I. Cross-Species and Long-Term Consequences of Endocrine- Disrupting Chemicals
Sunday 22 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons A–B. (supported by an educational grant from CONRAD.)
Chair: Mary Ann Ottinger, Ph.D. (University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland).
Speakers: Vickie S. Wilson, Ph.D. (US EPA, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina): Species Comparisons in Molecular and Functional Attributes of the Androgen and Estrogen Receptor; Michael K. Skinner, Ph.D.(Washington State University, Pullman, Washington): Epigenetic Transgenerational Actions of Endocrine Disruptors on Reproduction and Disease: The Ghosts in Your Genes; Moshe Szyf, Ph.D. (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada): How Does Early Life Social Environment Sculpt Our Genes?
II. Development and Function of the Male and Female Ducts
Sunday 22 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons C–D.
Chair: Barry T. Hinton, Ph.D. (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia).
Speakers: Richard R. Behringer, Ph.D. (M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Center, Houston, Texas): Development of the Female Reproductive Tract; Humphrey H-C. Yao, Ph.D. (University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois): Interactions Between Androgens and Local Signaling Molecules in Wolffian Duct Morphogenesis; Jean-Louis Dacheux, Ph.D. (Université de Tours INSERM, Nouzilly, France): Comparative Epididymal Proteome of Monotremes and Other Mammals, Including Humans.
III. Genetic Insights into Male Fertility
Sunday 22 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salon E.
Chair: Janice L. Bailey, Ph.D. (Universite Laval, Sainte Foy, Quebec, Canada).
Speakers: Deborah A. O'Brien, Ph.D. (University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina): Novel Glycolytic Enzymes Are Essential for Sperm Function and Male Fertility; Steven W. L’Hernault, Ph.D. (Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia): Genetics of Spermatogenesis and Fertilization in the Nematode C. elegans; Mary Ann Handel, Ph.D. (The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine): Mutagenesis and Phenotype-Driven Approaches for Identification of Male Fertility Genes.
IV. Cutting-Edge Areas and New Technologies
Sunday 22 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salon F. (supported in part by the USDA-CSREES-NRI.)
Chair: Derek J. McLean, Ph.D. (Washington State University, Pullman, Washington).
Speakers: Wei Yan, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno, Nevada): Cloning and Expression Profiling of Testis-Expressed Small RNAs; James N. Petitte, Ph.D. (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina): Avian Embryonic Stem Cells, Primordial Germ Cells and Transgenic Chickens; George Coukos, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania),MicroRNAs Exhibit High-frequency Genomic Alterations in Human Cancer.
V. Effect of Stress on Oocytes and Embryos
Sunday 22 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons J–K.
Chair: Richard M. Schultz, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
Speakers: Jay M. Baltz, Ph.D. (University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): Why Size Matters: Novel Mechanisms Protect Early Embryos from the Stress of Cell Volume Perturbations; Daniel A. Rappolee, Ph.D.(Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan): Impact of Stress and Stress Enzymes on Early Mammalian Development; Melissa Mann, Ph.D. (University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada): Susceptibility of Genomic Imprinting to Embryo Culture.
VI. New Insights into the Neurobiology of the GnRH Neuron
Monday 23 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons A–B.
(Mahesh Neuroendocrine Minisymposium)
Chair: Tony M. Plant, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
Speakers: Nancy L. Wayne, Ph.D. (David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California): Biology of GnRH Neuronal Migration in the Living Zebrafish Embryo; Allan E. Herbison, Ph.D. (School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand): Minimal Requirements for Fertility; How Many GnRH neurons Do You Really Need?; Stephanie B. Seminara, M.D. (Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts): Neurobiological Control of Pulsatile GnRH Release in Man.
VII. Applying Genomic Technologies to Selection of Oocyte and Embryo in Human IVF
Monday 23 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons C–D.
Chair: Stephen S. Palmer, Ph.D. (Serono Research Institute, Rockland, Massachusetts.
Speakers: Aleksandar Rajkovic, M.D., Ph.D. (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas), Oocyte Transcriptional Regulators in Ovarian Health and Disease; Minoru S.H. Ko, M.D., Ph.D. (NIH, NIA, Baltimore, Maryland), Systematic Analysis of Genes Involved in the Oocyte-to-Embryo Transition; Richard T. Scott, Jr., M.D. (Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Morristown, New Jersey), The Embryo Glass Ceiling: Assessment of New Technologies for Embryo Evaluation in IVF Laboratories.
VIII. Fertilization: Cellular & Molecular Events of Gamete Interaction
Monday 23 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salon E.
Chairs: Gary Hunnicutt, Ph.D. (Population Council, New York, New York), and Dirk G. de Rooij, Ph.D. (Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands).
