John Aplin was graduated in Chemistry from Queen’s College Oxford (BA), and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (PhD). He worked at the Medical Research Council in London, then moved to the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences in Manchester where he has worked for over 20 years, and now he is Professor of Reproductive Biomedicine.   His research group in the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre moved last year into new purpose-built laboratory accommodation in the women’s hospital on the university campus.  He is Programme Director for the unique Masters of Research course in Maternal and Fetal Health which started in 2009.

Michele Boiani has worked in the field of oocyte-mediated nuclear reprogramming since 2000, after earning his PhD at the University of Pavia (I) followed by a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania (USA).  Since 2005 he is a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for molecular biomedicine in Münster. Since 2008 he is member of the DFG Schwerpunktprogramm Nr. 1356 on ‘Pluripotency and Cellular Reprogramming’. In 2008, he organized an International Symposium on mammalian embryos and stem cells (Int. J. Dev. Biol. 52: 801-809, 2008). In 2009 he was granted a patent for an enhanced nuclear cloning method (USPTO No. 10/865,369). To date he has authored 16 research articles, 2 review articles, 5 chapters in books (h-index: 12) and served as a reviewer for 17 scientific journals as well as a consultant for granting agencies (University of Copenhagen, Westf?lische Wilhelms-Universit?t Münster, Wellcome Trust UK, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German-Israeli Foundation).

Marianne Moser is director of the IVF-Laboratory of Landes Frauen- und Kinderklinik Linz, Linz, Austria.

Gerhard van der Horst  is Senior Professor and Holding the Academic Chair, Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa

E. Scott Sills MD FACOG FACS is Director of Research Programmes at the Sims Institute in Dublin, and is Lecturer in Reproductive Endocrinology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Dr. Sills is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and completed his subspecialty training at Cornell Medical Center. His scholarship within the field of reproductive science has been widely cited with research presentations in Africa, Asia, Europe, India and North & South America. In 2007, Dr. Sills developed the first collaborative study of regional IVF practice patterns throughout the Middle East. An established leader in reproductive research, Dr. Sills' molecular diagnostic teams have discovered two novel human gene mutations--achievements recognized by election to the Max Planck Society. Dr. Sills is currently a member of the New York State Board for Medicine and previously served on the Board of Trustees for the Department of Mental Health in Tennessee. Dr. Sills is associate editor at Neuroendocrinology Letters and was named Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Assisted Reproduction in 2004.

Lucy Frith is Lecturer in Health Care Ethics in the Medical School at the University of Liverpool, where she teaches bioethics to both medical undergraduates and practicing health care professionals. She has a background in both bioethics and social science and her research combines these two areas. Her research interests include: reproductive technologies (particularly gamete donor anonymity; embryo disposition; welfare of the child issues); ethical decision-making in practice; social and ethical aspects of maternity care; and empirical ethics. She has both published and spoken widely about these issues. She is a member of the editorial committee of the journal Clinical Ethics and currently involved in an EU project on optimal maternity care.

Geraldine Hartshorne is Professorial Fellow at the University of Warwick, UK, and Scientific Director of the Centre for Reproductive Medicine at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, UK.  Her PhD and early post-doctoral work were supervised by Professor Robert Edwards at the University of Cambridge and Bourn Hall, Cambridge.  Subsequently she studied in vitro follicle growth at the University of Oxford, and introduced micromanipulation techniques to clinical IVF practice.  Her recent scientific research at Warwick has focused on prenatal oogenesis, female meiosis, and early embryo development, with a view to improving understanding of fertility and infertility.  She has a longstanding interest in ethical issues, collaborating with colleagues in social science, law and economics.  She has published widely and participates in a range of professional and academic activities including editorial boards, societies, government and regulatory advisory bodies

Petr Svoboda obtained his PhD degree from University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology in 2002. He is now the head of the Department of Epigenetic Regulations at Institute of Molecular Genetics, Prague, Czech Republic.

Jan Joris Brosens is Professor of Reproductive Sciences & Medicine, Imperial College London and an honorary consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea hospital, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust.  He is a MD graduate of Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium and has obtained his PhD from department of Reproductive Sciences and Medicine, ICSM, London.He has received the Japanese Society for Reproductive Medicine 2007 Award for "Differential Expression of FOXO1 and FOXO3a confer resistance to oxidative cell death upon endometrial decidualization" and some other prizes and has published many articles in national and international scientific journals.

