Westlake IVF is a full service, state-of-the-art embryology and andrology laboratory, located within the Westlake Hills area of Austin, Texas. Our IVF Laboratory Director and Embryologists have developed the optimal environment in which to provide services to couples who need diagnostic testing, assisted reproductive technologies, and gamete/embryo cryopreservation.
Laboratory Team
Ki Aston completed his Ph.D. at Utah State University in 2007. For his dissertation research he evaluated factors associated with somatic cell nuclear transfer efficiency and nuclear reprogramming. He was involved in bovine nuclear transfer and was part of the first group to successfully clone an equine species.
Henry Chen, M.S. is an integral member of the Westlake IVF laboratory team as a Senior Embryologist at Austin Fertility & Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF. He has been a part of the team since January 2017. Henry earned his BSc degree from the Animal Science Department at the National Chung-Hsing University (Taiwan) in 1990.
Melissa Gilkey, M.S. serves as the laboratory Andrologist at Austin Fertility & Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF. Melissa joined the team in February 2017. She received her BSc degree in Microbiology from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX in 2012. She earned a MSc degree in Biology, with a focus in Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2014 from Texas State University.
Yazan Hamzeh, M.S. is a laboratory Andrologist at Austin Fertility & Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF, and has been a part of the team since January 2021. Yazan earned his BSc degree in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology in Jordan in 2019, where he was honored for being at the top of the Dean’s List for 2 years in a row.
Stephanie Monroe, B.S. is a laboratory Andrologist at Austin Fertility & Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF since June 2021. Stephanie earned her B.S. in Microbiology from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX in 2020. Stephanie spent 1.5 years doing undergraduate research on PCR techniques and bacteria/fungal interactions.