Advancing Fertility and Reproduction thrOugh Dedicated and Innovative Technological Applications

The development of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has provided an alternative for people with difficulties conceiving naturally, and over 9 million babies have been born through ART since 1978. Moreover, the use of ART has increased dramatically (5.3-fold) during the last two decades and this trend will continue. While ART have undoubtedly made a positive impact on the lives of couples and individuals dealing with infertility, numerous studies reported potentially negative ART-derived effects on the health of offspring. The mechanisms involved and their consequences are poorly understood and there are critical unanswered questions, including whether the manipulations and the artificial environments in which gametes and embryos are cultured, or the increased paternal and maternal age at the time when the treatments are applied entail ART-derived health risks. Thus, there is a growing need to advance research on ART consequences and propose holistic solutions, as well as to develop innovative training programmes to prepare new researchers to deal with such concerns. The AFRODITA (Advancing Fertility and Reproduction thrOugh Dedicated and Innovative Technological Applications) consortium takes up this challenge and aims to implement jointly an innovative international, multi-sectorial, and multidisciplinary research and training programme (Joint Doctorate) by bringing together key scientific staff from the academia (5 European universities and 3 excellent research centres), the largest hospital in Denmark and the corporate world (8 enterprises) with a history of fruitful collaboration, that will guarantee excellent training and effective supervision for AFRODITA’s 15 doctoral candidates to enhance their career opportunities for different professional paths.