Welcome to SCOPE

Welcome to another edition of SCOPE. The main focus of this quarter is, of course, the highlight of the year: the 15th Biennial ALPHA Conference held in Dubrovnik. Before we dive into the insights, discussions, and memorable moments from this landmark event, we briefly reflect on our previous quarter’s focus on bringing innovation into the new year and looking at what this meant in practice across IVF laboratories.

A Quarter in Review: New Year, New Initiatives

Implementing change and new initiatives in the IVF laboratory: Poll results

We asked ALPHA members a series of questions on LinkedIn posts to encourage discussions and share how change is experienced in their IVF laboratories. Adopting new initiatives can be exciting but challenging, and every lab has a unique experience. While anecdotal, the responses to the poll questions offer an interesting snapshot of the realities many labs face. 

New techniques and products: Over 80% of respondents described their clinics as very or somewhat willing to trial new techniques and products, suggesting a strong appetite for progress in the field. Yet enthusiasm alone does not guarantee implementation. 

Decision-making: Significant practice changes appear to rest predominantly with laboratory directors and managers, reinforcing the importance of leadership in shaping innovation pathways. 

Burden of change in the IVF lab: Respondents identified training, competency, and lab-specific validation as the greatest barriers to introducing new techniques. 

Maintaining the change: Many acknowledged that old habits often persist after new initiatives are introduced.
Takeaways to consider: Successful adoption requires not only willingness, but dedicated investment in education, structured validation, and team confidence to persevere to make change stick. Therefore, lasting change depends on reinforcement, communication, and embedding new practices into everyday laboratory culture in a continuous way.

This boils down to effective collaboration and leadership. Although several papers address this topic, click the button below to view the one published in 2025 in RBMO.

📢SCOPE Focus of the Quarter: Highlights of the 15th Biennial ALPHA Conference, Dubrovnik

The 2026 ALPHA 15th Biennial Conference was set in the magnificent city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Its impact on the continued growth of ALPHA and its reach worldwide is reflected in the metrics below. 

• 56 countries represented

• 24 professional occupations represented

• 30% increase in attendance from 2024

• Over 200 new followers on social media

The notable buzz on social media captured how this conference shifted perspectives, enlightened, and motivated so many people. We hope the knowledge and energy gained at ALPHA 2026 will be shared at home to inspire others!

What really stood out about this conference were the information-packed and dynamic presentations of cornerstone topics in embryology delivered by excellent speakers who spoke of the evolution of workflow models, QA/QC, leadership, culture media, research and emerging technologies. In the session “Global Voices” the audience was treated to presentations and discussion on international perspectives of the challenges and opportunities in our sector in India and Croatia.

The audience was encouraged to consider important and open ended issues as beautifully demonstrated in Mina Popovic’s informative and thought provoking talk titled, “Some questions are hard to ask. This one is harder to answer - Is it more ethical to discard an embryo than to learn from it?”.

Congratulations to the winners of the oral and poster presentations!

Hartley George, Senior Aquarium Curator at Project Coral at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, UK took the audience on a journey into “Coral reproduction and the development of predictable spawning protocols”. A critical ecological topic facing the Earth today. 

Attendees gathered for a relaxed evening celebration to conclude the ALPHA 2026 conference!

As a reminder, please fill out and return the Conference Surveys emailed to all attendees. It is not too late and we appreciate constructive feedback!

Art of ARTists®

A gentle reminder to all members to submit any art you encounter in the wild that reminds you of your daily work in ART, your own creative masterpieces, or beautiful research images captured along the way. Often, “big” ART can be found in the smallest details, and can be a masterpiece (“little” art ) in its own right. At ALPHA, we love celebrating and sharing the creativity, beauty, and inspiration found within our field - so please keep your contributions coming!

💡Sustainability Spotlight

At the ALPHA Conference, we welcomed back the ALPHA Sustainability Bingo, encouraging attendees to think about the small actions that collectively make a meaningful difference. Conferences can be a significant source of carbon emissions, from travel and energy use to food waste and single-use materials; so at ALPHA, we make conscious efforts to reduce our environmental impact wherever possible.

This year, initiatives included locally sourced food, refillable water and drink stations, a lanyard return programme, and a venue selected with sustainability in mind. While there is always more to do, these steps reflect our commitment to making the conference as environmentally responsible as possible. 

The return of the ALPHA Green Innovation Award also encouraged sponsors to consider the environmental impact of attending conferences, challenging them to reduce paper waste, move away from disposable items such as plastic keyrings, and adopt more creative, sustainable alternatives at their booths. We were delighted to see such positive engagement and are pleased to congratulate this year’s winners, ASTEC and CryoBio Systems, for their commitment to greener conference practices.

We would encourage members attending conferences in the coming months to consider some of our attendee action points and think about how they can minimise their own carbon footprint from choosing lower-impact travel options where feasible to reducing waste and making sustainable choices throughout their attendance.