Aleksandr A. Popov is a professor and the chief of department of Endoscopic Surgery at Moscow Regional Research Institute of Obstetrics & Gynecology. He is an expert in Reproductive Surgery, Endometriosis and Surgery in Pelvic Organ Prolapsed. He has more than 420 scientific publications and 3 books.

Pier Giorgio Crosignani was Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Milano, co-founder and past-Chairman of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction). Fellow “ad eundem” of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He is also honorary member of the Finnish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Chicago Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology and of the Middle East Fertility Society. Since 1986 every year he organizes of the annual ESHRE Capri Workshops on Reproductive Medicine. Deputy Editor of Human Reproduction (Oxford) and consultant at Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano.

Yacoub Khalaf qualified in Egypt 1984 (Assiut University) with Honours and completed his MD in Birmingham (UK) in 1994. Following research posts in Birmingham and London, he became a Lecturer in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1996, Subspecialty Fellow in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery in 1998 and was appointed Consultant in Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine in 2001 at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In 2004, he was appointed as a Medical Director and HFEA Person Responsible for the Assisted Conception Unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital a post that he holds to date.Over the past 15 years, he has been making a significant contribution to the development of the Assisted Conception Unit to its current status as a leading centre for Assisted Reproduction, Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis and Stem Cell research.  He is an advisor to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), a member of HFEA Licensed Centres. He is a co-opted member of the Training Subcommittee of the British Fertility Society. He is also a member of the MRCOG Oral Examination Subcommittee and an Executive Board member of the National Clinical Study Group in Reproductive Medicine. He has published and lectured widely on all aspects of assisted conception, in particular, fibroids and IVF.

Salah Elwadgy is professor of Uro-Genital-Radiology at Radiology department of Azhar University faculty of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt.

Nafisa Huseni Balasinor is working on the role of estrogens in spermatogenesis studying two different aspects viz., involvement of estrogen in germ cell maturation particularly in spermiation and in the acquisition of epigenetic imprint in the germ cells using two models. Exogenous estradiol treatment leading to increased intratesticular estrogen was used to understand the role of estrogen in germ cell maturation. The studies demonstrated that high intratesticular estrogen affects formation of testis specific adherens junction namely, tubulobulbar complex (TBC) leading to spermiation failure suggesting a role for estrogen in maintenance of Sertoli cell cytoskeleton and presumably one of the mechanism by which environmental estrogens influence male fertility. The study on imprinting was done using antihormone approach, i.e. treatment with tamoxifen. This study highlights the possibility of genomic imprinting, an epigenetic factor as a cause of male infertility and early embryo loss due to aberrant placental development. Recently studies have been initiated on the possible association of epigenetic anomalies in the spermatozoa of male partners of women undergoing recurrent spontaneous abortions.

Awarded Overseas Research Associateship from Department of Biotechnology for training under Prof. Rex Hess, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, University of Illinois, USA. 2002-2003

Calvin Lee Kai-Fai  received his PhD in Biochemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1995. Then, he received his post-doctoral training in Tufts University, Massachusetts on prostate cancer research.  Later, he came back to HK and jointed the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Hong Kong as Research Assistant Professor in 1998. He was promoted to Assistant Professor and Associate Professor in 2001 and 2008, respectively.

 Dr Lee’s primary research interest is reproductive biology on spermatogenesis, embryo-maternal interactions and endometrial receptivity.  Dr Lee used cellular, molecular approaches and animal models to study how embryos interact with the female reproductive tract for better pre-implantation embryo development both in vitro and in vivo.  He is also interested in understanding how ovarian stimulation affects endometrial gene expression and receptivity.  To date, he has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers with more than 500 citations in international scientific journals such as J Biol Chem, Endocrinology, J Cell Physiol, Fertil Steril, Biol Reprod and Hum Reprod.

Donna Dickenson (BA, MSc, PhD) is Emeritus Professor of Medical Ethics and Humanities at the University of London, Research Associate at the University of Oxford, and Visiting Fellow at the University of Bristol. Over a forty-year career in academia, she has published some twenty books and sixty refereed articles in the field of medical ethics and medical law. Her most recent books are Property in the Body (Cambridge University Press, 2007) and a popular science book on stem cells and other new technologies, Body Shopping (2009).

