Samuel Horace Wood

• M.D., Ph.D.
• Managing Director at Gen 5 Fertility Center

Genetic features are currently unknown in myelinated retinal nerve fibers (MRNF). For a 20-year-old asymptomatic female with unilateral MRNF, we performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) by standard workflow protocol to produce contiguous long-read sequences with Illumina DNA PCR-Free Prep. After tagmentation, libraries were sequenced on separate run...

Choroid plexus insufficiency or glymphatic stasis are often classified as prequels to harmful accretion of toxic proteins in neurodegenerative disease. Cognitive decline and disordered neuronal signaling subsequently become cardinal features of Alzheimer's disease (AD), typically progressing with amyloid-ß and tau protein accumulation. For Parkinso...

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of duodenal origin are an unusual subset among all NETs, comprising only about 3% of this neoplasm class. In general, NETs are characterized by overexpression of somatostatin receptors and carry an excellent prognosis with early diagnosis and intervention. Chromogranin A (CgA), a protein originating in secretory vesicle...

No major breakthroughs have entered mainstream clinical fertility practice since egg donation and intracytoplasmic sperm injection decades ago, and oocyte deficits secondary to advanced age continue as the main manifestation of diminished ovarian reserve. In the meantime, several unproven IVF 'accessories' have emerged including so-called ovarian r...

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an 'orthobiologic' with recognized roles in plastic surgery, musculoskeletal disorders, dentistry, dermatology, and more recently, 'ovarian rejuvenation'. Intraovarian PRP involves a complex secretome discharged after platelet activation, comprising multiple cytokine mediators delivered surgically to older or inactive...

Background In the pre-menopausal ovary, the oocyte does not develop in isolation. Stroma, perivascular cells, immune cells, granulosa cells and endothelium are unequivocally active, and compelling evidence are also available placing germline stem cells within this milieu. Indeed, the local cytoarchitecture network of collagen, proteoglycans, polysa...

Background: How has the research portfolio among IVF clinics been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic? From 2020 to present, the publication output at the intersection of IVF and Covid-19 has evolved and enlarged consistently each year. Methods: This descriptive, bibliometric scoping audit gathered metadata on all publications accessioned by the U.S...

This study covers the 5-year interval prior to COVID-19 admission for an otherwise healthy 46,XX adolescent expanding the developmental characterization of an unusual convergence of amenorrhea and genetic mutations. The patient experienced rapid collapse of endogenous estradiol output followed by secondary amenorrhea at 13 years of age. Euploid, di...

Ovarian platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is claimed to restore fertility potential by improving reserve, an effect perhaps mediated epigenetically by platelet-discharged regulatory elements rather than gonadotropin activated G-protein coupled receptors, as with stimulated in vitro fertilization (IVF). The finding that fresh activated platelet releaseate...

On a therapeutic landscape unchanged since the 1980's, oocyte donation with IVF still stands as the solitary medical answer to diminished reserve and premature ovarian insufficiency. In 2016, intraovarian platelet-rich plasma (PRP) crossed the horizon as a hopeful reply to these intertwined problems. The once remote mirage of platelet cytokine effe...

Covid-19 in adolescence with multisystem inflammatory injury (MIS-C) is a newly described condition sharing key features with Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome. A May 2020 United Nations WHO brief covering findings from North America and Europe drew notice to this acute post-viral illness characterized by severe, diffuse hyperinflammation l...

Adolescents with COVID-19 and subsequent multisystem inflammatory injury share key features with Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome. As referenced in a United Nations WHO brief from May 2020, findings from North America and Europe drew notice to an acute illness accompanied by severe, diffuse hyperinflammation leading to multiorgan failure....

Background RUNX2, SALL1 and SAMD9 are independently assorted genes responsible for multisystem actions where disruption often results in severe developmental or functional impairment. Alteration in any of these ‘master regulators’ is usually diagnosed in early childhood when missed milestones, anatomical dysmorphia, or chronic infection/immune impa...

