Laboratory Director

Steven A. Voelkel, PhD, HCLD

Steven A. Voelkel, PhD, HCLD is the Laboratory Director for Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Voelkel joined the practice in 2003 following a successful career as the Scientific Director of Emory University's School of Medicine reproductive and endocrine laboratories. His successful research career in reproductive physiology has spanned over 30 years.

While attending Southern Illinois University in the late 1970's Dr. Voelkel took a particular interest in the birth of the first IVF baby and the embryo culture techniques that were beginning to rapidly advance. Following the completion of his B. S. in Animal Science in 1979, Dr. Voelkel was accepted into the graduate program at Louisiana State University where he studied Reproductive Physiology. He remained at LSU through 1985 to complete his Philosophy Doctorate in Reproductive Physiology and a minor in Nuclear Science. His dissertation covered in vitro culture and the non-surgical transfer of micro-manipulated bovine embryos. Dr. Voelkel's enthusiasm towards his studies earned him both the Student Research Competition Award and the Prentiss E. Schilling Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award.

Innovator in Egg Cyropreservation

In 1988 Dr. Voelkel was an honored recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship to complete Biotechnology research in the host country of France. He has also held adjunct professorships at both Texas A&M University, and University of Southwestern Louisiana. Dr. Voelkel has been awarded multiple research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to complete work on various projects such as "In Vitro Culture of Preimplantation Embryos" and "Applied Embryology Techniques for Nonhuman Primates", and has received a patent as the inventor of a cryopreservation process for direct transfer of frozen-thawed embryos. Dr. Voelkel has served as a consultant for reproductive laboratories across the country and was recently invited to conduct a review of the IVF program of the Ministry of Health in Qatar. He is board certified as a high complexity laboratory director, with andrology and embryology subspecialties, by the American Board of Bioanalysis.

Dr. Voelkel has a particular interest in cryopreservation techniques and was instrumental in establishing the ACRM donor egg bank. He is married with three children and two grandchildren. He enjoys outdoor activities with his family, including touring on dirt bikes.