Farlie F,  et al (2023)  Sustainability in the IVF laboratory: recommendations of an expert panel. Reprod Biomed Online. 2024 Jan;48(1). Section: Green conferences and events

Keeping up with Literature

ALPHA membership provides access to RBMO and a wide range of basic research, practical and clinical papers, helping members stay informed about the latest advancements, emerging techniques, and best practices in the field. At every ALPHA Conference, we also host a dedicated session featuring the winners and runners-up of the Robert G Edwards Prize, recognising excellence in reproductive science and innovation. Who knows… perhaps you could be presenting your work in 2028?

To find out more about the award click the links below: 

Robert G Edwards Prize

2025 Winners

On My Mind…

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I write this farewell message and President’s Report with pride, gratitude, and renewed confidence in the future of our Society - ALPHA Scientists in Reproductive Medicine.

It has been my privilege to serve on the Executive Board of ALPHA since 2017, and as President from 2022 to 2026. Over these years, my belief in the importance of this international Society and the people who have sustained it has only grown.

ALPHA was founded 32 years ago by a small group of scientists with a clear and ambitious mission to bring together, support and represent embryologists in the young but rapidly advancing field of assisted reproduction. That mission inspired the many colleagues who joined in and carried the torch for ALPHA over the ensuing years, including our past presidents (now honorary members) and the many Board members and others whose dedication helped keep ALPHA active.

When the torch was passed to me in 2022, after serving as Vice President to Sharon Mortimer, and given the privilege of having Alison Campbell as my Vice President, it was clear to us that our Society required a stronger infrastructure to continue to realise its goals and ambitions.

Together with the Board, we set this as our immediate goal. We introduced a new logo for the Society, inspired by the early embryo, and reflecting how distinct individual parts, through connection, become something entirely new with a meaning and potential beyond each part alone. We then commissioned a new website, with aesthetics and content that better reflect the Society’s identity. Using historical records and recollections, we are now working to present as accurate a historical portrait of the Society as possible.

We appointed a new secretariat, Profile Productions, whose professional support has assisted the leadership in advancing several key infrastructure priorities. We have: modernised and streamlined membership processes, fostering steady membership growth; improved financial transparency through the transfer of our accounts to the UK and renewed registration with Companies House, ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations; carefully reviewed our Constitution, Rules and Bylaws, implementing updates while preserving the original document; and further clarified the roles and responsibilities of officers and Executive Board members to strengthen effective governance. We created the non-Board position of ALPHA Ambassador, to provide an opportunity to our members to contribute to the Society through advocacy, community engagement, member recruitment, and public relations. A first project for our first ambassadors was to revive the ALPHA newsletter, which was published in paper form circa 1995 - 2008, to offer news of interest, commentary, interviews, surveys, and more. The new newsletter is called SCOPE.

As a result of these efforts, ALPHA is now better positioned than ever to think strategically and to pursue a meaningful five-year vision centered not only on our members, but on all laboratory professionals working in reproductive medicine around the world.

At the same time, we continued to advance the educational and scientific mission of the Society. ALPHA 2024 in Lisbon was a memorable and highly successful conference, while ALPHA 2026 in Dubrovnik set new records in attendance and sponsorship and has received exceptionally positive feedback from the delegates that represented some 56 different countries and 6 continents. The essence of ALPHA was reflected in our international delegates and speakers.

In collaboration with ESHRE SIG Embryology, we updated the Istanbul Consensus (2011), producing what we hope will remain an important reference for years to come. We have also initiated another collaboration to update the Vienna Consensus on laboratory KPIs (2017) and the cryopreservation KPI Consensus (2012), both valuable resources now due for revision. We developed the Cairo Consensus on future-proofing the laboratory, offering practical guidance for laboratories worldwide to build resilience and ensure continuity in times of disruption. The proceedings of another Cairo Consensus meeting on clinical factors affecting embryo development and competence are now being prepared for publication.

Our well-received debut film, Global Voices in Embryology, featured practitioners from many countries as they shared their perspectives, hopes and challenges, and revealed their deep commitment to their profession.

Our partnership with RBMO has continued to flourish, and we were honored to receive the RGE Runner-Up Prize for our collaboration with the International IVF Initiative (I3) on a first-time effort to bring attention to sustainability in the IVF laboratory.

These achievements were made possible by dedicated Board members, officers, collaborators, and by the many members and supporters who gave their time, expertise and trust so generously. I offer my sincere thanks to you.

Serving ALPHA has been one of the great privileges of my professional life. I now pass the torch with complete confidence to Alison Campbell, whom I admire and respect deeply. It has been an honour to work alongside Alison as Vice President and a great pleasure to see that partnership grow into a lasting friendship. I am equally delighted that Laura Rienzi now assumes the role of Vice President, bringing exceptional experience, insight and vision to the leadership of our Society.

Alison and Laura will shape an exciting new chapter for ALPHA. I leave office with gratitude for the trust placed in me, pride in what we have achieved together, and every confidence that the Society’s best years still lie ahead.

With warm regards,

Mina Alikani

President (2022 –2026)

ALPHA Scientists in Reproductive Medicine