Matheus Roque and Caio Parente Barbosa
Dr Matheus Roque
Matheus Roque is the Scientific Director at Origen, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dr Roque obtained his degree in Medicine in 2003 at the Marilia Medical School, Marília, Brazil, and he is currently working towards his PhD in Women’s Health at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He obtained his Masters in Reproductive Medicine in 2012 at the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, and completed a Fellowship in Human Reproduction during 2009–2010 at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Dr Roque is the author of many scientific articles and book chapters, and is also a reviewer for many indexed medical journals. He has participated in many international and national congresses in reproductive medicine and urology, as well as presenting many abstracts at such meetings. Dr Roque was an invited speaker at the 31st Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) 2015, with the lecture ‘Towards a ‘freeze-all’ policy’. Dr Roque has recently been acknowledged for his contribution to the quality of the journal Fertility and Sterility. Throughout 2014 and 2015, one of his papers featured in the top five most highly cited papers published in Fertility and Sterility. He is currently a member of ESHRE, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the Brazilian Society for Assisted Reproduction and the Brazilian Society of Urology.
Professor Dr Caio Parente Barbosa
Caio Parente Barbosa is a physician specialising in gynaecology and obstetrics, with a Master’s degree in Operative Technique and Experimental Surgery, and a PhD in Reproductive Medicine. After obtaining his MD and establishing a distinguished academic career, Professor Barbosa founded the Instituto Ideia Fertil, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil, which has since become the largest university centre for human assisted reproduction and genetics, performing more than 1,800 in vitro fertilisation cycles per year. The Instituto Ideia Fertil has more than 100 employees, including clinical personnel, investigators, geneticists, administrators and others, and has become a reference centre for research in the reprogenetics field.
Caio Parente Barbosa is also Professor of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Population Genetics, and Coordinator of the Postgraduate Course in Health Sciences at Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo André, São Paulo.
He has published more than 140 papers and is a renowned expert in laparoscopic surgery, human assisted reproduction and endometriosis.
Professor Barbosa and Dr Roque received the GFI 2017 award for their project, ‘Pharmacogenetic algorithm for individualised controlled ovarian stimulation in assisted reproductive technology cycles’.
Project: Pharmacogenetic algorithm for individualised controlled ovarian stimulation in assisted reproductive technology cycles
Controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) is crucial for optimising success of in vitro fertilisation (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles. Multiple factors influence the ovarian response to COS, rendering predictions about oocyte yields uncertain. Consequently, ovarian response may be poor, suboptimal or even excessive, all of which have negative consequences on the affected patient.
The study of gene polymorphisms that regulate female reproductive functions may help to clarify the mechanisms responsible for gonadal function and fertility, and the inter-individual variability in the ovarian response to COS. Thus, the adoption of a pharmacogenetic approach in assisted reproduction seems attractive, as it may help to understand the relationship between genetic variants and the ovarian response to exogenous gonadotropins.
In modern reproductive medicine, where individualisation and personalised treatments should be the norm, optimising and obtaining the best result in each COS would be of great interest to both clinicians and patients alike. In this study, we will evaluate genetic polymorphisms among individuals submitted to IVF/ICSI cycles and determine how these polymorphisms influence the response to COS and pregnancy outcomes. Our project has one main goal, namely, to develop a pharmacogenetic algorithm, including genetic polymorphisms, patient clinical parameters, as well as functional and hormonal biomarkers.
This algorithm is aimed at: 1) predicting the patient ovarian response to exogenous gonadotropin stimulation; 2) improving accuracy in determining the appropriate initial dosages of gonadotropins; 3) improving efficacy, efficiency and patient compliance to COS; and, lastly, 4) reducing time to pregnancy.
