29^th Symposium of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction

Dr. Christiane Pleuger, Ph.D

Title of the lecture: A balancing act between tolerance and defense: The multifaceted role of resident immune cells within the murine epididymis.

Dr. Christiane Pleuger is a principal investigator/ project leader within the Reproductive Biology Group, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Justus-Liebig-University (JLU) Giessen, Germany. Her research is focussing on the immune regulation within the epididymis that is essential to create a tolerant environment for proper sperm maturation while maintaining the capacity to mount efficient immune responses towards ascending pathogens. Using transgenic and experimental mouse models, she is assessing the impact of particular resident immune cell populations on the immunological equilibrium across the organ.

After completing her binational doctoral studies at the JLU Giessen, Germany and the Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, she started her postdoctoral research in the group of Prof. Andreas Meinhardt (JLU Giessen) in 2019. Since 2022, she coordinates her own research grants and projects as junior research group leader. Her work has been recognized with several distinctions, among them the Young-Investigator-Award of the von-Behring-Roentgen-Foundation (Marburg, Germany) as well as the Dr.-Herbert-Stolzenberg-Award of the JLU, Giessen (Germany).

PharmDr. Zuzana Holubcová, Ph.D.

Title of the lecture: Looking into oocyte maturation and beyond – heights and pitfalls of the bench-to-bedside journey

Dr. Zuzana Holubcová is a principal investigator and Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. She is also scientific advisor at the assisted reproduction clinic Reprofit International (Brno, Czech Republic) - member of FutureLife international consortium. Her research interest covers multiple aspects of human oocyte and embryo development, including investigation of human oocytes´ ultrastructure, spindle dynamics, embryo microenvironment, morphokinetic parameters of human embryo development, and developing protocols for generating embryo-like structures from stem cells.

The academia-clinical-industry partnership Dr. Holubcová established enables her to run both basic science and translational research projects. She authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications in scientific and clinical journals, including original research articles, methodological papers, a case report, and a review paper. She aims to bridge the gap between academia and clinics by promoting the practical application of research findings, implementing innovative techniques, and advocating for evidence-based decision-making in clinical settings. She was awarded a Neuron Fund Prize, L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award and ESHRE prize for basic science.

prof. Ing. Peter Šutovský, Ph.D., Dr.h.c.

Title of the lecture: Biomarker-based High Throughput Sperm Phenotyping: Andrology in the Age of Precision Medicine and Agriculture.

Peter Sutovsky was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison WI, and a Staff Scientist at the Oregon Health & Science University, Portland OR, before his 2001 faculty appointment at the University of Missouri, Columbia MO, where he is currently a Professor of Animal Science, and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health. He is recognized for his studies of mammalian gametogenesis, fertilization, and embryo development with emphasis on the gametic and zygotic ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). He was the first to describe the role of UPS in the regulation of mitochondrial inheritance and introduced the concept of extracellular UPS and its role in sperm maturation and fertilization.

In his career, Peter received numerous national and international awards and honors, including an honorary doctoral degree, several honorary professorships, membership in the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and the election for a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He has an extensive record of publications, citations, patents, grant awards and senior level editorial appointments. His most recent work focuses on sperm genome-to-phenotype research, biomarker-based flow cytometric semen analysis, semen nanopurification and sperm capacitation studies aimed at improving conception rates in livestock and assisted reproductive therapies in humans.