Many of you may already know about the widely popular organization, Stupid Cancer, but for those of you who are new to our blog, Stupid Cancer is the nation’s largest support community for young adult survivors of cancer. They support a global network of survivors, caregivers, providers and advocates to ensure that no young adult is unaware of the age-appropriate resources available to them. Stupid Cancer empowers young adults affected by cancer through innovative and award-winning programs and services, including Stupid Cancer Happy Hours, the Stupid Cancer Show, and the annual OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults.

The annual OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults is the premier oncology conference and social networking event for the young adult cancer movement. A pivotal healthcare event, OMG! is one of the largest gatherings of young adult patients, survivors, caregivers, professionals and advocates in the world. The event inspires thousands to get organized, build community and unite as one to drive change. In April, Stupid Cancer hosted its sixth OMG! Cancer Summit in Las Vegas, NV, and attracted over 600 attendees. As one would expect, Stupid Cancer makes the weekend-long event not only informative but also FUN, with events such as an ice cream social, and Stupid Cancer pub trivia.

Over the last few years, members of the Oncofertility Consortium have attended OMG! to help young survivors understand their fertility options and provide resources and pertinent information to young adults whose fertility may have been affected by their cancer treatment. This year, Consortium member, Laxmi Kondapalli, MD, MSCE, moderated two breakout sessions entitled, “Fertility: Rights & Options With, Through, And Beyond Care.” Dr. Kondapalli served as the clinical expert and reproductive health specialist alongside Alice Crisci, advocate and Founder of Fertile Action, and Jennifer Rockman, ovarian cancer survivor.

The framework of their session revolved around all the different routes to parenthood available to young cancer survivors, including banking eggs, embryos, ovarian tissue, and semen; using a gestational carrier; and pursuing adoption. Dr. Kondapalli stated that the overwhelming theme that evolved from the sessions was the lack of information presented to newly diagnosed cancer patients regarding the potential impact on their fertility. Attendees were eager to learn about the different tests available to gauge fertility, such as ovarian reserve testing for women and semen analysis for men. They also wanted to learn more about their fertility options following cancer treatment and, specifically, how their treatment may have impacted their fertility. Participants left armed with information and resources, and even Dr. Kondapalli’s personal email address, should they need her clinical expertise at any point in their fertility journey.

To learn more about your fertility options, visit SaveMyFertility.org, or contact us at 1.866.708.FERT (3378).

Below is an excerpt from an article in the University of Colorado Cancer Center Fund E-News featuring Oncofertility Consortium member and Northwestern University alumna, Laxmi Kondapalli, MD, MSCE. To learn more about Dr. Kondapalli, read our three-part blog series, Training the Next Generation in Oncofertility.

By Jerry Sinning

Dr. Laxmi A. Kondapalli is a unique member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. She joined the University of Colorado faculty in 2011 as Assistant Professor and Women’s Reproductive Health Research Scholar in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She came to the Cancer Center after finishing her education in the Northeast – receiving her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan, her Medical Degree at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, and a Master of Science in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University and fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Kondapalli is the leader of the Oncofertility Program at CU Cancer Center. She does not see patients to discuss their cancer treatment options, but rather their family planning options as cancer survivors. Dr. Kondapalli’s program is one of only a handful in the country that provides an interdisciplinary approach to cancer treatment planning and care that includes clear family planning options for patients, community support services, research, education and outreach…

Read the rest of the article here.

From left: Irene Su, Laxmi Kondapalli and Maureen Prewitt

This is the final installment in a 3-part blog series featuring Oncofertility Consortium member, Laxmi Kondapalli, MD, MSCE.  In this post, we take a look at her current position at the University of Colorado and her latest research endeavors. To read the 1st  blog, click here and for the 2^nd post, click here.

