Supporters Like You

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.