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Dr Mark Sauer
RBMOnline - Vol 7. No 5. 503 Reproductive BioMedicine Online; www.rbmonline.com/Article/1157 on web 20 October 2003
Meet our Editor Dr Mark Sauer
1996–2006. Fellowships granted include the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, Society for Gynecological Investigation, Reproductive Surgery, Assisted Reproduction Technology, Reproductive Endocrinology, American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Born in Iowa, Mark Sauer grew up in various areas of the Midwest, and attended school in Missouri. Educated at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, USA, he gained a BA in Biology in 1976. Medicine had long attracted him, and this quest took him to the University of Illinois School of Medicine in Chicago in 1980 where he completed his Internship/Residency in four years. California now beckoned, as he writes, more to escape the plains than to study science. His residency chair, William Spellacy, persuaded him to do a Fellowship instead of returning to Iowa and this advice from his mentor changed the pattern of his career. A post at the Harbor-UCLA Medical centre, Torrance, gave him the good fortune of hooking up with John Buster, who set his targets and passions in his field. This academic background resulted in his concentrating on reproductive endocrinology and infertility, with special attention to embryo donation, sustained by constant support from Roger Lobo. He then was licensed in Nevada and held successive posts in California and New York, where he has now settled. His successive Universities reflect his increasing authority in his field. Assistant Professor in UCLA in 1986–1987 was followed by tenured posts in the University of Southern California until 1995 when he was awarded a Professorship in Columbia University, New York. He became Professor with tenure in 1997 and has held this post since then. Through his University career, he has lectured in many Departments on assisted conception, endocrinology and ethics, among other subjects. He writes of ‘all the good Fellows I have had the good fortune to teach, who in many ways taught me more than I taught them’. He held numerous executive posts, especially with the Pacific Coast Fertility Society. A visitor at many Congresses, too numerous to name, he became an accepted leader in his field and a welcome speaker. He has been a frequent lead speaker and Chairman at Congresses worldwide, although he ‘often wondered why anyone cared so much as to invite me’. He has held many Directorships, most recently in New York. He was given Board Certification for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1987, subspeciality Reproductive Endocrinology in 1998 and Recertification for
Never intending to pursue an academic career, he had believed that after training a return to rural Iowa and delivering babies was inevitable. He now doubts this ambition will ever be realized. He claims to have stayed the course only because of his passion for the projects he had begun. A glance at these reveals how he has become so deeply involved in his subject. First, embryo donation and uterine lavage held his interest, then treating tubal pregnancies with methotrexate. At Harbor/UCLA he and his colleagues developed most of the original treatment protocols now widely used. Next, he moved to egg donation at USC and ‘menopausal babies’, which must have been a challenging ethical task. By today, his interests have widened to include the treatment of HIV seropositive patients with assisted reproduction technologies. His total commitment to these kinds of projects remains an outstanding feature of his career. Not surprisingly, his dedication to such complex and demanding clinical and ethical projects often led to his ‘pioneer’ status within his wider field. He detests and disagrees with this description! Labelled sometimes as a ‘renegade’ (even ‘dangerous’), he suggests it is fairer to say that he has ‘an enquiring mind’ that tends to challenge conventional authority, an aspect of his personality that has always been true. It even explains why he was fired in his youth for insubordination as a restaurant busboy. Not surprisingly, his colleagues well appreciate his independent outlook and his determination to prove his point! Outside his work, Mark busies himself with his four children spaced over 13 years (Julie aged 20; Christopher aged 17; Jeffery aged 12; and Emily aged 7). He is happily married for 24 years to Lynda, who as many women, sacrificed a professional career (law) so that he might pursue his profession and have a family. He writes that to her, he is eternally grateful. Their free time involves typically attending youth and school sporting events and functions, or going to professional sports games (he and his boys love pro hockey). They are passionate for attending the metropolitan opera (‘my kids hate it, but my wife loves it’). Surprisingly, even a boy from Iowa can learn to appreciate composers such as Puccini and Verdi.
