Dear Colleagues and Friends:

It is indeed a great honor and privilege to assume presidency of the International Society of in vitro Fertilization (ISIVF). I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt appreciation to all the members and the executive committee of ISIVF for providing me with this opportunity to lead our society. I intend to serve with great commitment and dedication as the third president from Asia, preceded by Professor Takahide Mori and Dr. Osamu Kato.

ISIVF was established fourty years ago by Professor Robert Edwards and other respected pioneers in the field of reproductive biology and medicine. We should take a step back and remember the initial perspectives of the founders at the time of establishment of this society. We can do this by a message from our executive director, Professor Victor Gomel, who spoke proudly of the fact that he was entrusted the future of the society by Bob Edwards. In 2007, Bob published a short paper in his journal, Reproductive Medicine Online noting that “It is the Time to Re-think.” He always saw revolution and breakthrough as the preferred paths forward.

As we all know, we are in the midst of an “Information Explosion.” What that means to us is that the sheer volume of data that is created each year has increased nearly 160-fold over the recent years and is currently over 988 exabytes (i.e., 1 EB = 1018 bytes). It has also happened in our field. Since 1978, when IVF technologies first became available, substantial research has been conducted and tremendous new technologies have been developed. Current progress in the field of reproductive medicine is moving at a rapid pace. The generation of gametes from pluripotent stem cells and the clinical application of this technology are nearly within reach. Furthermore, the area that should be covered by ISIVF is tremendously spreading. Therefore, we need many specialists who are active in allied medical fields.

The perspectives and objectives for those of us serving as leaders of this society have been outlined by Professor Timur Gurgan and our immediate past president, Professor Bart Hauser. Among our immediate goals, we are looking at ways to increase membership, to promote collaborations with other major international societies, and to share plans aimed at supporting Special Interest Groups. In addition, among my personal goals, I would like to raise the recognition of ISIVF to the world and create programs that are welcoming and attractive to younger scientists and trainees in our field.

At this time, I cordially ask all members to join with me toward realizing Bob Edwards’s original vision for our society. I will need everyone’s assistance and absolute support to achieve these goals. I know that Professor Omar Sefrioui is working hard to prepare for our upcoming next Congress of ISIVF in Morocco.

Let us gather together at Marrakesh in 2021 and again at Osaka in 2023.

President of ISIVF
Professor Yoshiharu Morimoto