Dr Colin M Howles is based in Geneva, Switzerland and has worked in the field of reproduction and fertility for 36 years, 25 of those were spent across departments in Merck Serono and previously Serono both at a regional and corporate level, including being Chairman of the Advisory Board for Serono Symposia International.  Colin has also extensive experience of working in the Far East having been based in Singapore for the ex-Serono company as Vice President for Medical Affairs.

During the late 1980s and 1990s whilst working with Serono, Colin was involved in the development and clinical introduction of the first highly purified urinary derived gonadotropin (u-FSH HP) and, subsequently, recombinant h-FSH (follitropin alfa; GONAL-f), h-LH, hCG and the GnRH antagonist, cetrorelix. Before joining Serono UK in 1987, he worked, for 3 years at the first human IVF clinic in the world, Bourn Hall Clinic, Cambridge, directly with Professor R G Edwards (Nobel Prize Winner 2010 in Physiology or Medicine) and Mr. Patrick Steptoe. Colin has widely published, co-edited two major textbooks on reproductive medicine, and organized symposia and lectured extensively on every continent except Antarctica!  He holds a PhD in Reproductive Endocrinology and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. He is also the proud father of a 4½ old boy, Ewan, who was made possible through IVF treatment.