Prizes & Awards

Simmet Prize
Sister Society Awards to Young Scientists
Student Travel Awards
Travel Awards for Young Scientists from Developing Countries

SIMMET PRIZE FOR ASSISTED REPRODUCTION

The award of the International Congress of Animal Reproduction (ICAR) recognizes an active, research scientist for outstanding basic and applied research in the area of Assisted Reproduction of Animals. The Simmet Prize is awarded every four years at the ICAR meeting and comes with a prize of 50.000 Euro. The Simmet Prize is sponsored by the Simmet Family in honor of Dr. Ludwig Simmet, founder of Minitube.

Dr. R. John Aitken
The 2012 recipient of the Simmet Prize for Assisted Reproduction is Dr. R. John Aitken.

Dr. Aitken made significant contributions to male infertility in domestic livestock and humans that have been of great practical value to producers with an interest in male genetics. His numerous landmark studies have influenced numerous laboratories and allied industries around the world, and he is one the most prolific of active reproductive biologists.

Dr. Aitken’s research career began with a PhD in reproductive biology from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of RV Short. Following post-doctoral positions at the Institute of Animal Genetics, University of Edinburgh and the University of Bordeaux, he joined the World Health Organization in Geneva. In 1977, he was appointed to the prestigious MRC Reproductive Biology Unit, University of Edinburgh, to establish a research group in developmental biology with clinical outreach into male infertility. In 1992, he was awarded an Honorary Professorship within the Faculty of Medicine of Edinburgh University and in 1998 received a ScD degree from the University of Cambridge in recognition of his research contributions to gamete biology. He then moved to the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia, as Chair of Biological Sciences, and later, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology and Development.

Dr. Aitken has published over 450 research articles, given more than 300 invited lectures and filed 12 patents. His work has been cited >13,000 times (h-index of 60). He has been elected a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Australian Academy of Science. Dr. Aitken has supervised 48 honours students, 11 MSc students and 23 PhD students. Furthermore, many aspects of his basic and applied research have been transferred through the presentation of workshops. The topics covered have been largely focused on the andrological aspects of ART including the diagnosis of sperm function, in vitro fertilization, oxidative stress in the male tract, DNA damage in spermatozoa and embryo culture.

Audiences are diverse encompassing both clinical and reproductive biologists with interests in ART in a variety of species. He has provided deep insight into new areas of reproductive biology and has led the way for major areas of domestic animal reproduction research. Among his scientific peers he has given 346 invited presentations on reproductive research to major scientific meetings. He has provided deep insight into new areas of reproductive biology and has led the way for major areas of domestic animal reproduction research associated with assisted conception.

Dr. Aitken pioneered the development of objective methods for measuring sperm movement, beginning with time lapse photography and culminating in CASA systems that are now commonplace in modern-day theriogenology. He also developed a novel technique for monitoring the acrosome reaction in live cells, which has subsequently been used in several domestic species including recent flow cytometric assays in bulls. He was instrumental in developing heterologous in vitro fertilization assays of sperm function that are used to monitor male fertility in large domestic animals. He subsequently developed biochemical parameters to predict male infertility. In the course of these studies he pioneered the fundamental concept that oxidative stress is a major determinant of sperm function and DNA damage and developed fluorometry/flow cytometry based assays that are now widely used in diagnosing male infertility in a range of mammalian species.

These visionary approaches have allowed veterinary and livestock scientists to explore aspects of cryobiology and storage that would have otherwise taken a number of years to develop. Such technological advancements have led to the developmental potential of antioxidant therapy to enhance the fertilizing potential of mammalian spermatozoa in vivo and in vitro.

Dr. Aitken’s research expertise has taken reproductive and gamete biology into new areas such as understanding the fundamental processes of sperm capacitation. His research accomplishments have provided valuable insight and been emulated by numerous livestock research groups worldwide in studies regarding cellular and biochemical processes including apoptosis, cell signalling, and pathophysiological mechanisms surrounding the mysteries of spermatogenesis, sperm maturation, capacitation, and fertilization. Spermatozoa are transcriptionally and translationally silent cells that undergo a major functional transformation between their release from the germinal epithelium of the testes and their arrival at the surface of the egg.

