About Us
Meet Our Team
Physicians
Thomas C. Vaughn, M.D.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Dr. Vaughn received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He completed his medical school training and residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. He attended Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, for his fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility. Dr. Vaughn was a founder of Austin's only In Vitro Fertilization Program at St. David's Hospital and has served as the President of Medical Staff at Seton Hospital. Dr. Vaughn is Board Certified in both Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility.
Kaylen M. Silverberg, M.D.
Originally from Dallas, Texas, he received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt and attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his Obstetrics & Gynecology residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and his infertility fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Dr. Silverberg is actively involved in infertility research and has published extensively in the infertility literature. He was recently honored by the American Fertility Association with the Family Building Award, and he is recognized annually by the Best Doctors in America. Dr. Silverberg is Board Certified in both Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility.
Lisa J. Hansard, M.D.
Originally from Lubbock, Texas, Dr. Hansard attended undergraduate college and medical school at Texas A&M University. She completed her residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and her fellowship training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. While at Duke, she received the Outstanding Fellow Research for her investigation of growth factors and their potential role in embryo implantation. Dr. Hansard is Board Certified in both Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
Natalie Z. Burger, M.D.
A native of Marietta, Georgia, Dr. Burger received her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a minor in Mathematics. She attended medical school at Medical College of Georgia and completed her residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Vermont. She also received her fellowship training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Vermont. Dr. Burger is Board Certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology and Board Eligible in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility.
Embryologists
Tom Turner MS, ELD (ABB) Director of the Embryology Laboratory
Tom has been the Director of the Embryology Laboratory at Austin IVF and at St. David’s Medical Center since 1993.
He received his B.S. degree in Biology from Jacksonville State University and his M.S. degree in Zoology from the University of Tennessee. He is certified as an Embryology Laboratory Director by the American Board of Bioanalysts.
Tom began his professional career in the reproductive research laboratories at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. After several years in research, he helped start the University’s IVF laboratory in 1982. In 1984, he was instrumental in the development of the GIFT technique, which became one of the most widely-used and successful methods of ART.
Tom moved to Orlando, FL in 1986 to direct the Embryology Laboratory at the Center for Infertility and Reproductive Medicine. While there, he worked with Dr. Jacques Cohen, a world-renowned pioneer in embryology and cryobiology. This experience helped Tom develop into one of the most successful embryologists in IVF and cryopreservation at a time when most IVF programs were struggling to achieve pregnancies. As a result of his success, Tom has been invited to consult with more than forty programs in the U.S., South America and Asia. Tom has also been instrumental in the development of national organizations for embryologists and served for five years on the Executive Board of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies.
Tom has been a key member and innovative director of St. David’s ART program and the Austin IVF team. Under his direction, our IVF laboratory has developed a reputation as one of the finest centers in the country for treating infertility.
Rita A. Fields, MS, TS, ELD
Ms. Fields grew up in Peoria, Illinois. She graduated with a B.S. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois and received her M.S. from the University of California at Davis in Animal Science with a specialty in Reproductive Physiology. Getting into IVF was a natural progression of the work Rita was doing at Davis, as at that time, the reproductive physiology students had the most experience in embryo handling and micromanipulation. Rita began her work in human IVF in Fairfax, Virginia in 1989 and was one of the first embryologists in the United States to perform embryo biopsy. After moving to Austin, she worked for several years as the Laboratory Supervisor of a sperm procurement laboratory for Fairfax Cryobank. She joined Austin IVF in 2002.
Rita is certified by the American Board of Bioanalysts as a Technical Supervisor in Embryology and as an Embryology Laboratory Director.
Hank Werland, B.S.
Hank is a native Texan, born in San Antonio. He received his bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. He spent three years playing professional baseball in the Atlanta Braves organization before returning to school and completing his certification as a Medical Technologist. After working for almost 10 years as a Microbiologist, he began working in the IVF laboratory at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. He joined the Austin IVF team in 2004 and has helped us improve many aspects of our laboratory – including our blastocyst culture program. Hank is certified as a Medical Technologist by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, as well as a Technical Supervisor in both Andrology and Embryology by the American Board of Bioanalysts.
Kelly Pogson, B.S.
Kelly received her Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology with a minor in Dance from the University of Washington. She began her career as an embryologist at the Fertility and Endocrine Center at the University of Washington. She subsequently worked at Seattle Reproductive Medicine and Pacific Northwest Fertility and IVF Specialists in Seattle, Washington before moving to Austin. Kelly is an expert in sperm injection (ICSI) and has been with Austin IVF since August of 2006. Kelly is certified as a Technical Supervisor in Embryology by the American Board of Bioanalysts.
