Professor Richard Anderson, Co-Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health, has been named the winner of the 2023 Marshall Medal. Image Professor Anderson with previous Marshall Medal winners He was awarded this prestigious award at the 17th annual Fertility conference, Fertility 2024, which took place 10-13 January 2024 at the EICC.This is the premier award of the Society for Reproduction and Fertility (SRF) and was established in 1963 to celebrate outstanding contributors to the study of fertility and reproduction. Image Richard Anderson gives his prize lecture Richard’s well received Marshall Medal prize lecture, entitled ‘A grasshopper’s journey through reproduction’, was followed by the award presentation.Professor Anderson, Co-Director at the Centre for Reproductive Health within the Institute of Regeneration of Repair, has worked in reproductive health research for 37 years. Richard is the Elsie Inglis Professor of Clinical Reproductive Science at the University of Edinburgh and works across Reproductive Health and Clinical Reproductive Science. His range of work includes infertility, reproductive endocrinology, contraception and in the gender identity clinic.Richard is a member of the HFEA Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee and the NICHD Scientific Consulting Group of the Contraception Discovery and Development Branch, and is involved in ESHRE (having previously served on the ESHRE Executive Committee). Professor Richard Anderson, said: “I am honoured to receive this award and it was very special to receive it on my home soil, in close proximity to where I have trained and worked in reproductive health research for almost four decades. It is a positive and inspiring experience for this outstanding research community to be under the same roof enjoying an innovative programme and sharing examples of our work, which will lead to better reproductive health outcomes for future generations.”This year’s Fertility 2024 (a joint conference of The Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists, The British Fertility Society and The Society for Reproduction and Fertility) was aptly named ‘Rethinking Reproduction’. It boasted a high-profile panel of national and international speakers and a wide range of concurrent update sessions focusing on specialist areas in fertility and reproductive biology.Leading research and clinical experts in this field were brought together to share the latest findings and techniques; over 1,000 delegates from 23 different countries were in attendance. The programme included engaging plenary sessions led by distinguished speakers in the fertility field, parallel short papers exploring the latest research, topical update sessions, interactive Q&A’s and poster presentations. Delegates were offered networking opportunities and the chance to discuss future collaborative opportunities.Over the course of the conference the CRH presented a number of cutting-edge talks. Image Rod Mitchell’s plenary session Professor Rod Mitchell’s engaging plenary on bench to bedside fertility preservation research focused on the importance of global scientific and clinical collaboration to optimise fertility options for male childhood cancer survivors.Rod highlighted the launch of the ORCHID-NET consortium; an international network of experts in the field of male fertility preservation which strives to improve fertility outcomes after childhood illness.Visit ORCHID-NETDr Varsha Jain (Critchley lab) engaged the audience on the topic of reproductive health in space, and Grace Forsyth (Mitchell lab) presented her data outlining potential protective strategies for young males with cancer.Dr Kirsten Wilson (Duncan lab) discussed the panda fertility research she has worked on over recent years and Bethan Rowley (Maybin lab) shared her work on the endometrium. Dr Roseanne Rosario (Anderson lab) gave a memorable flash talk on human ovarian tissue that is exposed to cyclophosphamide and the CRH’s summer research projects were presented by our stellar group of students.Congratulations to everyone involved.The 2025 Fertility Conference will take place in Liverpool.Keep an eye on the Fertility Conference website for further information.If you are interested in learning more about the Fertility Preservation Annual conference which takes place in Edinburgh this May, visit our event page:Fertility Preservation 2024 Publication date 29 Jan, 2024