Background: Interest in decelerating or reversing reproductive aging is unlikely to diminish in the era of molecular genetics. For the adult human ovary, meeting the challenge of menopause without synthetic hormone replacement has now moved beyond proof-of-concept, as shown from treatments validated with standard metabolic markers and ovarian rese...

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) represents a physiologic signaling aggregate comprising hundreds of platelet derived cytokines obtained from blood samples, collected by standard venipuncture. As a refinement of conventional PRP, growth factors of platelet origin may be further processed to enrich this releasate after activation. Interest in PRP applicat...

Sterile α motif domain-containing protein 9 (SAMD9) is a regulatory protein centrally involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis. Mapped to 7p21.2, variants in SAMD9 have been reported in <50 pediatric cases worldwide, typically with early lethality. Germline gain-of-function SAMD9 variants are associated with MIRAGE syndrome (myelodysplasia, inf...

Clin Exp Reprod Med 2021 :: Objective: As clinicians and patients await consensus on intraovarian platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, this project evaluated contemporary research trends in the literature. Methods: A PubMed/NLM search aggregated all ovarian PRP-related publications (n=54) to evaluate their scope, abstract utility, submission-to-pu...

The first published description of intraovarian platelet-rich plasma (PRP) appeared in mid-2016, when a new experimental technique was successfully used in adult human ovaries to correct the reduced fertility potential accompanying advanced maternal age. Considering the potential therapeutic scope of intraovarian activated PRP and/or condensed plat...

Sterile alpha motif domain-containing protein 9 (SAMD9) is a regulatory protein centrally involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis. Mapped to 7p21.2, variants in SAMD9 have been reported in <50 pediatric cases worldwide, typically with early lethality. Germline gain-of-function SAMD9 variants are associated with MIRAGE Syndrome (myelodysplasia,...

Background: The use of autologous platelet-rich plasma as an ovarian treatment has not been standardized and remains controversial. Case Presentation: A 41½-year old woman with diminished ovarian reserve (serum anti- Müllerian hormone = 0.163 mg/mL) and a history of 10 unsuccessful in vitro fertilization cycles presented for reproductive endocrinol...

Int J Mol Cell Med [2020] Reports appear to give reassurance that vertical transmission near term is unlikely in pregnancy, but risks of incidental SARS-CoV-2 infection during fertility treatments, at embryo implantation, or in the first trimester remain unknown. If early pregnancy sequela in the current COVID-19 pandemic are modeled from the 2004...

Int J Reprod Biomed [2020] :: Background: Use of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as an ovarian treatment has not been standardized and remains controversial. Case Presentation: A 41½ year old with diminished ovarian reserve (serum AMH=0.163mg/mL) and history of 10 unsuccessful IVF cycles presented for reproductive endocrinology consult. She a...

The inverse correlation between maternal age and pregnancy rate represents a major challenge for reproductive endocrinology. The high embryo ploidy error rate in failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles reflects genetic misfires accumulated by older oocytes over time. Despite the application of different follicular recruitment protocols during IV...

Prompt diagnosis of tubal ectopic pregnancy (EP) is now usually possible before rupture and catastrophic hemorrhage, yet if unrecognized, EP remains an obstetrical emergency with high maternal mortality. Long considered unsalvageable, the EP itself is incidentally terminated during treatment to save the life of the mother. Of note, the embryo ploid...

This registered, prospective clinical trial assessed serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) patterns after treatment with activated platelet rich plasma (PRP). Patients with low ovarian reserve and/or at least 1 prior failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle (n=182) received PRP injected into ovarian tissue under ultrasound guidance. Pretreatment AMH,...

Even if you're a morning person, the ovary's biological clock starts ticking way too early. Before that very first ovulation, your egg count is already silently slipping away. It's so unfair! But what if there were a way to turn that clock back, to 'reboot' hormones to younger levels? Maybe even create new eggs? Could there be a method to reach the...

In clinical infertility practice, one intractable problem is low (or absent) ovarian reserve which in turn reflects the natural oocyte depletion associated with advancing maternal age. The number of available eggs has been generally thought to be finite and strictly limited, an entrenched and largely unchallenged tenet dating back more than 50 year...

