Welcome to the final edition of Human Fertility for 2015.
In this issue we have eight primary papers covering a range of topics from an analysis of the negative lifestyle habits of 12,800 IVF patients in the USA (Domar et al., 2015) to a study investigating the biochemical markers of placental dysfunction in assisted conception pregnancies (Joy et al., 2015).
However, I would like to give specific attention to the commentary “Biology: Changing the World – a tribute to Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy” (Steptoe, 2015). This is the text of a speech given by Andrew Steptoe (the son of Patrick Steptoe) on the occasion of the unveiling of a blue plaque at the site of the Dr Kershaw's Cottage Hospital in Oldham where Steptoe, Edwards and Purdy established the IVF laboratory, which lead to the birth of Louise Brown. This is an important part of the history of IVF and as such we have made this commentary free to download so that the text can be shared around the world.
Also in this issue is the list of the titles and authors of the oral and poster presentations made at the Fertility 2015 meeting held in January of this year. The full abstracts can be downloaded from the supplementary file available on the website.
Finally, this is the last issue of Human Fertility in the current format. For the first issue of volume 19 (in March 2016) we have an exciting new layout that we hope you will enjoy.
References
- Domar, A.D., Rooney, K.L., Milstein, M., & Conboy, L. (2015). Lifestyle habits of 12,800 IVF patients: Prevalence of negative lifestyle behaviours, and impact of region and insurance coverage. Human Fertility, 18, 253–257.
- Joy, J., Armstrong, L., Ardill, J., McClure, N., & Cooke, I. (2015). Biochemical Markers of Placental Dysfunction in Assisted Conception. Human Reproduction, 18, 282–290.
- Steptoe, A. (2015). Biology: Changing the world - a tribute to Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdie. Human Fertility, 18, 232–233.