Professor Dickenson has served on many policy advisory groups, for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the British Medical Association and numerous other bodies. She was an expert witness to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on the role of ethics committees in France, where she held a visiting fellowship at an institute of Columbia University in Paris.

Gulgun Engin is a professor on radiology at Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in Turkey. She is an expert in urogenital radiology and male infertility. She is a member of European Society of Radiology (ESR) and European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR). She is in editorial board of World Journal of Radiology. She is one of the reviewers of Europian Radiology in the fields regarding urogenital radiology since 2001. She has more than 50 scientific publications, 2 book chapters, about 100 scientific presentations.  

G.Taru Sharma is a Principal Scientist at Indian Veterinary Research Institute Izatnagar-243122, U.P,India and currently working as Head cum Director (CAFT) of Physiology & Climatology Division, I.V.R.I, Izatnagar. She obtained her Ph.D degree in 1990 from IVRI in Animal Physiology with specialization in the area of reproductive biotechnology. She pursued her career as scientist at the Centre for Biotechnology, National Dairy Development Board, Bombay and worked on buffalo embryo sexing. From last twenty years she is working as scientist at I.V.R.I and is pursuing her career in an area of reproductive biotechnology with the special emphasis on in vitro embryo production, somatic cell cloning, cryopreservation of female germplasm, preantral follicle research for the embryo production. From past one decade her laboratory is very well supported through extramural funding and mainly doing research related to the buffalo embryo genomics and understanding the molecular signaling and different transcription factors of buffalo pluripotent embryonic stem cells. Dr. Sharma was visiting scientist and FAO fellow at Embryo Biotechnology Centre of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA. Her major professor was Dr. Robert Godke. Her laboratory has developed a three dimensional (3D) collagen gel culture system             for the in vitro culture of buffalo preantral follicles, embryo as well as embryonic stem cells with different mitogens.

Andras Nagy, PhD is a senior investigator at Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, and a professor at department of Molecular Genetics of University of Toronto. Dr. Nagy is a world-renowned expert in the derivation and genetic manipulation of ES cells. Dr Nagy is a winner of several distinguished prizes, including the CIHR’s Senior Scientist Award and the genOway Prize for Transgene Technologies. He also holds a Canada Research Chair in Stem cells and regenerative medicine. Dr. Nagy has a long history in the area of stem cell research; his group was the first (and thus far only) lab successful in deriving human embryonic stem cells in Canada.  Dr Nagy currently combines genetics and small molecule screens to define the reprogramming process in great detail. He has already at hand novel technologies to generate iPS cells without viral integration, as well as a vast array of reprogramming tools to be used in the ‘Next Generation’ reprogramming platform for the generation of therapeutically useful cells.

Tobias Cantz, MD, studied medicine at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg and graduated in 2000. He conducted research for his MD-thesis (The conjugate export pump Mrp2 in liver cell models) in the laboratory of Dietrich Keppler (German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg) from 1997 to 2000. Then he joined the Department of Michael Manns at the Hannover Medical School, where he received training in hepatology and liver transplantational medicine. In his research projects he focused on experimental liver cell transplantation approaches and stem cell-based liver regeneration. To broaden his expertise with respect to pluripotent stem cells, he joined the Department of Hans Sch?ler in 2004 (Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine) and analyzed various pluripotent or reprogrammed stem cells with respect to their endodermal differentiation capabilities. When the Max Planck Institute in Münster became a member of the Cluster-of-Excellence REBIRTH at the Hannover Medical School, Tobias Cantz established the new junior research group “Stem Cell Biology” in April 2008, which he is heading since. Beside his activities in embryonic stem cell research Tobias Cantz is engaged in public ethical issues and was a member of the work group “gene ethics” of the Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen. Currently, he is coordinating a multi-disciplinary internet-based platform (www.zellux.net) to provide comprehensive information to high school teachers and interested laypersons.

Sheng Ding did his undergraduate at California Institute of Technology with Drs. Grubbs, Rees, Goddard, Myers and Chan. His work with Dr. Grubbs (2005 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) resulted in the "the second generation of Grubbs Catalyst", and work with Dr. Rees resulted in a 0.7 angstrom DNA structure. After he graduated from Caltech in 1999, he joined Dr. Peter Schultz lab at the Scripps Research Institute to conduct his Ph.D. studies, which opened up new avenues for developing future regenerative medicine. He then started his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department at Scripps by the end of 2003. Since early 2007, Ding has been an Associate Professor at Scripps.

