Concerns about male reproductive health are rising due to a possible decline in sperm count and an increase in testicular cancer incidence over the past decades, conditions primarily affecting young men.
This group is a research team dedicated to studies of male reproductive health. From 2019 the group members have been a part of the interdisciplinary research group ReproAI, with projects funded by the FRIMEDBIO programme in the Norwegian Research Council, chaired by Trine B. Haugen.
Our main research areas are semen analysis, factors affecting semen quality, and the causes of testicular cancer. We are also interested in assisted reproduction technology and the use of artificial intelligence for semen analysis.
We have expertise in cellular and molecular techniques, imaging, and artificial intelligence. We supervise students at all levels (bachelor's, master's and PhD) and disseminate our research regularly in various types of media.
This research group belongs to the Faculty of Health Sciences,
Head of research group
Members
More about the research group
Research focus areas
Semen quality
Male infertility affects 10-15 percent of men and accounts for 35-40 percent of infertility in couples. Semen analysis is an initial part of the infertility investigation.
Our group has worked for many years with global standardisation of semen analysis and is also developing new methods for sperm assessment. These include measurement of DNA fragmentation and use of deep learning models for evaluation sperm motility.
We have demonstrated that convolutional neural networks have the potential to categorise sperm motility according to WHO classification.
Furthermore, we investigate how lifestyle factors may influence semen quality especially related to overweight and have found a clear negative association between obesity and semen quality.
Testicular cancer
Testicular germ cell tumour (TGCT) is the major type of testicular cancer affecting young men. There has been a severalfold increase in the TGCT incidence in the Western world over the last decades, and Norway is one of the countries with highest incidence.
The reason to the increasing incidence and regional differences are unknown, but both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the TGCT risk. Our research focuses on understanding etiology behind TGCT by studying genetic risk factors in particular.
We have identified several novel risk loci in collaboration with external partners. We investigate the mechanisms behind the development of this disease and also aim to identify potential biomarkers for early detection.
Assisted reproduction technology
The group has ongoing projects in the field of assisted reproductive technology (ART), such as traditional in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
The research addresses optimizing sperm selection and analysis techniques and improving embryo quality assessments by use of artificial intelligence, as well as studying abnormal embryo development.
The aim is to enhance the success rate of the treatments, i.e. a healthy child.
Collaborative and interdisciplinary approach
The group collaborates with national and international institutions, bringing a multidisciplinary approach to their research. This includes partnerships with clinical centers, other academic institutions, and biotechnological companies.
Such collaborations enhance the translational impact of our research, ensuring that findings contribute directly to clinical practice and public health policies.
Future directions
The Male Reproductive Health research group aims to expand the use of AI in analysis of images and big data. This implies to further explore the genetic underpinnings of reproductive health issues and to continue improving ART techniques and developing methods for semen analysis.
We will make use of advanced cellular techniques, like establishment of organoids, for studying the biology of testis. This will increase the knowledge of the mechanisms behind infertility and development of testicular germ cell tumour.
Research on possible impact of environmental factors on testicular development will be a future focus to address the growing concern about this issue. Our ongoing commitment to addressing male reproductive health positions us at the forefront of this field in Norway, with significant international contribution.
Partner institutions
- Cancer Registry of Norway
- Department of Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical engineering at OsloMet
- Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
- Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
- Skåne University Hospital, Sweden
- The American- European Testicular Cancer Consortium TECAC
- Volvat Spiren Oslo
Key contributions and publications
The Male Reproductive Health group publishes in high-impact journals, contributing significantly to the field. These are some of our notable publications.
Semen analysis
- Semen parameters in Norwegian fertile men, PubMed (nih.gov).
- World Health Organization reference values for human semen characteristics, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Standards in semen examination: publishing reproducible and reliable data based on high-quality methodology, PubMed (nih.gov).
Male reproductive function
- Alcohol and male reproductive health: a cross-sectional study of 8344 healthy men from Europe and the USA, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Body Mass Index Is Associated with Impaired Semen Characteristics and Reduced Levels of Anti-Müllerian Hormone across a Wide Weight Range, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Anti-Müllerian hormone in seminal plasma and serum: association with sperm count and sperm motility, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Fatty acid composition of spermatozoa is associated with BMI and with semen quality, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Association between semen parameters and chance of fatherhood - a long-term follow-up study, PubMed (nih.gov).
Testicular germ cell tumour
- CYP1A1, CYP3A5 and CYP3A7 polymorphisms and testicular cancer susceptibility, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Gene variations in sex hormone pathways and the risk of testicular germ cell tumour: a case-parent triad study in a Norwegian-Swedish population, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Genetic variation in AKT1, PTEN and the 8q24 locus, and the risk of testicular germ cell tumor, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Genetic variations associated with the effect of testicular cancer treatment on gonadal hormones, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Two new loci and gene sets related to sex determination and cancer progression are associated with susceptibility to testicular germ cell tumor, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Knockdown of SPRY4 and SPRY4-IT1 inhibits cell growth and phosphorylation of Akt in human testicular germ cell tumours, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Identification of 19 new risk loci and potential regulatory mechanisms influencing susceptibility to testicular germ cell tumor, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Meta-analysis of five genome-wide association studies identifies multiple new loci associated with testicular germ cell tumor, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Serum RNA Profiling in the 10-Years Period Prior to Diagnosis of Testicular Germ Cell Tumor, PubMed (nih.gov).
Development of AI-based tools for sperm assessment
- Machine Learning-Based Analysis of Sperm Videos and Participant Data for Male Fertility Prediction, PubMed (nih.gov).
- Sperm motility assessed by deep convolutional neural networks into WHO categories, PubMed (nih.gov).
