Upcoming Events

Keynote Address

Evan Simpson, Ph.D. (Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, Monash Medical Center, Clayton, Victoria, Australia), Sex, Fat, and Breast Cancer.

State-of-the-Art Lectures

• Kevin Eggan, Ph.D. (Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts), Nuclear Reprogramming in the Oocyte and Early Embryo: Applications in the Study of Human Disease.
• Janet Rossant, Ph.D. (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Stem Cells from the Mammalian Blastocyst—Not All Stem Cells Are Alike.

President’s Symposium: In Honor of the Research Career of Ryuzo Yanagimachi

• Ryuzo Yanagimachi, Ph.D. (University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii), Historical Perspective: Germ Cell Research—A Personal Perspective.
• Takashi Shinohara, M.D., Ph.D. (Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan), Germline Modification in Spermatogonial Stem Cells.
• Richard M. Schultz, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), From Egg to Embryo: A Peripatetic Journey.

Trainee Forum

Beyond the Bench: Exploring Career Opportunities and Striving for Success.

• John J. Eppig, Ph.D., and Mary Ann Handel, Ph.D., Editors-in-Chief, Biology of Reproduction (The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine), Submission and Reviewing: Flip Sides of the Publishing Coin.

Minority Affairs Symposium

Patricia Martin-DeLeon, Ph.D. (University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware), Securing Our Place on the Map: Reprogramming the GPS in an Evolving Scientific Landscape.

A New Frontier in Ovarian Cellular Physiology: Ion Channels of Endocrine Ovarian Cells and Their Regulators

Chair: Artur Mayerhofer, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Munich, Munich, Germany).

• Lisa C. Freeman, D.V.M., Ph.D. (Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas), The Cacna1e (Cav2.3) Calcium Channel and Growth Factor Signaling in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.
• Rogelio O. Arellano, Ph.D. (Instituto de Neurobiología UNAM, Queretaro, Mexico), Paracrine Purinergic Signaling Between Ovarian Cells.
• Artur Mayerhofer, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Munich, Munich, Germany), Ion Channels of Human Ovarian Cells: Identification, Regulation, and Insights into Their Function.

Cell Fate Decisions in the Early Mammalian Embryo: Random or Biased?

Chair: Richard M. Schultz, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).

• Lynne Selwood, Ph.D. (University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia), Maternal Determinants and the Polarized Marsupial Oocyte.
• Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, Ph.D. (University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England), Cell Fate, Plasticity, and Pluripotency in the Early Mouse Embryo.
• Takashi Hiiragi, M.D., Ph.D. (Max Planck Institute, Muenster, Germany), Unique Principles in Early Mammalian Development.

Spermatogonial Renewal and Differentiation: Comparative Aspects

Chair: Tony M. Plant, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

• Erika Matunis, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland), The Ins and Outs of Spermatogonial Stem Cell Renewal in the Drosophilia Testis.
• Goro Yoshizaki, Ph.D. (Tokyo University of Marine Science & Technology, Tokyo, Japan), Developmental and Sexual Plasticity of Spermatogonia in Fish.
• Kyle Orwig, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Recent Progress Studying Spermatogonial Stem Cells in Primates.

Monitoring Cell-Cell Conversations in the Epididymis

Chair: Sylvie Breton, Ph.D. (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts).

• Robert Sullivan, Ph.D. (Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada), Principal Cells’ Apocrine Secretion of Epididymosomes and Its Function in Sperm Maturation.
• Patricia Martin-DeLeon, Ph.D. (University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware), Mechanisms of Sperm Acquisition of Glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked Epididymal Proteins.
• Barry T. Hinton, Ph.D. (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia), Conversations Between the Testis and the Epididymis: The Testis Does All the Talking.

Novel Contraceptives for the 21st Century

Chair: Mary B. Zelinski, Ph.D. (Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, Oregon).

• Mary B. Zelinski, Ph.D. (Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, Oregon), On the Horizon: Nonsteroidal Contraceptive Targets in the Female Ovary and Reproductive Tract.
• Joseph S. Tash, Ph.D. (University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas), Gamendazole: A Potent Antispermatogenic Contraceptive Agent with Novel Targets HSP90β and eEF1A.
• William J. Bremner, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Washington, Seattle, Washington), Prospects for New Male Contraceptives.

When Does Implantation Begin?

Chair: Bibhash C. Paria, Ph.D. (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee).

• Thomas E. Spencer, Ph.D. (Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas), Genes and Pathways Regulating Implantation: Comparative Insights from the Sheep.
• John D. Aplin, Ph.D. (University of Manchester, Manchester, England), Glycoproteomics of Implantation.
• Lois A. Salamonsen, Ph.D. (Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, Victoria, Australia), Implantation in Women: Is It Unique?

DNA Damage in Sperm and Effects on Offspring

Chair: Marvin L. Meistrich, Ph.D. (M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas).

• Robert John Aitken, Ph.D., Sc.D. (University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia), Causes and Clinical Significance of DNA Damage in the Male Germ Line.
• Bernard Robaire, Ph.D. (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Drug-Induced Genetic and Epigenetic Marks in Sperm Affect Zygotic Development.
• W. Steven Ward, Ph.D. (University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii), Paternal DNA Degradation and Its Relationship to DNA Synthesis in the One-Cell Embryo.

Role of PTGS2 (COX2) and Arachidonic Acid/Prostaglandins in the Testis

Chair: Dale Buck Hales, Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois).

