Publications by authors named "Nina Desai"

Article Synopsis
  • * A total of 128 microTESE procedures were analyzed, with fresh cases showing 67.7% sperm retrieval success and 85.7% motility, while frozen cases had 45.3% retrieval and a significant drop in motility after thawing.
  • * Results suggest that fresh microTESE may provide better outcomes for sperm motility and ICSI potential, emphasizing the importance of patient selection and counseling about treatment options.
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The University of Florida Health Precision Medicine Program plays a crucial role in delivering pharmacogenomics (PGx) result notes to providers who request PGx testing. Despite this, there is currently a lack of a formal assessment of provider needs and established best practice design principles to guide the ongoing development of PGx result notes. This study aims to enhance the content and format of the PGx consult note at UF Health by incorporating valuable feedback from healthcare providers.

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Background: Compaction is an important marker of embryonic genome activation and marks a critical step in the development to blastocyst. The objective of our study was to determine whether visualization of the embryonic compaction process through time-lapse imaging (TL) can assist in predicting the kinetics of embryo development as well as the likelihood for blastocyst formation, grade, or ploidy.

Methods: This study is a retrospective review of prospectively collected datafrom a single academic institution.

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Background: Encapsulation of follicles within a biomatrix is one approach to maintaining 3-D follicle architecture during culture. Hyaluronan is one component of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) that provides support to cells in vivo. This report describes the application of a novel tyramine-linked hyaluronan for 3-D in vitro follicle culture and the production of developmentally competent metaphase II oocytes.

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Purpose: To compare morphokinetic parameters in embryos obtained from women with and without endometriosis.

Methods: We evaluated a total of 3471 embryos resulting from 434 oocyte retrievals performed at a single academic center. One thousand seventy-eight embryos were obtained from women affected by endometriosis and 2393 came from unaffected controls.

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A formal assessment of pharmacogenomics clinical decision support (PGx-CDS) by providers is lacking in the literature. The objective of this study was to evaluate the usability of PGx-CDS tools that have been implemented in a healthcare setting. We enrolled ten prescribing healthcare providers and had them complete a 60-min usability session, which included interacting with two PGx-CDS scenarios using the "Think Aloud" technique, as well as completing the Computer System Usability Questionnaire (CSUQ).

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Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) is an accepted method of fertility preservation. However, OTC is not standardized and many variations exist in the freezing strategy, tissue processing, and surgical approach. In this pilot study, we used a sheep model to compare slow freezing versus vitrification techniques, as well as the feasibility of processing ovarian tissue into a hyaluronan suspension of small ovarian units.

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Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of two different in vitro fertilization culture media for blastocyst development, pregnancy, and live birth rate. Global (GB) medium (used without refreshment) and G-TL medium (designed specifically for culture in time-lapse incubators) were compared.

Design: Prospective randomized study of sibling embryo culture in two culture media.

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Objective: The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2017 guidelines on cardiac monitoring during cancer treatments identified patients receiving thoracic radiation (TRT) ≥30 Gy (heart in field) at increased risk for developing radiation-induced heart disease (RIHD). ASCO encouraged clinicians to actively screen and monitor for baseline modifiable cardiac risk factors and therapy-induced cardiotoxicity in this high-risk population. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is an independent risk factor for adverse cardiac events that can be mitigated with preventative medical therapy.

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Purpose: Radiation dose to the heart correlates with cardiac-related deaths and may partially diminish the benefit of radiation for breast cancer. This study assessed the current nationwide trends in heart-sparing techniques for breast cancer radiation.

Methods And Materials: In November 2017, an institutional review board-approved survey was sent to radiation oncologists in the United States.

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Objective: To determine whether blastomere spatial arrangement in early human embryos is reflective of embryonic potential.

Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.

Setting: Single academic center.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to report on US radiation oncologists' (ROs) practice patterns and perceptions of concurrent radiation (RT) and immunotherapy (IT) (CRI).

Methods: A 22-question survey was emailed to radiation oncologists in February 2018. CRI was defined as RT completed within 1 week before initial IT infusion through 4 weeks after final IT infusion.

