Tampa Bay, FL – Shady Grove Fertility (SGF), a premier fertility and IVF center with locations throughout FL, GA, MD, NY, PA, VA, and D.C., announced today a new partnership with USF Health’s Morsani College of Medicine. The partnership, led by USF Health’s newly appointed Fellowship and Division Director and newly instated SGF physician, Anthony Imudia, M.D., offers a unique opportunity to combine the clinical expertise of SGF with the academic leadership of USF Health to create a more robust training program for future reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) physicians.
“I am incredibly proud to not only accept the position as Fellowship Director at USF Health but also to join the SGF family. I have long admired SGF’s ability to integrate their three primary missions—to provide excellence in clinical services, to teach, and conduct research, and I think tremendous opportunities to improve patient outcomes will come from aligning these two programs,” Dr. Imudia said.
Dr. Imudia will remain as teaching faculty with USF Health while providing patient care in SGF Tampa Bay’s Wesley Chapel and Westshore, FL, locations.
The SGF/USF Health Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship Program is the second in its kind for SGF who also participates in the highest level of training and teaching through a partnership in the combined National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Walter Reed Fellowship Program.
“Through SGF’s dedicated research, continuous innovation, and strategic partnerships, we can offer our patients medicine that stays at the cutting edge to improve outcomes and help more people conceive,” says Celso Silva, M.D., M.S., Medical Director of SGF Tampa Bay and former USF Health faculty, who sees patients in SGF’s Westshore, FL, location.
“As a former USF Health physician, I’m particularly honored to extend this unique partnership. I believe it will offer patients a great advantage on their road to parenthood, as well as enhance the training opportunities of residents and fellows at USF,” said Shayne Plosker, M.D., board certified SGF reproductive endocrinologist and former professor of OB/GYN and Division Director of USF-IVF and Reproductive Endocrinology, who sees patients in SGF’s Brandon, FL location.
“Among the many reasons we are excited about this collaboration is because it connects providers who share similar values and goals. Both the SGF practice and the USF academic medical center believe that a patient-centric care model that addresses the medical, physical, financial, and psychological needs of patients is what’s in the best interest of patients. We believe this partnership synergistically combines the unique assets of each organization and provides a tremendous advantage to fertility patients,” added Silva.
“SGF believes that training the next generation of physicians of reproductive medicine is just one of the many ways we ‘give back’ to benefit all patients, not just our own. All of the SGF physicians and most of our laboratory staff began their training, and often their careers, in academic medical centers, realizing these centers are traditionally the only seat of academic research. From that vantage point, we realize that an invigorating, stimulating atmosphere can contribute to clinical excellence, which was the impetus for us to reconstruct that academic atmosphere within the privacy and patient-oriented setting of our practice—to meld the best of both worlds,” explains Eric A. Widra, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at SGF, who sees patients in SGF’s Washington, D.C. K Street location, as well as serves as the Division Director, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility at Georgetown University.
In 2018, SGF partnered with Women’s Care Florida to create SGF Tampa Bay, a unique collaboration of a leading women’s health provider and a nationally renowned fertility practice. The new USF Health partnership will further the mission established at the time of SGF Tampa Bay’s creation, to improve access to care across all of the Tampa Bay region by providing more convenient access to leading physicians and highly specialized fertility care, including diagnostic testing and low- and high-tech treatment options such as intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), donor egg treatment, egg freezing, oncofertility, and LGBTQ family building.
SGF Tampa Bay’s new Wesley Chapel location joins its existing two locations in Tampa Bay—Westshore and Brandon.
SGF’s expansion throughout Tampa Bay also eases access to its internationally renowned donor egg treatment and gestational carrier programs. SGF recruits and prescreens (medically, psychologically, and genetically) all prospective, ready-to-cycle egg donors prior to listing them on the SGF donor registry.
“We are thrilled that the partnership with SGF allows USF to strengthen our academic mission of the USF Health Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility in the unique training opportunity it presents for fellows and residents. As well, the coordination of research and other activities will offer access for patients within the USF Health network, a national leader in clinical practice. Ultimately, it provides more care options for patients,” said Judette Louis, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at USF Health’s Morsani College of Medicine.
“I am very pleased that this affiliation will enhance our core missions of teaching, research, and clinical care, as the only academic medical center in the Tampa Bay region,” said Mark Moseley, Chief Clinical Officer for USF Health. “Due to this joint effort, we are able to continue to provide the highest quality care and help make life better for our IVF patients and their families.”
Dr. Imudia earned his medical degree from the Universidad Latina De Panama before completing his residency training in obstetrics and gynecology from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI. He then completed a 3-year fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility from Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, where he also served as an instructor in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology.
Dr. Imudia joined USF Morsani College of Medicine in 2013. He served as the Director, USF-IVF Clinical Operations from 2015-2017; and is currently the Division Director and Fellowship Director, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, USF Morsani College of Medicine.
Dr. Imudia has earned many teaching and research awards, produced numerous peer-reviewed publications, and has given international and national presentations in the field of infertility and reproductive endocrinology, IVF, egg freezing and egg donation. He is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive endocrinology and infertility.
SGF Tampa Bay accepts many insurances and also offers unique financial programs for self-pay patients such as their Shared Risk 100% Refund Guarantee for IVF and donor egg—in which patients take home a baby or receive a full refund—or their income-based Shared Help Programand Military Discount, to name a few. SGF provides an exclusive financing option through Fertility Finance with an easy loan process and competitive rates.
New patients may schedule an appointment at any of the SGF Tampa Bay locations by calling the SGF New Patient Center at 1-888-761-1967 or submitting this brief online form. Former USF patients may schedule at any of the SGF Tampa Bay locations by calling 813-906-2285.
About Shady Grove Fertility (SGF)
SGF is a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence with more than 85,000 babies born and counting. With 36 locations throughout FL, GA, MD, NY, PA, VA, D.C., and Santiago, Chile, we offer patients individualized care, accept most insurance plans, and make treatment affordable through innovative financial options, including treatment guarantees. More physicians refer their patients to SGF than any other center. Call 1-888-761-1967 or visit ShadyGroveFertility.com.
