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The Edinburgh Assisted Conception Programme has been providing high quality Assisted Conception treatment since 1991. The unit relocated to a high specification, custom built, fertility centre based at the New Royal Infirmary in 2002 and has consistently produced the highest success rates in Scotland since 2004. Clinical success has paved the way for several productive research relationships and the unit has forged collaborative links with scientists and clinicians in the University of Edinburgh, recently reaffirmed as one of the worlds leading research Universities, the MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, which is the UK's leading institution undertaking research into reproductive health, including several successful projects in the area of infertility and the Medical Genetics department at the Western General Hospital, Internationally acclaimed for cutting edge genetics research.
Despite spectacular advances in IVF technology over the past 30 years, the reason why so many couples fail to conceive after assisted conception treatment is still not fully understood. We have developed a successful research programme to investigate the physiology, genetics, cryopreservation and culture of the mammalian oocyte and embryo in an attempt to understand why so many embryos fail to implant after transfer to the womb. This programme includes the following projects:
· Clinical trials with new IVF drugs to try and improve how the ovary is stimulated
· Investigations into how oocytes naturally grow within the follicles of the ovary
· Studies on the nurse cells around the oocyte, which nurture it prior to ovulation
· Looking at how different embryo culture conditions can effect implantation
· Development of novel techniques for genetic diagnosis in embryos, for which we
hold an HFEA research licence.
We are also currently developing new cryopreservation procedures for oocytes and embryos and a new viability assay which we hope could determine the health of a given embryo prior to transfer. We hope our research could lead to substantial increases in our basic understanding of the oocyte and embryo, leading to a healthy pregnancy for many more of our couples.
This research is supported by the charity Fertility Scotland, which brings together a unique combination of medical, scientific and embryological staff from the NHS and outstanding local academic communities. We hope this research will make a difference not only to our own patients, but to many others worldwide. 
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