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Purpose: Sperm play an essential role in embryonic genome activation and embryonic progression to blastocyst. In the present work, we focus on development of embryos created as a result of ICSI with testicular or epididymal sperm from azoospermic males and compare this to outcomes from normospermic males. The objective of this study was to determine if sperm origin influences clinical outcomes, the kinetics of embryo development, or the incidence of cleavage anomalies and multinucleation.

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Historically, heart dose from left-sided breast radiotherapy has been associated with a risk of cardiac injury. Data suggests that there is not a threshold for the deleterious effects from radiation on the heart. Over the past several years, advances in radiation delivery techniques have reduced cardiac morbidity due to treatment.

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Objective: To determine whether cleavage anomalies, multinucleation, and specific cellular kinetic parameters available from time-lapse imaging are predictive of developmental capacity or blastocyst chromosomal status.

Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.

Setting: Single academic center.

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The two highly homologous non-visual arrestins, beta-arrestin 1 and 2, are ubiquitously expressed in the central nervous system, yet knowledge of their disparate roles is limited. While beta-arrestin 2 (βarr2) has been implicated in several aspects of reward-related learning and behavior, very little is known about the behavioral function of beta-arrestin 1 (βarr1). Using mice lacking βarr1, we focused on the role of this scaffolding and signal transduction protein in reward-motivated behaviors and in striatal glutamatergic function.

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Objective: To identify blastocyst features independently predictive of successful pregnancy and live births with vitrified-warmed blastocysts.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Academic hospital.

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Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) is an emerging method for fertility preservation. Although OTC has been previously proposed for benign indications, to our knowledge this is the first report highlighting the use of OTC for the indication of ovarian torsion. A 36-year-old nulligravid woman with a history of recurrent ovarian torsion presented with an acute episode of ovarian torsion confirmed by ultrasound.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to see if using continuous morphokinetic data improves success rates in IVF when embryos are cultured in a closed system, comparing time-lapse monitoring (TLM) to traditional daily checks.
  • - Conducted with 235 patients, results showed that clinical pregnancy rates were similar between the two groups (68% for TLM vs. 63% for conventional), with certain factors like absence of multinucleation affecting implantation rates.
  • - Ultimately, adding time-lapse data didn't significantly enhance clinical outcomes for patients overall or those with blastocyst transfers, though some morphokinetic metrics were linked to better implantation chances.
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Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) have emerged as attractive candidates for cell-based therapies that are capable of restoring lost cell and tissue function. These unique cells are able to self-renew indefinitely and have the capacity to differentiate in to all three germ layers (ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm). Harnessing the power of these pluripotent stem cells could potentially offer new therapeutic treatment options for a variety of medical conditions.

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Background: Time-lapse imaging combined with embryo morphokinetics may offer a non-invasive means for improving embryo selection. Data from clinics worldwide are necessary to compare and ultimately develop embryo classifications models using kinetic data. The primary objective of this study was to determine if there were kinetic differences between embryos with limited potential and those more often associated with in vitro blastocyst formation and/or implantation.

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Background: The Rapid-i is a new FDA cleared closed carrier for embryo vitrification. The cooling rate of - 1220°C/min is far lower than that reported with open vitrification systems such as the cryoloop (-15,000°C/min). Little published data is currently available on this device.

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Purpose: Mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layers (MEF) have conventionally been used to culture and maintain the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESC). This study explores the potential of using a novel human endometrial cell line to develop a non-xeno, non-contact co-culture system for ESC propagation and derivation. Such xeno-free systems may prove essential for the establishment of clinical grade human ESC lines suitable for therapeutic application.

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Background: Folliculogenesis within the ovary requires interaction between somatic cell components and the oocyte. Maintenance of 3-dimensional (3-D) architecture and granulosa-oocyte interaction may be critical for successful in vitro maturation of follicles. Testing of novel biomaterials for the 3-D culture of follicles may ultimately lead to a culture model that can support the longer in vitro culture intervals needed for in vitro maturation of human oocytes from ovarian tissue biopsies.

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