President 2018 – 2019
Clifford Librach, MD
Dr. Clifford Librach is the founder and Director of the CReATe Fertility Centre (Toronto, Ontario). He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Toronto, and holds cross-appointments with the Department of Physiology and Institute of Medical Sciences.
Dr. Librach played an integral role in the establishment of the reproductive biology clinical and research programs at Women’s College Hospital and in 1991 and later Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, and since then has made significant contributions to current fertility practice in Canada. He served as Division Head of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Women’s College Hospital for 23 years. Dr. Librach also served on the committees for development of standards for the Canadian Royal College REI fellowship and for development of CPSO standards for REI practice in Ontario. Dr. Librach was the Chair of Ontario Medical Association Reproductive Biology from 2004 to 2016. He co-founded the CFAS IVF Improvement Committee in 2004 and has presented analysis of clinic specific data at the IVF directors meeting for the past 12 years.
Dr. Librach was also involved in development and reporting of the Canadian Reproductive Technologies Registry (CARTR) and more recently served on the committee for development of the CARTR plus BORN ART database. He has spoken to a government committee regarding the prioritization of funding for ART in Ontario, and presented at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health regarding the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. He has served on a committee to implement funding for IVF in Ontario and is currently on a committee to set standards for IVF in Ontario. He has been interviewed extensively on ART-related topics in the national and international media.
Dr. Librach is also a leader in the field of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive medicine research, both clinical and basic. Some of his major contributions include identifying the role of HLA-G in early pregnancy, IVF and preeclampsia, uncovering important factors indicative of embryo quality, improving andrology diagnostic testing, and the isolation of a novel multipotent stem cell from umbilical cord perivascular tissue. Ongoing research interests are targeted at increasing our understanding of male and female infertility, third party reproduction, improving ART outcomes, predicting risk of preeclampsia, and advancing umbilical cord stem cell research applications in Cardiac and Neurological diseases. He has published over 65 peer-reviewed original publications, 4 book chapters and over 240 abstracts, a significant number of which have been presented nationally at CFAS and also internationally. He recently was awarded the Chair’s Award for Sustained Excellence in Research in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto. He currently holds several peer reviewed research grants together with collaborators in Canada and internationally. Importantly, Dr. Librach has been a strong supporter of CFAS for many years, sending a large contingent of his clinical and research personnel to attend and present original research at annual meetings. He, together with the researchers in his laboratory, have won numerous awards at CFAS as well as at other meetings locally and internationally.
Dr Librach is proud to serve on the CFAS executive in order to enhance the society and help guide and improve reproductive health care across Canada.