Dear Colleague,

There are now only three months left before the 14th International PGD conference. This conference is devoted to the 25th Anniversary of PGD (see PGDIS website www.pgdis.org), and will be held in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, May 11-13, 2015.

The Scientific Program has been finalized and is designed to review the 25 years of progress in PGD, which is no longer considered a research tool but is now an established procedure integrating ART and genetic practice. The Society’s expert position on the major areas of PGD will be summarized by the leading proponents in the related areas of research, including those who pioneered PGD (see the faculty on the PGDIS website above). This will involve a critical review of the recent technological developments in PGD, with a main emphasis on their advantages, disadvantages and limitations which can affect the choice of the appropriate tests in PGD for both monogenic and chromosomal disorders. Of special clinical value is a reassessment of the role of PGD in the reproductive outcome and is based on the large body of data accumulated in the last two years with the application of different approaches for 24-chromosome aneuploidy testing. However, because PGD clinical outcome depends not only on the embryo nuclear genotype, the relevance of cytoplasmic and genetic expression patterns, follicular environment, requirements for COS specific regiments and endometrial status will be also addressed.

While recent technological developments may allow PGD for nearly any inherited condition, the technical challenges in performing complicated PGD cases, such as combined testing for monogenic and chromosomal disorders, will require addressing in greater detail in a special session. PGD for multiple indications, following whole genome amplification (WGA), appears prone to a higher misdiagnosis rate and this will be discussed. The other special session will involve the review of the current clinical outcomes of over 15 years experience of preimplantation HLA typing, followed by presentation of the examples of miracle success stories of PGD for stem cell transplantation treatment of congenital and acquired disorders.

While the recent introduction into PGD practice of the new technologies, such as NGS and karyomapping has gained a lot of attention, the array- CGH and some other traditional methods have already been used on a large scale over a relatively extended time period and shows acceptable accuracy rates. The Society’s expert position is required on both their utility and cost-benefit evaluation. In addition, for the first time this year, in collaboration with Illumina a Pre-Congress Workshop will be organized on NGS-based PGD (May 10, 2015), This technology may be one of the leading approaches toward developing a universal PGD for single gene and chromosomal disorders. As in previous years, an Annual Pre-congress Workshop on PGD by Blastocyst Biopsy will be held in Istanbul, (May 7-9, 2015) in collaboration with PGD Center of Istanbul Memorial Hospital.

The abstracts submission is now open and will be published for the first time in a regular issue of Reproductive Biomedicine Online, (the publishing organ of PGDIS).

As mentioned, the Congress will be organized in Downtown Chicago, next to the John Hancock Center, which is an excellent venue, especially delightful in spring. Compared to previous PGDIS Conferences, registration fees have been reduced and the hotel accommodation has been arranged at special low prices for both the Ritz Carlton and Raffaello hotels, which are a two-minute walk from MCA.

The progress in the organization of the Conference may be followed in the websites of PGDIS (www.pgdis.org), or Vega Travel International (www.vegatravel.net) - the organizing secretariat of the PGDIS Chicago Conference, May 11-13, 2015.

We are looking forward to welcoming you in Chicago!

Sincerely,