As a result of their biochemical limitations, spermatozoa are entirely dependent on post-translational modifications to their protein structure from their time of release from the germinal epithelium of the testes and their arrival to the surface of the egg. Dr. Aitken is among the first reproductive biologists with the vision to implement advanced mass spectrometry platforms dedicated to proteomics and metabolomics in gametes and embryos. Research in this area is leading to novel translational outcomes to further improve animal reproduction. Dr. Aitken is an exceptional scientist who has developed a legacy of PhD students and post doctoral fellows who he has trained and mentored in an interdisciplinary environment surrounded by his immediate and world-wide colleagues in science. Dr. R. John Aitken truly personifies the intent of the Simmet Prize in Animal Reproduction.

SISTER SOCIETY AWARDS TO YOUNG SCIENTISTS

Four Young Scientists were selected by four of ICAR 2012's Sister Societies. Each of the award recipients will be delivering a presentation during ICAR 2012.

Ramiro Alberio
Division of Animal Sciences (School of Biosciences), University of Nottingham, UK
Nominated by the Society for Reproduction and Fertility (SRF)

Ramiro Alberio is a Lecturer in Developmental Epigenetics at the Division of Animal Sciences (School of Biosciences), University of Nottingham, UK. He received his DVM from La Plata University (Argentina) and his PhD from Munich University (Germany). His research interests are epigenetic reprogramming of somatic cells, germ cell biology and pluripotency.

Session: Symposium 1 - Stem and Germ Cell Research and its Application
Presentation Title: Recent advances in stem and germ cell research in pigs

Tamara Leahy
University of Queensland - Australia
Nominated by the Society for Reproductive Biology (SRB)

Tamara received a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience at the University of Sydney, Australia in 2006. She completed her PhD at the same institution, investigating the effect of seminal plasma proteins on ram sperm function during processing for sex‐sorting or storage. In 2010 she joined the University of Queensland, Australia as a Post‐Doctoral Research Fellow analysing bull sperm membrane proteins. Tamara has published 8 original research articles and 3 review articles.

Session: Symposium 5 - Cryopreservation of Gametes, Embryos, Organs and Tissues
Presentation Title: Exploring seminal plasma and its effects on ram sperm characteristics through processing

Rebecca L. Robker, PhD
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Adelaide University - Australia
Nominated by the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR)

Dr Rebecca Robker is a Research Fellow at The Robinson Institute and School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Her research is focused on identifying cellular pathways in the ovary that regulate oocyte quality and ovulation, particularly those incorporating maternal hormone, immunological and metabolic signals.

Session: Symposium 8 - Advances in the Understanding of Ovarian Function
Presentation Title: The Critical Roles of Progesterone Receptor (PGR) in Ovulation, Oocyte Developmental Competence and Oviductal Transport

Ulrike Taylor
Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, Department of Biotechnology - Germany
Nominated by the European Society for Domestic Animal Reproduction (ESDAR)

Ulrike Taylor studied veterinary medicine in Hanover, Germany and Edinburgh, Scotland. Since 2005 she works at the Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, where she finished her doctorate thesis in 2007 and now holds a postoctoral position. Her research focusses on reproductive immunology and reprotoxicology of nanoparticles.

Session: Symposium 11 - Applied Research in Male Reproduction
Presentation Title: Impact of nanoparticles on germ cell viability and functionality

STUDENT TRAVEL AWARDS

Over 60 applications were received for the Student Travel Awards. We thank each and every one of our applicants. The Awards Committee had a very difficult task of selecting 10 winners our of such a large pool of worthy applicants. Congratulations to the award recipients:

Mazdak Salavati (Iran)
Orsolya Gabriella Balogh (Hungary)
Elisa Marelli (Italy)
Emy Elizabeth Varughese (India)
Hyun Ju Oh (Korea)
Eduardo Arashiro (Brazil)
Cibele Cavalcanti Souza de Melo (Brazil)
Andres Tribulo (Argentina)
Annabel Bergmann (Germany)
Jessica Rickard (Australia) - award sponsored by the Society for Reproductive Biology (SRB)

TRAVEL AWARD FOR YOUNG SCIENTISTS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Over 35 applications from 12 countries were received for the Young Scientist Awards. We thank each and every one of our applicants. Congratulations to the award recipients: