Norbert Gleicher

Norbert Gleicher (born August 20, 1948) is an American obstetrician-gynecologist active in obstetrical practice, in vitro fertilization, reproductive endocrinology, and reproductive immunology.[1] He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FACOG) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and currently serves as president, medical director and chief scientist of the Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) in New York City, a clinical fertility center that he founded in 1981. Simultaneously, he is President of the Foundation for Reproductive Medicine, a not-for-profit research foundation.[2] Gleicher maintains additional academic appointments at Rockefeller University, and Medical University of Vienna.[3]

Norbert Gleicher
Born (1948-08-20) August 20, 1948
Kraków, Poland
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMedical University of Vienna
Known forFounding the Center for Human Reproduction (CHR)
Children2
Scientific career
FieldsReproductive medicine
InstitutionsCenter for Human Reproduction (CHR)

Early life and education

Gleicher was born in the Polish city of Kraków.[1] In his youth he moved to Vienna, the capital of Austria, where he began his medical studies at the Medical University of Vienna in 1966. He completed his medical degree and rotating internship at the Sackler Medical School of Tel Aviv University in 1974. He later moved to New York City for a 6-month fellowship in immunology. There he completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology in 1979 at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. During his residency he also maintained a grant-funded research laboratory, mostly pursuing research in reproductive immunology. While still a chief resident, Gleicher organized at Mount Sinai Medical Center an international congress on reproductive immunology, which led to the formation of the American Society of Reproductive Immunology (ASRI), with him being elected as the society's vice-president, and with the immunology conference becoming an annual event under the society's sponsorship.[4] He was awarded the Dr. Solomon Silver Award in Clinical Medicine for his "ability to apply the advance in research to the practice of clinical medicine".[5]

Career

Beginnings

In 1979, Gleicher was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mount Sinai,[6] division director of the Division of Reproductive Immunology and director of undergraduate (medical student affairs) and graduate education (residency program) in the department. He served in all of these functions until 1981.[5]

Recruited to Chicago in 1981 as chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Mount Sinai Hospital and professor of obstetrics and gynecology and immunology/microbiology at Rush Medical College,[7] he was put in charge of rebuilding an academic teaching department in the inner city. His department established the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) program in the city of Chicago and the Midwest.[8] Gleicher traveled for training to René Frydman's Paris-based IVF program in preparation for the program's establishment. As the number of programs in the U.S. was still minuscule then, The Chicago Tribune dedicated a two-day series of articles to its opening.[9] In 1982 was appointed as founding editor-in-chief of The Journal of In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer (JIVF-ET), holding this position for approximately 20 years.[3] In 1991 Gleicher was awarded Austrian Decoration for Science and Art for his work.

Center for Human Reproduction

After 10 years of building a department, Gleicher resigned his chairmanship at Mount Sinai to concentrate on management of a rapidly growing IVF center, the Center for Human Reproduction (CHR).[10][11][12] By the end of 1999, Gleicher was in charge of IVF centers in Chicago and New York City, splitting his time each week between the two cities. In 2003, he sold the Chicago operations, and moved full-time back to New York City, where he continues to pursue both clinical care and research.[13][14]

While maintaining his role in clinical patient care and research at the Center for Human Reproduction in New York, Gleicher has continued his academic work as a professor or adjunct professor at educational institutions such as Yale University,[15] New York University, Rockefeller University,[16] and the Medical University of Vienna.[3]

Gleicher is a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, among other institutions related to reproductive health and general medicine. As a speaker, Gleicher has lectured at major events worldwide.[3] In 2009, he was commissioned to deliver the Patrick Steptoe Memorial Lecture in honour of the prominent British obstetrician and gynecologist before the British Fertility Society.[17]

Publications

Since the 1970s, Gleicher has published hundreds of scientific articles, abstracts and book chapters on reproductive endocrinology and infertility. He was one of the founders of the American Journal of Reproductive Immunology, where he also served as editor-in-chief. For 30 years, he was editor of the Journal of In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer, now known as the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics.[5] Other publications in which he served as editor or member of the editorial board include The Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine, International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction and PLOS One, among others.[3]

