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Thomas B. Pool earned the Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture in 1970 and a Master of Arts degree in 1973 from Sam Houston State University in his native Texas. His thesis research, conducted in the laboratory of professor Terrell R. Hoage, focused upon gametogenesis in invertebrates. 
He attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia as a National Institutes of Health predoctoral trainee in developmental biology and was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1976. Dr. Pool was one of the last students of professor James Norman Dent and concentrated upon amphibian developmental biology in his doctoral studies.
He returned to Texas and completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in cell biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio with Professor Ivan L. Cameron. Drs. Pool and Cameron initiated a series of investigations on the ionic regulation of proliferation in both embryonic and neoplastically transformed cells using energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis.
After completing postdoctoral studies, he joined the faculty of that institution as an Assistant Professor of Anatomy in 1978. In 1984, he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology where he conducted nationally funded research on basic mechanisms of cell growth regulation. He was awarded a Research Career Development Award at this time by the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Pool began collaborative studies on in vitro fertilization in non-human primates in 1982 with colleagues from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This work culminated in the live birth of the first cynomolgous monkey produced by IVF and the first live birth of a non-human primate resulting from the transfer of a frozen-thawed embryo produced by IVF.
In 1986, he became the Embryologist and Laboratory Director for the Fertility Program at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio and served as the Program Director of that center in 1989. In 1990, he helped found the Fertility Center of San Antonio, a private, office-based program and currently serves as the Scientific Director.
He is board certified as a High-Complexity Clinical Laboratory Director by the American Board of Bioanalysis, is an active member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and has served as a member of the Practice Committee of the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Additionally, he is active in the American Association of Bioanalysts (AAB) and the Pacific Coast Fertility Society.
Dr. Pool served as the Chairman of the College of Reproductive Biology of the AAB in 2000-2001, a national organization of clinical embryologists and andrologists. He currently serves as a laboratory inspector for the Reproductive Laboratory Accreditation Program of the College of American Pathologists and has served as a technical consultant to the Centers for Disease Control in developing a model inspection program for embryo labs in the United States.
Dr. Pool's laboratory is accredited both by the United States Public Health Service (CLIA) and by the CAP Reproductive Laboratory Accreditation Program. His research interests include improving embryo culture media and the in vitro growth environment. He has serves as a scientific advisory board member to industry and has developed several media and medium supplements used widely in human in vitro fertilization, including P-1 Medium and SSS. He has co-organized several international symposia on contemporary issues relating to fertility and early human development and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for journals, including Fertility and Sterility, Human Reproduction and the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics. He now serves as a member of the editorial board of Reproductive BioMedicine Online.
Web site http://www.fertilitysa.com/tpool.htm
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