Alan Hersh DeCherney, MD, received his Bachelor's Degree in Natural Sciences from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and his Medical Degree from Temple University School of Medicine, where he was Alpha Omega Alpha. He did a research fellowship in Immunology at the Lister Institute in London, England, and interned at the University of Pittsburgh, followed by a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. DeCherney was a pioneer when IVF was first performed successfully in the United States, and has mentored hundreds of reproductive endocrinologists. He was the John Slate Ely Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale University and the Division Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and Women's Health Services; he was also the Phaneuf Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tufts University School of Medicine, where he received the Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award. He was the Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1996 to 2006 and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1996 to 2002. He is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Past President of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, the Society of Reproductive Surgeons, the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology, and the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Fertility and Sterility from 1996 to 2011, and has served as an Associate Editor and Editorial Board member for the New England Journal of Medicine and as a member of the Editorial Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. DeCherney served as a Member of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and is a Fellow Ad Eundem of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He has been a Member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) since 2004 and was Chairperson of the IOM Interest Group on Maternal & Child & Human Development from 2008 to 2010. He is Director of the Program in Reproductive and Adult Endocrinology and Chief of the Reproductive Biology and Medicine Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).