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Meet our Editor Dr Mark Sauer
1996–2006. Fellowships granted include the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, Society for Gynecological Investigation, Reproductive Surgery, Assisted Reproduction Technology, Reproductive Endocrinology, American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Born in Iowa, Mark Sauer grew up in various areas of the Midwest, and attended school in Missouri. Educated at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, USA, he gained a BA in Biology in 1976. Medicine had long attracted him, and this quest took him to the University of Illinois School of Medicine in Chicago in 1980 where he completed his Internship/Residency in four years. California now beckoned, as he writes, more to escape the plains than to study science. His residency chair, William Spellacy, persuaded him to do a Fellowship instead of returning to Iowa and this advice from his mentor changed the pattern of his career. A post at the Harbor-UCLA Medical centre, Torrance, gave him the good fortune of hooking up with John Buster, who set his targets and passions in his field. This academic background resulted in his concentrating on reproductive endocrinology and infertility, with special attention to embryo donation, sustained by constant support from Roger Lobo. He then was licensed in Nevada and held successive posts in California and New York, where he has now settled. His successive Universities reflect his increasing authority in his field. Assistant Professor in UCLA in 1986–1987 was followed by tenured posts in the University of Southern California until 1995 when he was awarded a Professorship in Columbia University, New York. He became Professor with tenure in 1997 and has held this post since then. Through his University career, he has lectured in many Departments on assisted conception, endocrinology and ethics, among other subjects. He writes of ‘all the good Fellows I have had the good fortune to teach, who in many ways taught me more than I taught them’. He held numerous executive posts, especially with the Pacific Coast Fertility Society. A visitor at many Congresses, too numerous to name, he became an accepted leader in his field and a welcome speaker. He has been a frequent lead speaker and Chairman at Congresses worldwide, although he ‘often wondered why anyone cared so much as to invite me’. He has held many Directorships, most recently in New York. He was given Board Certification for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1987, subspeciality Reproductive Endocrinology in 1998 and Recertification for
Never intending to pursue an academic career, he had believed that after training a return to rural Iowa and delivering babies was inevitable. He now doubts this ambition will ever be realized. He claims to have stayed the course only because of his passion for the projects he had begun. A glance at these reveals how he has become so deeply involved in his subject. First, embryo donation and uterine lavage held his interest, then treating tubal pregnancies with methotrexate. At Harbor/UCLA he and his colleagues developed most of the original treatment protocols now widely used. Next, he moved to egg donation at USC and ‘menopausal babies’, which must have been a challenging ethical task. By today, his interests have widened to include the treatment of HIV seropositive patients with assisted reproduction technologies. His total commitment to these kinds of projects remains an outstanding feature of his career. Not surprisingly, his dedication to such complex and demanding clinical and ethical projects often led to his ‘pioneer’ status within his wider field. He detests and disagrees with this description! Labelled sometimes as a ‘renegade’ (even ‘dangerous’), he suggests it is fairer to say that he has ‘an enquiring mind’ that tends to challenge conventional authority, an aspect of his personality that has always been true. It even explains why he was fired in his youth for insubordination as a restaurant busboy. Not surprisingly, his colleagues well appreciate his independent outlook and his determination to prove his point! Outside his work, Mark busies himself with his four children spaced over 13 years (Julie aged 20; Christopher aged 17; Jeffery aged 12; and Emily aged 7). He is happily married for 24 years to Lynda, who as many women, sacrificed a professional career (law) so that he might pursue his profession and have a family. He writes that to her, he is eternally grateful. Their free time involves typically attending youth and school sporting events and functions, or going to professional sports games (he and his boys love pro hockey). They are passionate for attending the metropolitan opera (‘my kids hate it, but my wife loves it’). Surprisingly, even a boy from Iowa can learn to appreciate composers such as Puccini and Verdi.
503