• Barry R. Zirkin, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland), Testosterone and Leydig Cell Function Through the Life Cycle.
• Monica B. Frungieri, Ph.D. (Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) and Prostaglandins: Emerging Roles in the Testis.
• Ernesto J. Podesta, Ph.D. (University of Buenos Aires Medical School, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Intramitochondrial Arachidonic Acid as a Key Regulator of Leydig Cell Function.

Noncoding RNAs and Reproduction

Chair: Norman Hecht, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).

• Wei Yan, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Nevada, School of Medicine, Reno, Nevada), Potential Functions of Testis-Expressed Small Noncoding RNAs: Hints From Cloning and Expression Profiling Analyses.
• Michelle Carmell, Ph.D. (Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts), PIWI Proteins Are Essential for Spermatogenesis and Repression of Transposons in the Mouse Male Germline.
• Satoshi Namekawa, Ph.D. (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts), Role of Noncoding RNA in X-Inactivation from Gamete to Embryo.

Epigenetic Reprogramming of the Embryo

Chair: Mellissa Mann, Ph.D. (University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada).

• Wendy Dean, Ph.D. (Babraham Institute, Cambridge, England), Epigenetic Signatures—A Gateway to Lineage Determination.
• Alexei Evsikov, Ph.D. (The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine), Friend or Foe: LTR Retrotransposons in Embryonic Genome Reprogramming.
• Emma Whitelaw, Ph.D. (Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Herston, Queensland, Australia), Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance in Mammals.

Lymphocyte-Promoted Endometrial Angiogenesis and Its Relation to Pregnancy Success

Chair: Judith N. Bulmer, M.B. Ch.B., Ph.D. (University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England).

• Peter A.W. Rogers, Ph.D. (Monash Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, Victoria, Australia), Endometrial Angiogenesis and Lymphangiogenesis.
• Judith N. Bulmer, M.B. Ch.B., Ph.D. (University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England), Role of Uterine Natural Killer Cells in Endometrial Vascular Development.
• Chandrakant Tayade, D.V.M., M.V.Sc., Ph.D. (University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada), Regulation of Angiogenesis at the Maternal-Fetal Interface: Insights from Porcine Pregnancy Success or Failure.

Factors Affecting Oocyte Quality: A Large Animal Model

Chair: Anna T. Grazul-Bilska, Ph.D. (North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota).

• Marc-Andre Sirard, D.V.M., Ph.D. (University of Laval, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada), The Follicle Defines the Oocyte Quality.
• Rebecca L. Krisher, Ph.D. (University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois), Components of Oocyte Quality in the Pig.
• Robert B. Gilchrist, Ph.D. (University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia), Oocyte-Cumulus Cell-Signaling Systems Regulating Oocyte Quality.

Effects and Mechanisms of Action of Environmental Endocrine Disruptors on Reproduction

Chair: Mehmet Uzumcu, D.V.M., Ph.D. (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey).

• Patricia A. Hunt, Ph.D. (Washington State University, Pullman, Washington), Cleanliness and Infertility: New Concerns about Reproductive Effects of Quaternary Ammonium Disinfectants.
• Hugh Taylor, M.D. (Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut), Endocrine Disruptors Alter HOX Gene Expression in the Reproductive Tract.
• Gail S. Prins, Ph.D. (University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois), Developmental Exposures to Estrogenic Compounds: Epigenetic Basis for Increased Prostate Cancer Susceptibility.

Novel Insights into Gonadotropin Regulation

Chair: Daniel J. Bernard, Ph.D. (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada).

• Nicholas J.G. Webster, Ph.D. (University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California), Gonadotroph Responses to Pulsatile GnRH.
• Philippa Melamed, Ph.D. (National University of Singapore, Singapore), GnRH Signaling Downstream of Calmodlin.
• Colin M. Clay, Ph.D. (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado), The Pituitary Receptor for GnRH: At the Interface of the Brain and Reproductive Function.

Transcription Factors/Cell-Signaling Essential to Maintain the Niche in the Mammalian Testis

Chair: Ina Dobrinski, D.V.M., Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Kennet Square, Pennsylvania).

• Richard N. Freiman, Ph.D. (Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island), TAF4b in the Regulation of Spermatogenic Maintenance.
• Robert E. Braun, Ph.D. (The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine), Transcriptional Control of Germline Stem Cell Self-Renewal.
• Marie-Claude Hofmann, Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois), Signal Integration Within the Spermatogonial Stem Cell Niche.

Evan Simpson, Ph.D. (Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, Monash Medical Center, Clayton, Victoria, Australia), Sex, Fat, and Breast Cancer.

Ryuzo Yanagimachi, Ph.D. (University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii), Historical Perspective: Germ Cell Research—A Personal Perspective.

Takashi Shinohara, M.D., Ph.D. (Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan), Germline Modification in Spermatogonial Stem Cells.

Richard M. Schultz, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), From Egg to Embryo: A Peripatetic Journey.

Patricia Martin-DeLeon, Ph.D. (University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware), Securing Our Place on the Map: Reprogramming the GPS in an Evolving Scientific Landscape.

Kevin Eggan, Ph.D. (Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts), Nuclear Reprogramming in the Oocyte and Early Embryo: Applications in the Study of Human Disease.

Janet Rossant, Ph.D. (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Stem Cells from the Mammalian Blastocyst—Not All Stem Cells Are Alike.