Major research contributions
  • Gleicher performed the world's first successful transvaginal egg retrieval, reported in The Lancet in 1983.[18]
  • Gleicher was the first to report on a successful transvaginal tubal catheterization to open occluded fallopian tubes.[19]
  • Gleicher led Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center's successful push to reduce Caesarean section rates without negative impact on obstetrical outcomes.[20]
  • Gleicher and collaborators were one of the first groups to report on the unacceptably high high-order multiple pregnancy rates following intrauterine inseminations (IUIs).[21]

DHEA controversy

Gleicher, in collaboration with his CHR colleague David H. Barad, introduced androgen supplementation by way of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), to improve in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes in women with diminished ovarian reserve in 2005.[22] However, none of his studies used randomized, controlled trials; results have been mixed for researchers who did.[23]

Gleicher has been criticized for recommending his own brand of DHEA to his patients without always informing them that he owns the brand. His brand costs much more than competing brands.[23]

Personal life

Gleicher is divorced and the father of two daughters. In 2019, Gleicher was the subject of a social profile in The New York Times. He lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.[1]

References
  1. Boncompagni, Tatiana (2019-01-18). "How Norbert Gleicher, Fertility Expert, Spends His Sundays". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  2. "FRM 2018 Conference Chairs". Translational Reproductive Biology and Clinical Reproductive Endocrinology. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  3. Norbert Gleicher MD Curriculum. New York: Center for Human Reproduction. 2019.
  4. "Gleicher Norbert". IVF Worldwide. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  5. "Dr. Norbert Gleicher". The 5th International Congress on Cardiac Problems in Pregnancy. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  6. Altchek, Albert; Deligdisch, Liane (2012-12-06). The Uterus: Pathology, Diagnosis, and Management. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4613-9086-2.
  7. Giglia, R. V.; Gleicher, Norbert; Mayden, K. L. (2012-12-06). A Practical Guide to Real-Time Office Sonography in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4615-8348-6.
  8. Gorner, Peter (1985-04-14). "Making Babies". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  9. Van, Jon (1986-06-26). "In Vitro fertilization continues to develop". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  10. Knapton, Sarah (2015-11-22). "New fertility test warns women if they are running out of eggs". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  11. Prado, Victor (2019-10-19). "Are Pricey Fertility Treatments Helping Women Have Babies...Or Preying On Them?". Women's Health. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  12. Reddy, Sumathi (2014-04-28). "Fertility Study Warns of Risks From Multiple Births". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  13. Pollack, Andrew (2014-07-11). "Fertility Clinics Scan for the Strongest Embryo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  14. Devlin, Kate (2008-07-07). "Having twins no more dangerous than two single births". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  15. Muntz, Michelle. "New form of in vitro fertilization stirs debate". St. Louis Post. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  16. "Why a gentler, less costly approach to IVF remains unpopular". Medical Xpress. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  17. "Eponymous Lectures". British Fertility Society. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  18. Gleicher, Norbert; Friberg, Jan; Fullan, Neil; Giglia, RobertV.; Mayden, Kara; Kesky, Tom; Siegel, Israel (August 1983). "Egg Retrieval for In Vitro Fertilisation by Sonographycally Controlled Vaginal Culdocentesis". The Lancet. 322 (8348): 508–509. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(83)90530-5. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 6136659. S2CID 20229808.
  19. Confino, Edmond; Frieberg, Jan; Gleicher, Norbert (April 1989). "Preliminary Experience with Transcervical Balloon Tuboplasty". Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey. 44 (4): 288–289. doi:10.1097/00006254-198904000-00023. ISSN 0029-7828. PMID 3407695.
  20. Kotulak, Ronald. "Mt. Sinai is the first hospital to dramatically cut caesarean rates". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  21. Gleicher, Norbert (February 2001). "Reducing risk of multiple pregnancy after ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins". ACOG Clinical Review. 6 (1): 6. doi:10.1016/S1085-6862(01)80011-X. ISSN 1085-6862.
  22. Barad, David H.; Gleicher, Norbert (September 2005). "Increased oocyte production after treatment with dehydroepiandrosterone". Fertility and Sterility. 84 (3): 756.e1–756.e3. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.02.049. ISSN 0015-0282. PMID 16169414.
  23. Torbati, Yeganeh. "How a renowned fertility doctor profits from an unproven supplement," The Washington Post, July 30, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
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