The embryology and andrology laboratory at Reproductive Care Center has the highest possible accreditation in the United States, by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), since 2001 and continues to maintain certification through CAP administered inspections and proficiency testing. Since 2001, the laboratory has maintained a Certificate of Compliance with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). CLIA was formed by Congress to establish quality standards for all laboratory testing to ensure the accuracy, reliability and timeliness of patient test results.
Reproductive Care Center’s lab has earned Optum Center of Excellence status. REI Centers who have earned Center of Excellence recognition are set apart from the rest in the following areas:
- Higher pregnancy rates than the national average
- Lower high-risk multiple birth rates than the national average
- Excellent quality care by highly trained REI specialists
- Few complications
- Lower costs to patients
The laboratory is part of the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART). SART was established by member IVF clinics to set and maintain standards for assisted reproductive technology centers. This was done in an effort to better serve members and their patients. One of the key functions of SART is to help patients view national and individual clinic IVF success rates. Our success rates have been reported to SART since 1998.
Benjamin Sessions, PhD, HCLD, ELD, TS, CC
Lab Director
Benjamin R Sessions, PhD, HCLD/ELD/TS/CC, is the RCC Laboratory Director. Dr. Sessions earned his BS in Biology and Chemistry in 1999, and obtained his MS (2004) and PhD (2012) in Animal Science from Utah State University. After completion of his PhD, Dr. Sessions worked as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences at Utah State University where he taught laboratory based biotechnology courses for both undergraduate and graduate students in addition to being a member of the USU somatic cell nuclear transfer team where he assisted in producing clones of cattle, sheep, goats, and mules.
While at USU he gained extensive experience performing oocyte aspiration and maturation, in vitro fertilization, in vitro embryo culture, and embryo cryopreservation in the bovine model. He has published numerous abstracts and scientific papers and presented his research findings at many national and international scientific conferences. Dr. Sessions’ research focused on improving the embryo culture conditions of bovine nuclear transfer and IVF embryos as well as elucidating the key signaling pathways involved in oocyte activation and characterizing the epigenetic reprogramming profiles of key genes required for proper bovine embryonic development.
Dr. Sessions desired to use his knowledge and experience to assist patients in obtaining their dreams of having a family and as a result joined Reproductive Care Center in 2014. He is a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and the European Society of Human Reproductive and Embryology (ESHRE), and is also a member of the College of Reproductive Biology (CRB) administered through the American Association of Bioanalysts’ (AAB). Dr. Sessions helped design and establish the Idaho IVF lab in 2016 and has provided the embryology and andrology support for the Idaho IVF batches.
Douglass Brown, MS, TS
Embryologist
Doug Brown is an embryologist at Reproductive Care Center. He obtained his BS degree in biology from Brigham Young University, where as an undergraduate, Doug helped to research and develop genetic markers for the South American lizard genus, Liolaemus. He also published work on the evolution and population genetics of North American Xenodontid Snakes.
Following his graduation in 2012, he began work on a MS degree in genetics and biotechnology, also at BYU. For his thesis, Doug focused on sequencing and characterizing starch biosynthesis genes in plant family Chenopodium, which includes the South American crop, quinoa. He graduated at the top of his program in the summer of 2014.
Doug has been employed at Reproductive Care Center since the fall of 2014 when he was brought on to work in the Andrology and Endocrinology Lab in the RCC Clearfield office. While in Clearfield, Doug was responsible for the day to day operations of lab, which included performing semen analyses, sperm preparations for IUI, and blood hormone assays. Doug was recruited to join the embryology lab in 2016.
Laura Klinger, PhD
Embryologist
Laura Klinger, PhD is an embryologist at Reproductive Care Center. She received her BS in Animal Science from the University of Missouri in 2014 and completed her PhD at Utah State University in 2019, focusing on Reproduction and Early Development in Animal Science. Throughout graduate school, Dr Klinger served as the teaching assistant for Reproductive Physiology in the Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Department.
Dr Klinger has extensive research experience in the reproduction of domestic and exotic animals. During her undergraduate education, she was involved in research involving the successful establishment of pregnancy in beef cattle. She then completed a summer internship at the San Diego Zoo focusing on the impacts of diet on Southern White Rhino reproduction. Dr Klinger’s research throughout her PhD centered on utilizing a novel biochemical marker to predict the potential success of cloned embryos in terms of gene regulation and expression followed by pregnancy establishment using porcine and bovine blastocysts.
After completing her PhD, Dr Klinger sought to use her knowledge of embryo development to help those struggling with infertility obtain their dreams of growing their family and began her career as an embryologist at Boston IVF. She joined Reproductive Care Center in November 2019, allowing a return to Utah where her husband is stationed at Hill AFB.
Jacob Keim, PhD candidate
Embryologist
Jacob Keim is an embryologist at Reproductive Care Center. He received his BS in Biology from Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2015 and initially joined RCC as an andrologist before beginning graduate school in 2017. Jacob is currently a PhD candidate at Utah State University, focusing on Reproduction and Development in Animal Science. He taught the undergraduate endocrinology course, as well as assisted in several reproduction and molecular biology-based courses.
Jacob has been involved in many research projects focused on the production of transgenic animals using somatic cell nuclear transfer technology (SCNT or cloning) for biomedical and agricultural applications. His personal research has focused on improving embryo development and identification of markers of embryo developmental potential in cattle.
Jacob returned to Reproductive Care Center in 2022 with a desire to use the knowledge and skill he has acquired to help patients build their families.
