Supporters Like You

Christos Coutifaris is the Celso Ramon Garcia Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He served as Chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and Clinical Director of Penn Fertility Care from 1998 to 2018.

After graduation from Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biophysics, he received MD and PhD degrees from Penn where he was also elected to the AOA honor society. His PhD thesis focused on the neuroendocrine regulation of FSH secretion by the anterior pituitary gland. Post-graduate training as a resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology and as a fellow in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility was completed at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and in the subspecialty of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.

His clinical practice focuses on the care of all individuals who wish to have children and build a family.

Dr. Coutifaris has directed clinical and basic research programs in reproduction under continuous NIH grant support for over 30 years. His research, currently funded by an NICHD P50 grant, focuses on understanding the epigenetic regulation of human trophoblast differentiation and function, and how trophoblast dysregulation may lead to abnormal placenta development and adverse perinatal outcomes following treatments with Assisted Reproductive Technologies.

In addition, he currently serves as the research director for the Penn WRHR Career Development program. He was the principal investigator of the Penn site of the NIH-funded Reproductive Medicine Network, of which Penn had been a member since the Network’s inception in 1990 and until the Network’s dissolution in 2019. Dr. Coutifaris has been a member of several Federal Advisory Committees including the Reproductive Endocrinology Study Section of the National Institutes of Health and he has participated in and chaired numerous NIH special emphasis review panels. He also served as a member and then chair of both the Reproductive Scientist Development Program Evaluation Committee and the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Foundation Scholar Committee. He was a member of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was President of the Society of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, was on the Executive Board of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and served as President of the American Gynecologic and Obstetrical Society and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Coutifaris is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

After earning a degree in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 1969, he served four years on active duty in the Navy. He went on to receive his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1977, followed by OB/GYN residency training at the National Naval Medical Center and fellowship at the NIH.

Dr. Coddington held key leadership roles throughout his career, including residency director and chairman at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, fellowship and division director at The Jones Institute, and later positions at the University of Colorado and Mayo Clinic, where he served as Chair of the REI Division. He is currently on faculty at Advocate Health/Wake Forest University, continuing his work in research and education.

Dr. Coddington joined ASRM in 1983. He says that membership is a great opportunity to meet and interact with leaders in the field of reproductive medicine, as well as a wonderful opportunity to establish friendships and colleagues that have lasted my entire career. According to Dr. Coddington, this active involvement has been key to helping him evolve alongside the field. He says the ASRM membership has been beneficial to his career. “By maintaining a high level of activity and engagement, one is able to hear, develop understanding, and apply the latest technology and information.”

Mentorship is a central part of his work. Dr. Coddington emphasizes the role mentors played in his own development and now focuses on guiding students, residents, and fellows as they build their careers. He views ASRM as a critical platform for connection, learning, and professional growth, encouraging members to engage fully and take advantage of the opportunities it provides.  Looking ahead, he remains focused on advancing the field while supporting the next generation. He believes ASRM, its leadership, and its membership are well positioned to lead meaningful progress.

The power of collective giving: Friends and Colleagues create the Catherine Racowsky, PhD, Embryology Education Scholarship Fund

Investing in the Future of Reproductive Surgery: Dr. Dorothy Mitchell-Leef

For nearly 40 years, Dr. Dorothy Mitchell-Leef has been a leading voice in reproductive endocrinology and infertility in Atlanta. Beginning at Emory University School of Medicine, she initiated the Division of REI in 1981, teaching 48 residents per year. She was the first woman practicing REI in the state of Georgia through the Emory Clinic. She then joined Reproductive Biology Associates (RBA), where she had the first ICSI baby in the Western Hemisphere, the first gestational carrier pregnancy in Georgia, and the first pregnancy from a frozen embryo in the state of Georgia. Over time, she has brought over 10,000 babies into the world and transformed the lives of thousands of families.

Today, though retired from full-time practice, Dr. Mitchell-Leef continues to consult with patients of all orientations on infertility and hormonal conditions like PCOS, low AMH, and recurrent pregnancy loss. She empowers individuals and couples with early guidance and testing, helping them make informed decisions about treatments ranging from basic interventions to advanced reproductive technologies like IVF, CGH, egg freezing, and surrogacy.

But her legacy doesn’t stop with patients. Concerned about the future of reproductive surgery, Dorothy made a heartfelt gift in 2024 to the ASRM Society for Reproductive Surgery’s Joseph Sanfilippo, MD, MBA, In-Training Surgical Research Fund. This fund, named for her former mentor, provides annual grants to residents and fellows, ensuring that young doctors can pursue surgical training without being held back by financial barriers.

“I truly believe in the importance of infertility specialists having surgical skills,” says Dr. Mitchell-Leef. “It improves the continuity of care and ensures procedures are done with a deep respect for all aspects of interventional gynecologic surgery to improve outcomes for successful pregnancies.” Being part of the entire patient’s process of infertility care was a major part of her great satisfaction as an REI, allowing for their comprehensive care in all regards.

The fund holds special meaning for Dorothy, who trained at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, where Dr. Sanfilippo was two years her senior. Inspired by the care and excellence of her mentors, she has devoted her own career to teaching—as an Associate Professor at Emory University from 1981 to 1991, and at Morehouse College since 2017.

Looking back, Dr. Mitchell-Leef says the honor of helping people become parents never fades. “Every patient, every baby, every story is unique,” she reflects. “It’s been the greatest privilege of my life to help create families—and to support the future of this field I love so deeply.”

Honoring the Past, Investing in the Future: Dr. Thomas Kosasa’s Enduring Legacy

For Dr. Thomas Kosasa, medicine has always been more than a profession—it has been a lifelong calling, one shaped by mentorship, history, and a deep commitment to advancing the field of reproductive medicine. With a recent generous pledge to the ASRM Research Institute Endowment, Dr. Kosasa is ensuring that the future of fertility research is just as groundbreaking as its past.

“As a second-year medical student in 1969, I was introduced to ASRM—then called the American Fertility Society—by my research professor at Harvard, Dr. Somers Sturgis, a former ASRM president,” Dr. Kosasa recalls. “That moment changed my life. ASRM has been a cornerstone of my career ever since.”

His journey through reproductive medicine reads like a who’s who of ASRM history. From working alongside Dr. C. Lee Buxton, Dr. S. Leon Israel, and Dr. Francis Ingersoll, to collaborating with leaders like Dr. Luigi Mastroianni and Dr. Alan DeCherney, Dr. Kosasa was mentored by the very pioneers who built the field. He even met Dr. Herbert Thomas, founder of ASRM, who once shared with him that the organization began with just 150 members.

Dr. Kosasa’s early research on pregnancy detection—specifically developing a test for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) without cross-reactivity to luteinizing hormone—helped lay the foundation for modern early pregnancy testing. Yet even as he contributed to some of the field’s most critical breakthroughs, his focus remained on the patients and future doctors who would benefit from this progress.

That focus is what makes his gift to the ASRM Research Institute so powerful. The endowment supports the Discovery and Innovation grant cycle, funding the next generation of scientists and clinicians who are asking the important questions and developing the tools that will shape tomorrow’s fertility care.

“ASRM gave me so much,” Dr. Kosasa says. “It’s only right to give back—to help young researchers who are just beginning their journey, like I once was.”

Today, Dr. Kosasa serves as professor of reproductive endocrinology at the University of Hawai‘i’s John A. Burns School of Medicine. A graduate of Dartmouth and McGill, with residency and fellowship training at Harvard, he’s a nationally recognized expert in infertility and holds the highest number of successful pregnancies among fertility physicians in Hawai‘i.