Nova IVF, an Ivy Fertility Clinic, Hires Dr. Anna Sokalska
Dr. Sokalska received her medical degree from Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poland. She completed residencies in obstetrics and gynecology at Poznan and University of Pennsylvania, a research fellowship at Lund University in Malmö, Sweden, and a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Davis. She then completed her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Pennsylvania. She comes to Nova IVF from Stanford School of Medicine, where she serves as clinical assistant professor and director of the Fertility Preservation Program.
"I am honored to join the team at Nova IVF, where clinical excellence and patient-centered care are top priorities," said Dr. Sokalska. "I look forward to working alongside their excellent team and supporting patients with compassion, curiosity, and evidence-based care."
Nova IVF has been building families in the South Bay Area for over 35 years and has IVF success rates up to 50% higher than the national average. Dr. Sokalska joins Richard Schmidt, MD and Meera Shah, MD on the physician team, enabling Ivy Fertility to serve a growing number of patients throughout Silicon Valley and beyond.
"Dr. Sokalska brings an extraordinary combination of scientific rigor, international experience, and heartfelt dedication to fertility care," said Dr. Schmidt, Medical Director at Nova IVF. "We're excited for our patients to benefit from her expertise and warm, individualized approach."
About Ivy Fertility
Ivy Fertility is globally recognized as pioneers and innovators in the field of advanced reproductive technologies, in-vitro fertilization, third-party reproduction, andrology, and fertility research. The Ivy Fertility network includes Dallas IVF, Fertility Associates of Memphis, Fertility Centers of Orange County, IVF Fertility Center, Los Angeles Reproductive Center, Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine, Nevada Fertility Center, Northern California Fertility Medical Center, NOVA IVF, Pacific Northwest Fertility, Reproductive Partners Medical Group, San Diego Fertility Center, Utah Fertility Center, and Virginia Fertility & IVF. By developing new procedures, achieving scientific breakthroughs, and teaching the latest techniques, Ivy Fertility upholds its commitment to successful outcomes and continually contributes to the development of the entire fertility community. The Ivy team is passionate about its family-building mission and works tirelessly each day to help patients become parents.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250513925228/en/
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Constance Rapsonconstance@ivyfertility.com
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USA Today
07-07-2025
- USA Today
Brain-computer interfaces: Unlocking the potential of man and machine
On Sunday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Brain-computer interfaces promise breakthroughs in restoring lost function and beyond. But they also raise ethical and societal questions about the linking of minds with machines. Dr. Iahn Cajigas, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pennsylvania who has studied brain-computer interfaces and worked with patients using them, joins USA TODAY's The Excerpt to share his insights. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Dana Taylor: Hello. And welcome to The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Sunday, July 6th, 2025. It is the fodder of science fiction plots and planting a device into the human brain. The Blockbuster franchise, The Matrix comes to mind. Here in the real world, though it's actually happening, while tiny computers have been implanted into less than 100 brains so far, their impact has been life-changing. Brain-computer interfaces or BCIs have done everything from allowing increased mobility to helping with speech. Could these devices become more mainstream and help the disabled do even more in the future? To dive into all these questions and more, I'm joined by Dr. Iahn Cajigas, a neurosurgeon with the University of Pennsylvania, who studied brain-computer interfaces and worked with patients using them for over three years. Thanks for joining me, Dr. Cajigas. Dr. Iahn Cajigas: Thank you for having me, Dana. Dana Taylor: For someone who's not familiar with these BCIs, can you catch us up on the landscape here? What kinds of things are they helping patients do right now? Dr. Iahn Cajigas: It's a very exciting field. I think the best way to think about brain-computer interface technology is really to think about what the brain does and understand what are the inputs and outputs of the brain, and then understand what can be damaged with injuries of the nervous system, because that's exactly what these devices aim to restore. So as we all know, there's five main senses, right? We have sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch, and those are the inputs to the brain. And then we have the outputs that the brain, what can the brain do to interact with the world? That's really movement of muscles of the mouth, muscles of the hand to write, muscles of the leg to move. And therefore, what brain-computer interfaces are aiming to do is either helping get signals into the brain to restore some of the senses that have been lost or get signals out of the brain to re-enable patients to interact with the world. Dana Taylor: And without getting too technical, how do they work? Dr. Iahn Cajigas: The main language of the brain is really the electrical activity in individual neurons. And so by understanding what the neurons are trying to do and how these are related to the actions that the individual is trying to perform, we're able to make a translation between the activity in the brain to the output. So for example, if a patient's trying to reach with their arm to grab something, well, we can listen to the neurons in the motor cortex and how they're trying to recruit the muscles that are involved in that reach, and then tell a computer or a robotic arm, "Translate that movement into the movement of a cursor or the movement of a robotic arm that matches what the person's intending to do with their limb." It's really by creating a map that relates the electrical activity of the brain with the actual output that is intended, that we're then able to restore that function. 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Yahoo
04-07-2025
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