Our Fertility Laboratory - The Southern California Institute for Reproductive Sciences
Our Embryology Laboratory Staff
Our Nursing Staff
The Southern California Institute for Reproductive Sciences Licenses and Certifications
The Southern California Institute for Reproductive Sciences is certified by the College of American Pathologists. Our laboratory is one of the most progressive in Southern California. New procedures and findings are incorporated into practice as quickly as possible.
For the convenience of our patients, Reproductive Endocrinology and Andrology laboratories are operated at the Center. The Reproductive Endocrinology laboratory is licensed by the state, is certified by CLIA and functions with compliance with all CAL OSHA guidelines. The laboratory participates in a proficiency testing program sponsored by the College of American Pathologists. All blood hormone testing is done in the office and results are available on the day the blood is drawn.
Our Andrology Laboratory
The Andrology laboratory performs all male testing including Semen analysis, Semen freezing, Sperm penetration assay and Immunological testing as well as sperm preparation for Intrauterine insemination. The Andrology laboratory functions under the strict guidelines set by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, is compliant with all OSHA regulations. The laboratory is licensed by the state of California, is certified by CLIA and is a licensed Tissue Bank. Andrology tests are scheduled by appointment and results are available within one to two days depending on the test.
Mitchel C. Schiewe, M.S., Ph.D., HCLD (ABB), ELD (ABB), Laboratory Director
View his complete Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Schiewe has prided himself on having a diverse working knowledge of ART's and effectively applying them to numerous domestic/laboratory species and a wide variety of captive and free-ranging wildlife (>30 species). His extensive work in the 1980’s included research projects in Africa and Asia, and involved pioneering efforts in embryo toxicology, embryo freezing & vitrification, laparoscopic embryo transfer and blastocyst reconstruction/placental donation. In 1992, he extended his expertise into the biomedical field of Human Embryology where he co-published 8 peer-reviewed manuscripts by 1996 on the topics ICSI, embryo biopsy, oocyte freezing, laser hatching and embryo culture/blastocyst hatching mechanisms.
To date, Dr. Schiewe has served as an author or co-author on 35 peer-reviewed papers and 70 abstracts presented at national and international meetings. He has been a moderator and Abstract Reviewer for multiple ASRM meetings and continues as a Journal Reviewer for Fertility & Sterility and Theriogenology. Dr. Schiewe’s foundation was in the IETS where he served for 5-10 years on their Import/Export Committee, Education Committee, Research Subcommittee and the IETS Foundation (Vice-Chair, 1993; Chairman, 1994-1997). Currently, Dr. Schiewe is serving as the Program Chair and Chairman-elect to the Reproductive Biologist Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) in 2007.
Dr. Schiewe’s academic foundation in Animal Science reinforced a strong interest in embryo biology, as both an undergraduate at the University of California at Davis (B.S., 1981) and as a Masters’ degree student at Louisiana State University (LSU, 1983). He served as a Research Intern, Fellow and Associate of the Smithsonian Institution at the National Zoological Park (NZP, 1984-1992) which involved developing an embryo research program for nondomestic species. Research efforts at both LSU and NZP resulted in award winning research presentations at the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS) meetings (1983 and 1984, respectively). Concurrent with his NZP affiliation, he completed a Ph.D. program in the Department of Physiology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, MD and was a guest scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Upon receiving his Ph.D. in 1989, he was awarded a National Research Council Research Associateship for post-doctoral work at the NIH National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). In 1992, he joined the faculty of OB/GYN in the REI Division at the University of California - Irvine (UCI) as an Assistant Professor.
In the mid 90’s, Dr. Schiewe served as the Laboratory Director of IVF & Embryology at California Fertility Associates in conjunction with the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center (5 yrs) and as a Guest Scientist at the Studio Interdisciplinare Fecondazione e Transfer in Rome, Italy (6 yrs). Since 2000, he has devoted his efforts to Clinical IVF (Director) at Fertility & Surgical Associates in Thousand Oaks, CA.
Nancy Nugent, MS, Laboratory Supervisor
Nancy is the Supervisor of the A.R.T. laboratory and is extremely talented in micromanipulative procedures including Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), Assisted Hatching (AH) and Embryo Biopsy for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). She received her BS in Molecular Biology and Geneticsat University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada and her MS in Reproductive Physiologyat University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
She has trained many embryologists in these techniques and is internationally known for her expertise. Nancy has been invited to perform these procedures for A.R.T. clinics in Italy, Mexico, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil. She has been with SCCRM since October 1997.
Elizabeth Baer, Laboratory Scientist
Elizabeth has specialty training in Molecular Biology and has worked at the National Human Genome Research Center as a Senior Research Associate involving the sequencing of human chromosome #5. She has also served as the Senior Molecular Genetics technician at the Molecular Genetics Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory at Children's Hospital in San Diego. Elizabeth brings a wealth of experience to this laboratory that is directly applicable to the area of Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis. She has been a member of our staff since April 2001.
Shane Zozula, BS, TS (ABB), Senior Embryologist
Shane is an experienced Senior Embryologist who joined SCCRM/SCIRS Lab in July of 2002 after 9 years at a private IVF program in Washington. He received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Puget Sound and is experienced in Andrology, In Vitro Fertilization, and micromanipulative procedures including Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), Laser Assisted Hatching (LAH), Embryo Biopsy and Fixation for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). Shane passed his Board exams in 2009 to become a certified Technical Supervisor.
Katie Crawford, Embryologist
Katherine Crawford is a Southern California native and is thrilled to be back home. She graduated in June 2008 from California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo with a B.S. degree in Animal Science. While attending Cal Poly, Katie was able to take many informative courses including Applied Animal Biotechnology and Applied Animal Embryology, which allowed her to develop her skills in the IVF field. She was asked to be a Teaching Assistant for the Embryology laboratory course during her Senior year. Since joining the SCCRM/SCIRS staff in September 2008, Katie has become proficient in all aspects of Andrology, while developing her clinical Embryology skills. Katie is proving to be a valuable member of our laboratory team.
