Past Meetings

Keynote Address

The Keynote Address and the President’s Symposium focus on the roles of environment and functional nutrients on critical reproductive windows. Overall fertility, embryo-fetal-placental development, well-being of the newborn and mother, and subsequent reproductive outcome will be considered. Presentations will describe different experimental approaches including lessons from cloning in different species, functional genomics, appropriateness of various animal models related to human health, and impact of functional nutrients on selected reproductive processes that culminate in a pregnancy.

• Jean-Paul Renard, Ph.D. (Director, Unite de Biologie du Developpement, INRA, Jouy en Josas, France)

President’s Symposium

The President’s Symposium will focus on Nutritional Regulation of Reproductive Function.

• Pushpa S. Kalra, Ph.D. (Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida) will give a talk on “Energy Homeostasis and Reproduction: The Neuropeptide Connection.”
• Robert Webb, Ph.D. (University of Nottingham School of Biosciences, Loughborough, Leics., United Kingdom) will give a talk on “Nutritional Impact on Female Reproductive Function: From Genetics to Metabolomics.”

Plenary Lecture

The Evolutionary Biology of Pregnancy Lecture

• Dr. Olivia P. Judson, Ph.D. (Research Fellow in Evolutionary Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, Berks., United Kingdom), author of "Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation."

Embryonic Stem Cells Lecture

• Dr. John D. Gearhart, Ph.D. (C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Medicine, Director of Stem Cell Biology and the Division of Developmental Genetics, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland) 

Taking Your Science to the People: Media 101 for Reproductive Biologists Lecture

• Dr. Patricia Hunt. Amy Kostant (Director, EMS/Science Communication Network) will open the session with a talk on “The Special Role of Scientists in Talking with the Media.” 
• Elizabeth Weise (Science Reporter, USA Today) will discuss “What Reporters Need from You to Report Your Findings Fairly and Accurately.”
• John D. Gearhart, Ph.D., on “Baptism by Fire: What You Learn When Your Research Suddenly Becomes Newsworthy.”

New Investigator & Exchange Lecture

• Have been expanded to include a speaker from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, in addition to speakers from SSR and the Society for the Study of Fertility.

Historical Perspectives Lecture

Chair: Fredrick Stormshak, Ph.D. (Oregon Sate University, Corvallis, Oregon)

• Jack Gorski, Ph.D. (Professor Emeritus, Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin), giving a talk on the “Discovery of the Nuclear Estrogen Receptor: A History Lesson.”

The Program, Clinical Outreach, and Reproduction and Environment Committees, as well as the general SSR membership, collectively proposed 79 minisymposia. The Program Committee reviewed these suggestions, then scored, ranked, and adjusted them slightly to develop the following 15 minisymposia (listed in order of presentation at the meeting, not in rank order). Each minisymposium was organized by the listed chair for that session, and each contains three 30-minute talks related to the general topic of the session.

New Insights into the Role of Development Signaling Pathways in the Ovarian Follicle

Chair: Susan M. Quirk, Ph.D. (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY)

Relaxin in the 21st Century: The Identification of Relaxin Receptors Has Generated Novel Physiological Applications

Chair: Phillip A. Fields, Ph.D.

Long-Term Health Effects of Perturbations to the Oocyte and Preimplantation Embryo

Chair: Jay M. Baltz, Ph.D. (University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada)

Pheromones: Environmental Messengers. (Qwest Center 204)

Chair: Douglas L. Foster, Ph.D. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI)

Mechanisms Involved in Age-Related Decline in Leydig Cell Testosterone Biosynthesis

Chair: Douglas M. Stocco, Ph.D. (Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX)

Insights into Reproductive Aging Gained in Primate Studies. (Qwest Center 201)

Chair: Mary Ann Ottinger, Ph.D. (University of Maryland, College Park MD)

Using Domestic Livestock as Models to Understand Reproductive Function

Chair: Andrea S. Cupp, Ph.D. (University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE)

Obesity and Reproduction

Chair: John D. Brannian, Ph.D. (University of South Dakota School of Medicine, Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

Regulation of Cellular Differentiation in Gametes

Chair: Kate Lakoski Loveland, Ph.D., Monash Institute of Reproduction & Development, Clayton, VIC, Australia)

Pituitary Plasticity

Chair: Gwen V. Childs, Ph.D. (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR)

Novel Tools to Generate Sperm from Human Testicular Stem Cells

Chair: Stefan Schlatt, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA)

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) in the Diet – Do They Make a Difference to Reproduction?

Chair: D. Claire Wathes, Ph.D., D.Sc. (University of London, North Mymms, Hatfield, Herts, UK)

Comparative Aspects of Endometrial Remodeling for Implantation and Placentation

Chair: Thomas E. Spencer, Ph.D. (Texas A&M University, College Station, TX)

Regulation of Corpus Luteum Function: New Players and Old Favorites

Chair: Geula Gibori, Ph.D. (University of Illinois, Chicago, IL)

Mahesh Neuroendocrine Minisymposium: New Concepts of Puberty

Chair: Jon E. Levine, Ph.D. (Northwestern University, Evanston, IL)