Reproductive healthEvent

Sona Academy's Summer School of Reproductology: LH in Focus

8 July 2026

The fourth annual Summer School of Reproductology brought reproductive medicine specialists to London for a concentrated professional discussion built around a single molecule — luteinizing hormone. Organized by Sona Academy and held alongside the ESHRE annual meeting, the school gathered more than 170 specialists from eight countries around one clinical question: how a fuller understanding of LH reshapes stimulation, embryology, and the way we treat the individual patient.

Spending an entire school on one hormone was a deliberate choice. Instead of a broad survey of reproductive medicine, the programme examined LH in full clinical depth across six lectures — from basic physiology and receptor biology through pharmacogenomics, stimulation strategy, embryology, and male-factor infertility. What held the sessions together was a shared move away from standardized protocols toward decisions guided by each patient's biology.

Professor Antonio La Marca opened the physiological ground and returned the discussion to first principles: "Without LH, you will never have a healthy ovarian follicle." Belén Lledó carried the argument into pharmacogenomics, presenting data in which LH-receptor genotype-guided dosing raised live birth rates from 29% to 50% — evidence that genetic variation belongs at the centre of protocol design, not at its margins.

Professor Peter Humaidan and Biljana Popovic-Todorovic examined what this means for stimulation strategy in everyday practice, where the distance between the ideal protocol and the real patient decides the outcome. Professor Sandro Esteves reframed male-factor evaluation through endocrine stratification, moving it beyond a single semen analysis, and Marcos Meseguer turned to AI-based embryo assessment and the point at which automated tools genuinely add to clinical judgment.

Running through the two days was a concern that reaches past the laboratory: retention. When as many as half of patients discontinue treatment early, personalization becomes not only a scientific goal but a clinical responsibility — fewer cycles, clearer expectations, and care a patient is able to stay with. That framing gave the science its practical weight and kept the discussion anchored in real practice rather than theory.

The school was built to reach beyond the room. Simultaneous interpretation into Ukrainian, live streaming, and published recordings extended the discussion to colleagues who could not travel to London and kept the material available long after the sessions closed.We would like to thank the speakers — Professor Antonio La Marca, Belén Lledó, Professor Peter Humaidan, Biljana Popovic-Todorovic, Professor Sandro Esteves, and Marcos Meseguer — for the clarity and rigor they brought to every session. Our thanks also go to the Sona Academy and Sona-Pharm teams, whose coordination and commitment made a school of this depth possible.