Steven A. Voelkel, PhD, HCLD
Atlanta Reproductive Medicine Researcher
Steven A. Voelkel, PhD, HCLD is the Director of Research for Atlanta Center
for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Voelkel joined the practice in 2003 following
a successful career as the Scientific Director of Emory University's
School of Medicine reproductive and endocrine laboratories. His successful
research career in reproductive physiology has spanned over 30 years.
While attending Southern Illinois University in the late 1970's Dr.
Voelkel took a particular interest in the birth of the first
IVF baby and the embryo culture techniques that were beginning to rapidly
advance. Following the completion of his B. S. in Animal Science in 1979,
Dr. Voelkel was accepted into the graduate program at Louisiana State
University where he studied Reproductive Physiology. He remained at LSU
through 1985 to complete his Philosophy Doctorate in Reproductive Physiology
and a minor in Nuclear Science. His dissertation covered in vitro culture
and the non-surgical transfer of micro-manipulated bovine embryos. Dr.
Voelkel's enthusiasm towards his studies earned him both the Student
Research Competition Award and the Prentiss E. Schilling Outstanding Graduate
Student Research Award.
Innovator in Egg Cyropreservation
In 1988 Dr. Voelkel was an honored recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship
to complete Biotechnology research in the host country of France. He has
also held adjunct professorships at both Texas A&M University, and
University of Southwestern Louisiana. Dr. Voelkel has been awarded multiple
research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to complete
work on various projects such as "In Vitro Culture of Preimplantation
Embryos" and "Applied Embryology Techniques for Nonhuman Primates",
and has received a patent as the inventor of a cryopreservation process
for direct transfer of frozen-thawed embryos. Dr. Voelkel has served as
a consultant for reproductive laboratories across the country and was
recently invited to conduct a review of the IVF program of the Ministry
of Health in Qatar. He is board certified as a high complexity laboratory
director, with andrology and embryology subspecialties, by the American
Board of Bioanalysis.
Dr. Voelkel has a particular interest in cryopreservation techniques and
was instrumental in establishing the ACRM donor egg bank. He is married
with three children and two grandchildren. He enjoys outdoor activities
with his family, including touring on dirt bikes.