Annual SMRU Traveling Scholars Conference

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant); The 9th (SMRU) Traveling Award Program will be held in conjunction with the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). The primary objectives of the 2006 program are: 1) to educate reproductive medicine professionals about what is known and what is not known concerning the effects of environmental and occupational exposures on male and female reproductive health; the education will also include imparting an understanding of epidemiologic methods and study designs used in environmental and occupational studies; 2) to increase the number of urologists devoting themselves in clinical and epidemiologic studies of male reproduction; this will be accomplished by educating residents and fellows; and, 3) to encourage collaborations of new clinical urologists with reproductive endocrinologists, epidemiologists and others in involved in assisted reproductive technology (ART) by impacting the attitudes of both the SMRU Traveling Scholars Awardees and other attendees of the ASRM meeting. This Program provides formal lectures and peer-interaction with senior members in the field who will tailor their presentations to the level of physicians and basic science researchers in-training. The scientific need for the Program stems from the lack of basic introductory level lectures at Annual Meetings. Ten physicians and basic science researchers in training, who will all present an abstract at a podium or poster session, will participate. The five awardees with top scoring abstracts will present their work in a special concurrent podium session devoted to this Program. Participants will attend the one-day postgraduate course organized by the SMRU, a roundtable luncheon, SMRU interactive sessions and mini-symposia, podium, and poster sessions. Formal breakfast expert seminars will highlight new and important clinical and basic research findings. The broad topics to be addressed in these expert lectures include: 1) phthalate exposures and the male reproductive system, 2) the fetal basis of adult prostate cancer, and 3) the effects of methoxychlor on Hoxa 10 gene expression and development of the female reproductive tract. The awardees will be sent selected readings, a lecture outline, and questions for post-lecture discussion (prepared by each presenter) in advance of the meeting to enhance the interactions. Ample time will be allotted at the end of each lecture for questions and answers to promote further interaction between the speakers and traveling award recipients. Past experience indicates that this Program has encouraged many recipients to pursue clinical/basic science careers, with many already active in academic positions around the world, thus serving a critical need. Without this exposure, many of them would have likely pursued different career paths.