Chelsey Leisinger, Ph.D., HCLD, Laboratory Director for our Louisiana IVF Labs, specializes in embryo biopsy and cryopreservation techniques.
Chelsey Leisinger, PhD, HCLD, is the laboratory director for Ovation® Fertility Lafayette and Ovation® Fertility Baton Rouge. She previously served as the laboratory manager and embryologist while working toward her High-Complexity Clinical Laboratory Director certification (HCLD). She completed her HCLD certification in July 2020, and was promoted to lab director over the two labs where she has held a leadership role since 2017.
Dr. Leisinger has extensive experience and knowledge in oocyte and embryo vitrification techniques, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and embryo biopsy for preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). Like many IVF scientists, Dr. Leisinger transitioned into human IVF from a career in animal assisted reproduction.
After earning her Bachelor of Science degree at Iowa State University, she specialized in cattle embryo transfer. She returned to school at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine to work as the research assistant and clinical coordinator for the Theriogenology section. There, she assisted with clinical procedures and research in various animals, such as cattle, domestic horses, Przewalski horses, goats, sheep, dogs, cats, llamas, alpacas and camels. She also ran the bovine IVF lab for the section and earned a Master of Science degree in comparative and veterinary medicine, with a focus on reproductive physiology.
Dr. Leisinger shifted into a career in human IVF as a junior embryologist at an IVF lab in Overland Park, Kansas. After a few years gaining hands-on experience, she pursued her PhD in biomedical and veterinary medical sciences, with a focus on reproductive physiology, at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. During that time, she traveled regularly to the West Coast to assist with batch IVF cycles at a Seattle fertility center as a consulting senior embryologist.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Leisinger has a passion for both teaching and research.
Dr. Leisinger enjoys the challenges of working in the fertility field, and has a particular passion for teaching and training other scientists. She currently serves as adjunct faculty in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, and helps with research projects in the equine ICSI lab that she helped to establish.
She has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed research studies, and has presented her research findings at several national and international scientific symposia. She is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Society for the Study of Reproduction, College of Reproductive Biology and American Association of Bioanalysts.
Growing up in the Midwest, Dr. Leisinger is an avid sports fan and lifelong Cubs and Bears fan. Additionally, she has been riding and showing horses her entire life. She and her husband Carlos enjoy playing soccer and spending time with their Dutch shepherd Rye.
