President's Message

Dear Colleagues,

It is my distinct honor to serve the SRI as its 71^st President. SRI has been my scientific home since 2006, and during this time I have served the Society in many different capacities. Most notably, I was a member of various committees including the Publications, and Career Development and Diversity Committees, served as inaugural editor of this SRI newsletter, 1^st Alert, served alongside Dr. Seung-Yup Ku as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Reproductive Sciences, and of course was a member of the SRI Council.

I would like to thank my predecessor, Dr. Stephen Matthews, PhD, for an outstanding year (March 2023-March 2024). SRI has thrived and flourished under his leadership. The SRI 2024 Annual Meeting was an astonishing success. Attendees, registration and abstract presentation numbers have bounced back, and in some metrics, exceeded pre-COVID records.

I have two major goals during my SRI presidency (March 2024-March 2025). First, to enhance interest among young underrepresented minority students in Reproductive Sciences, and second, to enhance SRI global visibility and membership. I encourage you to contact me with your related suggestions directly to aalhendy@BSD.Uchicago.edu

The foundation for the first goal was laid in Vancouver, at the first ever high school initiative, which brought in high school students to learn about Reproductive Sciences. I look forward to continuing that initiative in and all the way to Charlotte.

I very much enjoyed seeing many of you just a few weeks ago in Vancouver. The Council has received excellent feedback so far, so thank you to those who have completed the Annual Meeting survey. The science was better than ever, and many commented that the meeting felt like it was back to normal. Thank you to all who made that possible! Photos of the meeting are now available for viewing, here.

 

I am proud to share that the theme for the 2025 Annual Meeting, led by Drs. Elizabeth Bonney, MD, MPH, and Erica Marsh, MD, MSCI, and indeed my full presidency, is Diversity Drives Innovation. The 2025 meeting will take place in Charlotte, March 25-29, and we are currently reviewing all of the excellent Mini Symposia submissions. The two plenary speakers have been chosen, and I look forward to highlighting each of them in a future 1^st Alert. Abstract submission will open this summer, and so watch your email for information on that as it gets closer.

 

In other SRI news, for those of you who are current members, soon you will receive your first dues renewal notice. We look forward to and appreciate your continued membership! If you have any questions or concerns, please let me or the SRI Staff know. Finally, I would like to congratulate our newest members of leadership: Dino Giussani, PhD, as President Nominee, and Stephane Bourque, PhD and Kristin Connor, PhD, as our two new Councilors. This is the first time that those elected are all outside of the US, which shows the progress we have made on becoming indeed the premier global society for Reproductive Sciences.  

 

As always, if you have news you would like to see highlighted regarding you or a colleague, please reach out to the SRI Staff.

Sincerely,

Ayman Al-Hendy, MD, PhD

SRI President, 2024-2025