About
Chelsea Fox MD earned her BS in Biological Sciences at Clemson University and medical degree at the Medical University of South Carolina. She completed her residency in OB/GYN at Greenville Health Systems and her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of California San Diego. She is clinical faculty at the Fertility Center of the Carolinas and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. She is double board certified in both OB/GYN and REI. While at the Fertility Center, she has developed multiple partnerships with Clemson University faculty. She is Co-PI on a Seed Grant from Prisma Health with Dr. Luigi Boccuto investigated mitophagy activation in the preimplantation human embryo. She also developed an inaugural women’s health research collaborative with multiple Clemson faculty (Dr. Celina Checura, Dr. Luigi Boccuto and Dr. Diana Ivankovic) as well as faculty at USCOMG and USC. The goal with this research collaborative is to develop a framework for future translational research projects to improve women’s health and fertility care
How their research is transforming health care
Despite improvements in assisted reproductive technology, in vitro fertilization (IVF) remains inefficient, particularly in women 35 years of age and older. In fact, only 50% of fertilized embryos are suitable for uterine transfer after IVF whereas the remaining embryos arrest or degenerate in culture. Age-related alterations in mitochondrial function of the oocyte have been implicated in this age- related decline in IVF success. The primary goal of our research is to understand mitochondrial function and turnover in the oocyte and preimplantation embryo in order to develop therapeutic options which may improve IVF efficiency particularly for women > 35 years old.
Health research keywords
Reproductive aging, Ovarian Biology, Infertility, Artificial reproductive technology, in vitro fertilization, polycystic ovary syndrome
