MRC Centre for Reproductive Health enjoyed great success at Fertility 2023 in Belfast (10-13 January, 2023). This Joint Fertility Conference, which was entitled ‘Reproduction in an Ageing World’, is an annual event hosted by the Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists, the British Fertility Society and the Society for Reproduction and Fertility. The innovative and exciting programme showcased a high-profile panel of national and international speakers with a wide range of concurrent update sessions focusing on specialist areas in fertility and reproductive biology. There were also interactive Q&A sessions and the chance to view the latest work and research taking place through short paper sessions and poster presentations. There was much for the CRH to celebrate: CRH Associate Evelyn Telfer was honoured to be awarded the Society for Reproduction and Fertility Marshall Medal in recognition of her world leading contribution to the field of ovarian function and fertility preservation. Undergraduate student (BSc Reproductive Biology) Cara Robb in the Maybin lab was joint winner of the SRF Early Researchers’ Prize for her presentation entitled ‘A pilot study to examine ovarian hormones in women with long COVID across the menstrual cycle’. Her work was funded by the RSE and a Society for Reproduction and Fertility Summer Vacation scholarship. She shares this award with Scarlett Green (supervised by CRH Associate Norah Spears) who presented data on the effects of cisplatin exposure on oocytes in the mouse fetal ovary. Image Prize winners Evelyn Telfer (L) and Cara Robb (R) Kathleen Duffin (ECAT CRUK Clinical Research Fellow, supervised by both Rod Mitchell and CRH Associate Norah Spears) won the Early Career Clinician Prize. Roseanne Rosario (Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences / CRH Associate) presented her Investigator Award lecture on ‘The Human Oocyte: production and protection’. Roseanne received the SRF New Investigator Award 2022 for her work on female fertility and ovarian insufficiency. Image CRH Co-Director Richard Anderson gave the plenary lecture on ‘Ovarian Ageing’. PhD student Grace Forsyth (Mitchell lab) presented data investigating cimetidine as a fertility protectant in mouse spermatogonia. Image Johanne Grosbois (supervised by Evelyn Telfer and Richard Anderson) presented her work on the ovarian stroma (this work has recently been accepted for publication in Human Reproduction). PhD student Heather Flanagan (Horne lab) shared her data investigating the effect of cigarette smoke on the risk of ectopic pregnancy. Rod Mitchell chaired one of the PhD Student prize sessions and Colin Duncan was a session chair and judge. Here is a fantastic photo of the dinner event in the beautiful Titanic Belfast Museum: Image Congratulations to you all! Fertility 2024 will be held in Edinburgh - Date and location TBC. This article was published on 2024-09-10