One explanation for why downstream gonadotropin protocol changes during IVF commonly arrive too late to have significant effects is that embryo development actually begins during oogenesis. Thus, efforts to modify the chromosomal status of blastocysts must address the ovarian milieu well in advance of follicular recruitment. A 42 year old woman wit...

Objectives: This work assessed sexual and neurobehavioral parameters after ovarian treatment with autologous PRP. Design: Questionnaire study. Material and methods: Patients receiving ovarian PRP injection (n=80) due to low ovarian reserve and/or at least 1 prior failed IVF cycle were sampled. Pre- and post-treatment levels in self-reported da...

Objective Although previous research has suggested that risk for reoperation among hysteroscopic sterilization (HS) patients is more than ten times higher than for patients undergoing standard laparoscopic tubal ligation, little has been reported about these subsequent procedures. Methods This descriptive cohort study used a confidential online qu...

Objective This investigation examined data on unplanned pregnancies following hysteroscopic sterilization (HS). Methods A confidential questionnaire was used to collect data from women with medically confirmed pregnancy (n=103) registered after undergoing HS. Results Mean (±SD) patient age and body mass index (BMI) were 29.5±4.6 years and 27.7±6....

Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) is a component of IVF entailing selection of an embryo for transfer on the basis of chromosomal normalcy. If PGS were integrated with single embryo transfer (SET) in a surrogacy setting, this approach could improve pregnancy rates, minimize miscarriage risk, and limit multiple gestations. Even without PGS, pr...

Essure (Bayer) received approval from the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration as a permanent non-hormonal contraceptive implant in November 2002. While the use of Essure in the management of hydrosalpinx prior to in vitro fertilization (IVF) remains off-label, it has been used specifically for this purpose since at least 2007. Although most publishe...

Nuclear transfer stem cells hold considerable promise in the field of regenerative medicine and cell-based drug discovery. In this study, a total of 29 oocytes were obtained from three young (20–24 years old) reproductive egg donors who had been successful in previous cycles. These oocytes, deemed by intended parents to be in excess of their reprod...

Human therapeutic cloning or nuclear transfer stem cells (NTSC) to produce patient-specific stem cells, holds considerable promise in the field of regenerative medicine. The recent withdrawal of the only scientific publications claiming the successful generation of NTSC lines afford an opportunity to review the available research in mammalian repro...

Objective: Evidence derived from egg donation studies suggests that oocyte quality may be the most important factor determining implantation failure and pregnancy loss. The potential role of a uterine factor, other than in cases with detectable uterine pathology, is more controversial. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of a possi...

To test whether progesterone or progesterone receptors are important mediators of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and whether progesterone antagonist RU 486 would alleviate symptoms. Following extensive screening including physical and psychological assessment, seven women with severe PMS participated in a 6-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-con...

To test the hypothesis that corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is linked to stress-associated reproductive dysfunction in the human by determining if the administration of human corticotropin-releasing hormone (hCRH) results in an inhibition of gonadotropin secretion. Twenty-four-hour prospective study with frequent (every 10 minutes) blood samp...

Although its etiology is unknown, it has been hypothesized that premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is linked to a deficiency of central serotoninergic activity. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of fluoxetine, a specific serotonin uptake inhibitor, on PMS symptoms. Following extensive screening, including several psychological inventories, eig...

Nucleoids, prepared by salt extraction of non-DNase-digested nuclei, have properties similar, but not identical, to those of nuclear matrices which are prepared by salt extraction of DNase-digested nuclei. Nuclear matrices retained less pulse-labelled DNA, slightly less bound DNA polymerase alpha and DNA primase, but had greater in vitro DNA synthe...

Studies of the spatial organization of DNA replication have provided increasing evidence of the importance of the nuclear matrix. We have previously reported a relationship between rates of DNA synthesis and the differential binding of DNA polymerase alpha to the nuclear matrix over the S-phase. We now report the detection of DNA primase bound to t...