Alan Mackay-Sim is Director of the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research (NCASCR), Griffith University. He is Professor of Neuroscience in the School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences, Griffith University and Deputy Director of the Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies, Griffith University. NCASCR research is centered on the stem cells responsible for regenerating the sensory neurons of the olfactory mucosa (www.griffith.edu.au/stem-cells). Current work in the lab is directed at altered gene networks in adult stem cells in persons with various neurological conditions including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and mitochondrial mutation disorders. Professor Mackay-Sim has undertaken preclinical studies on olfactory cell transplantation in spinal cord injury and he recently completed a 3 year, Phase I clinical trial of autologous transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells into the injured spinal cord in human paraplegia.

Julio César Voltarelli is a full Professor at department of Clinical Medicine (Division of Clinical Immunology) of the School of Medicine, Ribeir?o Preto, university of S?o Paulo, Brazil. He is the head of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit and the Clinical Immunology Division, also the Supervisor of the Clinical Immunogenetics Laboratory of the University Hospital (Hospital das Cl?nicas), School of Medicine of Ribeir?o Preto. He investigated his PhD thesis on Quantization of K cell activity in aplastic anemia and lymphoproliferative disorders. He is the director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit at University of S?o Paulo and the Section Editor (Stem Cells, Progenitors, and Bone Marrow) of Cell Transplantation, Cognizant Communication Corporation.

Miodrag Stojkovic completed studying Veterinary Medicine in 1990 at the University of Belgrade, Serbia. In 1991 he went to Germany, where he first worked for two years as a male nurse at the University Hospital of Hamburg. In 1993, he moved to Munich where he received his doctorate and habil degrees from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in 1996 and 2002, respectively. During this time he was working with research interest in early mammalian embryology, cell biology, nuclear transfer, and epigenetics. In 2002, he moved to UK and joined the team at the Medical School of the University of Newcastle where he was appointed as Chair in Embryology and Stem Cell Biology and Deputy Director of the Centre for Stem Cell Biology & Developmental Genetics in 2005. In 2006, he joined the Research Centre Prince Felipe in Valencia, Spain where he is working as Deputy Director and Head of Cellular Reprogramming lab. In 2007, he was appointed Professor of Human Genetics at the Medical School, University of Kragujevac, Serbia.

Dr. Stojkovic is a pioneer in human nuclear transfer (NT), reprogramming, derivation, growth, differentiation and application of human embryonic stem cells (hESC). In 2003 he derived UK’s first fully characterized hESC line and in 2004 he was granted the first license in the Western World to perform human NT. Currently, his team is improving the conditions for the efficient reprogramming of adult cells, targeted differentiation of hESC and induced pluripotent cells, isolation of peripheral blood stem cells, and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. He is visiting professor at one Medical School, one Military Medical Academy, and author and co-author of more than 100 scientific publications. He served as a scientific adviser in several biotech companies, is academic reviewer for more than thirty grant/regulation bodies and scientific journals. Currently he is appointed as Editor of STEM CELLS.

Marius Wernig, MDis an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine. He won Cozzarelli Prize for outstanding scientific excellence awarded by the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. and Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Faculty  Scholarship Award, 2009.

Gerlinde Wernig,  Pathology Department & Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research     Dr. Weissman's Laboratory Stanford University Medical School StanfordUSA

Asok Mukhopadhyay has done M.Tech., PhD. form Indian Institution of Technology, Delhi, India. He has received 3 years of postdoctoral training from MD Anderson Cancer Centre at Houston, Texas, USA. At present working as Senior Staff Scientist and Incharge, Stem Cell Biology, New Delhi, India. Having 30 years of experiences in the diverse areas of biotechnology. Presently working on adult stem cells plasticity, cancer stem cells, stem cell niche and tissue engineering. Published about 60 research articles in peer reviewed journals and written one text book on Animal Cell Technology.

Harry Heimberg got a PhD in molecular biology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He is full professor and research group leader of the unit Beta Cell Neogenesis (http://bene.vub.ac.be/) at the Diabetes Research Center-VUB and partner of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Center of Excellence for Beta Cell Therapy in Diabetes (http://www.betacelltherapy.org/) and the Beta Cell Biology Consortium-NIH (http://www.betacell.org/).