Speakers: Janice P. Evans, Ph.D. (Johns Hopins University, Baltimore, Maryland), Regulation of Sperm-Egg Interactions: New Insights into How Mammalian Eggs Prevent Polyspermy; Marc Spehr, Ph.D. (Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany), Dissecting the Role of Odorant Receptors in Navigating Human Sperm; Gary Hunnicut, Ph.D. (Population Council, New York, New York): The Sperm Annulus is a Septin-Ringed Organelle Critical in Producing Fertilization-Competent Sperm.
IX. Identifying Regulator Pathways Governing Endometrial Function
Monday 23 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salon F.
Chair: Francesco J. DeMayo, Ph.D. (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas).
Speakers: Jeffery W. Pollard, Ph.D. (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York): Progesterone Regulation of Uterine Epithelial Cell Proliferation and Differentiation; Sanjoy Kumar Das, Ph.D. (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee): Non-Classical Estrogen Signaling in the Mouse Uterus; Milan K. Bagchi, Ph.D. (University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois): Decidualization: An Emerging Roadmap.
X. Pathophysiology of Placental Development: Basic Biology, Clinical Questions
Monday 23 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons J–K.
Chair: Derek Boerboom, Ph.D. (Université de Montreal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada).
Speakers: Kurt Benirschke, M.D. (University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California): Questions Raised by Placentas of Laser-Interrupted TTTS; Karen Downs, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin): Emerging Paradigms in the Relation Between the Fetus and its Placenta; S. Lee Adamson, Ph.D. (University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada): Placental Vascular Disease in Mouse Models of Intrauterine Growth Restriction.
XI. Gonadotropins: From Animal Models to the Clinic
Tuesday 24 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons A–B. (supported in part by the USDA-CSREES-NRI.)
Chair: George W. Smith, Ph.D. (Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan).
Speakers: T. Rajendra Kumar, Ph.D. (University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas), Genetic Analysis of Gonadotropin Actions in the Mouse; Jim J. Ireland, Ph.D. (Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan), Does Variation in Size of the Ovarian Reserve and FSH Secretion Impact Fertility?; Irving Boime, Ph.D. (Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri), Design of a Long-acting Recombinant FSH.
XII. Conservation and Role of Imprinted Genes in the Placenta of Different Mammalian Species
Tuesday 24 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons C–D. (supported in part by the USDA-CSREES-NRI.)
Chair: William L. Miller, Ph.D. (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina).
Speakers: Miguel Constancia, Ph.D. (Babraham Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom): Genomic Imprinting, Nutrient Supply, and Fetal Growth; Benjamin Tycko, M.D., Ph.D. (Columbia University, New York, New York): Profiling DNA Methylation in Human Placenta by MSNP; Jorge A. Piedrahita, Ph.D. (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina): Conservation of Imprinting in Swine and Comparative Aspects of Imprinting.
XIII. Pathobiology of Endometriosis: Molecular to In Vivo Analyses
Tuesday 24 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salon E.
Chair: Robert S. Schenken, M.D. (University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas).
Speakers: Robert Taylor, M.D., Ph.D. (Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia), Transcriptional Regulation of Inflammatory Mediators in Endometriosis; Craig A. Witz, M.D. (University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas), In Vitro Models of Endometriosis; Asgerally T. Fazleabas, Ph.D. (University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois): Altered Endometrial Gene Expression in a Baboon Model of Endometriosis.
XIV. Spotlight on Recent Developments in Reproductive Biology
Tuesday 24 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salon F. (supported provided by an educational grant from CONRAD.)
Chair: Amanda Glazar, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland).
Speakers: Erwin Goldberg, Ph.D. (Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois), Disruption of the Sperm-specific Ldhc Gene is Detrimental to Sperm Function and Male Fertility; Patrick Western, Ph.D. (Murdoch Children’s Research Instititute, Melbourne, Australia), Dynamic Regulation of Cell Cycle and Pluripotency in the Foetal Male Germ Line; James Amatruda , M.D., Ph.D. (UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas), Germline Development and Germ Cell Tumors in the Zebrafish System.
XV. Rapid Nongenomic Pathways of Steroid Hormone Receptor Signaling in the (Female) Reproductive System
Tuesday 24 July, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Salons J–K.
Chair: Keith L. Parker, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas).
Speakers: Stephen Hammes, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas): Transcription-Independent Steroid Signaling in the Ovary; Peter Thomas, Ph.D. (University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas): G Protein Signaling and Functions of the Novel Progesterone Membrane Receptors in Reproductive Tissues; Ellis R. Levin, M.D. (University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California): Extra-nuclear estrogen receptor signaling.