
sue, from any girl or woman, to proAs director of the Institute for Womduce eggs which can be fertilized and
en's Health Research, Woodruff advothe subsequent embryos implanted
cates for gender inclusivity in basic
into a woman's uterus with no risk for
science, translational studies, and clinicancer reintroduction."
cal trials. The institute is dedicated to
The experimental therapies all have
providing gender equity in both research
their unknowns, and these are the areas
and clinical areas. The institute strives
where researchers are hard at
to ensure that from "bench to
work. Patients have the
bedside," medical partners
option to bank embryos
understand that there
"You have
(fertilized eggs) or
are differences in the
to have the
the unfertilized egg.
biology of males and
passion for your topic
Unfertilized eggs
females and that
are more difficult
these differences
and the resilience to
to freeze because
stick it out. All professions mu st be t a ken
t hey cont a in a
into account as
have their ups and
haploid amount
physicia n s disdowns, and this is
of DNA (maternal
cover new "mechaespecially true in
DNA only). Advancnisms of action" and
es in rapid freezing
enact treatment plans.
the sciences."
called vitrification make
As part of its misthis a more viable option.
sion, the institute delves into
Ovarian tissue banking is another
many subject areas exploring ways
option, and Dr. Woodruff and her team
in which women's medicine differs from
are isolating follicles to grow in vitro.
men's: Why is it harder for women to
Various options already exist to prequit smoking than men? Why do more
serve a women's fertility as she underwomen suffer from depression than
goes cancer treatment. For women who
men? Do female athletes have different
have longer than two weeks to prepare,
training and dietary needs than male
Woodruff says the freezing of embryos is
athletes? Why are the manifestations of
an option for post-pubertal women. The
heart disease different in women?
women take fertility drugs to boost egg
Woodruff's advice for young women
production and then the eggs are surgiis straightforward: You have to have
cally removed, combined with a parta passion for what you do. "Science is
ner's or donor's sperm through in vitro
exciting and dynamic," she says. "You
fertilization (IVF), and cryopreserved.
have to have the passion for your topic
Other options include shielding one or
and the resilience to stick it out. All proboth ovaries to protect them during
fessions have their ups and downs, and
radiation and, for those with radiation
this is especially true in the sciences."
treatment to the pelvic region, ovarian
-Katianne Williams
transposition, or surgically moving one

december 2012

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2012