Revolutionizing the traditional
fertility process through
innovative therapeutics

George Church is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT. He leads Synthetic Biology at Harvard’s Wyss Institute, where he oversees the directed evolution of molecules, polymers, and whole genomes to create new tools with applications in regenerative medicine and bio-production of chemicals. Professor Church is widely recognized for his innovative contributions to genomic science and his many pioneering contributions to chemistry and biomedicine. In 1984, he developed the first direct genomic sequencing method, which resulted in the first genome sequence (the human pathogen, H. pylori). He later helped initiate the Human Genome Project in 1984 and the Personal Genome Project in 2005. Professor Church invented the broadly applied concepts of molecular multiplexing and tags, homologous recombination methods, and array DNA synthesizers. His innovations have been the basis for many companies including Editas (Gene therapy); Gen9bio (Synthetic DNA); and Veritas Genetics (full human genome sequencing).

Kristin Baldwin is a Professor of Genetics and Development at Columbia University and member of the Columbia Stem Cell Initiative. She is a pioneer in reprogramming and stem cell biology. Her research applies reprogramming to assess the impact of aging on diverse cell types and to engineer new cellular models for neurologic, and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Baldwin's earlier notable work included being the first to clone a mouse from a neuron and then sequence its genome and producing an entire mouse from a skin cell with iPSCs. Her work has been published in premiere journals (i.e Nature, Cell) and has garnered awards (i.e. Pew Scholar, Kavli Fellow and NIH Pioneer Award). Dr. Baldwin holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from Stanford and performed postdoctoral work in Neurobiology at Columbia University with Dr. Richard Axel. She holds several patents and is a co-founder and board observer of Certego Therapeutics.

Dr. Philip Jordan is a professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Research in the Jordan laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating DNA repair, chromosome segregation and cell cycle progression, processes that are essential for normal organismal development, cellular homeostasis and prevention of diseases. In particular, the Jordan lab studies the aberrant expression and mutation of genes which can result in microcephaly, cognitive and growth retardation, infertility, and predisposition to cancer. His research program uses mouse and human pluripotent stem cells to discover the molecular processes that ensure genome stability during gametogenesis and early development.

Dr. Sara Vaughn, MD is an OBGYN and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (REI) Physician in Palo Alto. She has been a practicing physician in reproductive medicine for over 10 years. She is double-board certified in both OBGYN and REI. Her clinical fellowship was completed at Stanford University where she founded a resident-teaching clinic. She was the first medical director of Spring Fertility's Silicon Valley site. Dr. Vaughn frequently consults for mission aligned Silicon Valley Venture Capital funds and early stage ventures who are focused on using innovation and technology to scale high-quality accessible reproductive care.

Mary Herbert is a Professor of Reproductive Biology at Newcastle University and Scientific Director at Newcastle Fertility Centre. Professor Herbert’s lab advances knowledge of the biology of germ cells and early embryos with the goals of improving understanding of infertility and extending the scope of reproductive technologies to prevent transmission of disease. After seeing how mitochondrial disease was devastating families, Professor Herbert developed a groundbreaking technique to transfer healthy mitochondria to fertilized embryos using nuclear transplantation. This cutting-edge mechanism has the potential to prevent the transmission of fatal mitochondrial disease from mother to child. Professor Herbert’s work has been critical in the development of UK law permitting these new techniques to be offered in clinical treatment. In addition to mitochondrial disease, Mary’s research focuses on the underlying causes of infertility, miscarriage and birth defects in older women. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and a member of the scientific advisory board for the Association of Clinical Embryologists in the UK.

An expert in cellular reprogramming and computational biology trained at MIT and Harvard. He is the upcoming Assistant Professor at Duke University Medical school, academic member of the Global Consortium for Female Reproductive Longevity & Equality (GCRLE) and a current Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School, where he is developing state-of-the-art algorithms and high-throughput experimental screens to interrogate germ cell development for Gameto. Pranam holds a PhD from the MIT Media Lab, where he developed robust CRISPR technologies, utilizing both experimental and computational methodologies. Pranam holds patents on novel Cas9 enzymes, ScCas9, Sc++, and iSpyMac.