Mid-2011,  while Laxmi was finishing up her clinical work at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), she was recruited by the University of Colorado in Denver to start the first fertility preservation program in the mountain region. Laxmi accepted with the goal of creating a comprehensive wellness program at Denver and in September of 2011, she began working at her current position as an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Laxmi is working on a women’s reproductive health research grant, meaning that 75% of her time is protected for research, and 25% of her time is reserved for clinical care.  According to Laxmi, “Given that I do clinical research and that my area of interest is fertility preservation, there’s a lot more fluidity in the composition of my time because so many of my patients that I see clinically, I also try to recruit into my research protocols.” Even though the University of Colorado is a part of the National Physicians Cooperative (NPC), they had yet to have any patients who had undergone ovarian tissue freezing. Laxmi made it her mission to make fertility preservation a big presence on the university campus. She works with the cancer center, breast oncology unit and she has special privileges at the children’s hospital working with the pediatric team on fertility.  Laxmi explains, “I want to make sure that fertility preservation is a component of care for all patients.”

Currently, Laxmi is involved in several research projects for men and women including; Reproductive Outcomes in Cancer Survivors: Examining Perinatal Outcomes in the Women with a History of Cancer; Semen Parameters in Adolescent Male Cancer Patients; and Reproductive Potential in Young Breast Cancer Survivors: Interplay between Markers of Ovarian Reserve, Metabolism and Tumorogenicity. However, her research is not just science based, it has an outreach component as well. In Fall 2012, in conjunction with Fertile Action and the Oncofertility Consortium, Laxmi is launching the PACT program (Parenthood After Cancer Treatment), which is a patient and provider outreach program on fertility preservation. Patients and providers spend a day learning about the long term consequences of cancer treatment, fertility preservation and where to go to access it.

In sum Laxmi says,  “I stayed in academics because I like academics and because I am the product of great mentorship. I hope to inspire residents and fellows that I work with in the same way that I was inspired.”

Laxmi Kondapalli being interviewed by Dayle Cedars from Channel 7 news in Denver

One of the many, if not one of the most, important aims of the Oncofertility Consortium and its emphasis on fertility preservation research and clinical care, is “training the next generation.” Not only is the mission of the Consortium to improve fertility outcomes for patients undergoing cancer treatment, but it is also to ensure that future basic scientists and clinicians continue to expand current knowledge, research, clinical practice, and training in fertility preservation outcomes.  Laxmi Kondapalli, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado and Women’s Reproductive Health Research Scholar in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility is a realization of this goal. Let’s start at the beginning…

In March 2006, Laxmi was finishing up her residency training at Northwestern University in Obstetrics and Gynecology when she met Teresa K Woodruff, PhD, Director of the Oncofertility Consortium. Laxmi shared her interest in Reproductive Endocrinology (REI) with Dr. Woodruff, but expressed her desire to do basic science/bench research first, before embarking on clinical training and practice. According to Laxmi, “Meeting Dr. Woodruff changed the trajectory of my career.  She has incredible vision, particularly for someone who is not a clinician, on how to bridge science with individual care.”

Shortly after her meeting with Dr. Woodruff, Laxmi started working in the Woodruff Lab in August 2006. It was at the start of her tenure in the lab when she found out that Dr. Woodruff was one of the finalists for the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap Grant (aka, the grant that brought the “idea” of the Oncofertility Consortium to fruition). Together, they put the 1,000 page grant together over a 10 week period with help from members of the Woodruff Lab and other academics from within Northwestern and around the country. Laxmi explains, “It was being at the right place at the right time and the Oncofertility Consortium was a perfect fit for me because of my interest in REI and because it was a way for me to really see how you can translate work that we do in the laboratory to really impact clinical and patient care.”

In 2007, the Oncofertility Consortium was funded by the NIH, and Laxmi was A) not only a first-time grant writer, but a grant writer for one of the biggest grants given out (“for me, it was a valuable experience on so many levels”), B) processing and freezing A LOT of ovarian tissue in her lab work and C) navigating patients with the Fertility Preservation Patient Navigator who was receiving referrals from all over the country to do tissue freezing. By 2008, after two years in the Woodruff Lab working hands on with tissue, Laxmi was ready to embark on an REI fellowship and she had her sights set on an institution that would allow her to expand her work in fertility preservation while ideally being involved with the Oncofertility Consortium.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the amazing, fabulous Laxmi Kondapalli success story!