Hello, this is David Weston, Technical Supervisor for Seattle Sperm Bank, and I am writing from the AATB conference in Puerto Rico. The weather is not as beautiful as I was hoping for, but I am very glad to be here and participate in this event.
The first session I attended was ‘The Business of Tissue Banking’. The talk was sub-categorized into Regulatory Challenges, Innovation and Partnerships. This was presented by a panel of industry CEOs (Tom Cycyota, CEO AlloSouce; David Smith, CEO Community Tissue Services, Bruce Stroever, CEO Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation). The challenges and innovations discussed were very helpful, and I look forward to learning more on this topic as additional documentation is published.
Later on I met with Steve Pool, Director of Fairfax Cryobank and Chair of the Reproductive Council. He went over nominations for awards in the AATB, discussed what had been taught at the earlier session and gave me some insight as to becoming a full member of the AATB.
One of the most interesting sessions I attended was the “How do Clinics Perceive Sperm Banks and Their Needs”. Dr. Sparks mailed surveys to reproductive clinics, about half responded. Overall, clinics were very grateful for the services provided by sperm banks. They were especially pleased with accuracy of shipping, clarity of labeling and clearly listed contents.
That’s all for now. If you have any questions about my time at the AATB conference, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.