After nearly four decades at the helm of the Center for Perinatal Biology in Loma Linda University, Dr. Lawrence D. Longo, M.D., has decided to focus attention on research and step aside as Director. Dr. Longo will continue to build upon an exceptional and outstanding contribution in maternal and fetal physiology, which over the past 44 years includes well over 300 peer-reviewed publications, 17 books, as well as the education of thousands of Medical students and hundreds of research trainees. Past President of Society for Gynecologic Investigation (1982-1983), Dr. Longo was a recipient of the SGI-Pardi Distinguished Scientist Award in 1996, and the first recipient of the Frederick Naftolin Award in 2004.  Dr. Longo has served on multiple scientific peer review committees for the National Institutes of Health and other agencies.  Principal Investigator of a Program Project Grant funded by NICHD for over 20 years, Dr. Longo has been continuously funded by NIH R01s for over 40 years. A founding organizer of the nationally outstanding NIH-funded Reproductive Scientist Development Program, Dr. Longo has helped promote the academic research careers of many outstanding clinicians.  Dr. Longo will continue to pioneer studies in developmental physiology with innovative research on the regulatory mechanisms of developmental origins of adult disease and through scholarly activities related to the history of medicine. 

The leadership responsibilities in the Center for Perinatal Biology at Loma Linda University will be assumed for an interim period by Dr. Lubo Zhang, Ph.D., a faculty member of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences since 1993.  Dr. Zhang is recognized as an outstanding academician and investigator.  From 2007 to 2008, Dr. Zhang was the President of the Western Pharmacology Society. Dr. Zhang is a long-term member of SGI and currently serves the scientific community as a member of NIH Pregnancy and Neonatology Study Section.

SGI Past President, Linda C. Giudice, MD, PhD, MSc was recently elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her scientific research in reproductive medicine, statistics and stem cells.

Dr. Giudice, professor and chair of the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, is a leader in research on the environmental impacts on reproductive health and founder of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE). The fellowship recognizes her distinguished contributions to the field of reproductive medicine and reproductive science, including endometrial biology, environmental impacts on reproductive health, infertility, and human embryonic and endometrial biology.

She will be recognized at the AAAS Annual Meeting, on February 18, 2012 in Vancouver, B.C. The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journals Science, Science Translational Medicine, and Science Signaling.

For more information, go to: http://coe.ucsf.edu/coe/spotlight/giudice_aaas.html.

Emeritus SGI Member Marshall D Lindheimer received an honorary doctorate during Dies Academicus, December 3rd , 2011, at the University of Bern, Switzerland.  The degree award cited his research and advocacy of in relation to renal physiology and disease as well as hypertension in pregnancy, particularly preeclampsia, a gestational complication that remains a major cause of maternal-fetal morbidity and mortality . Of interest, the University of Bern  is currently one of the leading Europeans centers focusing on basic, translational, and clinical research relating to preeclampsia.

The SGI congratulates Vasiliki Moragianni, M.D. for being nominated as the new In Training ad hoc Council Member.

Vasiliki Moragianni, MD was born and raised in Athens, Greece, and came to the US at the age of 17 to
attend Cornell University. After completing her undergraduate studies in Human Biology, Health &
Society in just three years, she pursued a Masters in Physiology & Biophysics at Georgetown University.
In 2005 she graduated from Drexel University College of Medicine and started residency in Obstetrics &
Gynecology at Abington Memorial Hospital. Four years later, she moved to Boston, where she is
currently a third‐year fellow in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility at Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center / Harvard Medical School.

Vasiliki has published over 10 peer‐reviewed articles and 8 book chapters. She has been invited to give 9
oral and 12 poster presentations at numerous national and international conferences, including ACOG,
ASRM, SGI, SMFM, ISUOG and The Endocrine Society. She has been awarded the Endocrine Fellows
Foundation Fellows Development Research Grant in Diabetes, Obesity and Fat Cell Biology for her work
on leptin treatment in lean women with PCOS. She has also received The Endocrine Society Outstanding
Abstract Award, the 2nd Prize for Current Clinical and Basic Investigation at the 58th ACOG Annual Clinical
Meeting, and was a finalist for the ACOG Richardson Memorial Prize Award in 2010. During residency,
she was awarded the Eleanor Widener Dixon Research Award, the Frobese Scholar Award, the
Outstanding Laparoendoscopic Residency Surgeon Award, and the Teaching Residency of the Year
Award during both her first and second years of training. She is an ad‐hoc reviewer for several
prestigious journals and has been a junior fellow member of ACOG, ASRM, SREI, AAGL, SLS, AMA, MMS,
NEFS, and the Endocrine Society.

She is currently involved in several clinical research projects and plans to pursue an academic career in
Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility. She enjoys Greek folk dancing, traveling and literature.

Vasiliki Moragianni, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

• The Lister Institite for Preventive Medicine Prize
• The Royal Society Wolfson Research Award
• The Wim Schellekens 2007 Prize in the Netherlands
• The 2009 inaugural Lang-Pardi Italy Foundation Award
  

The SGI-Pardi Distinguished Scientist Award
An award is made annually to a senior member of the society who has made significant and lasting contributions to the society and to scientific research in reproductive medicine.  The recipient is selected by the President with the advice of officers and other members.  As of 2012, this award is generously sponsored by the Giorgio Pardi Foundation in honor of Professor Giorgio Pardi, a distinguished former member of the SGI.  Past awardees include: Nicholas S. Assali (1982); Willard M. Allen (1983); Edward H.G. Hon (1984); Donald H. Barron (1985); James T. Bradbury and Leon Chesley (1986); Louis Helllman and Elizabeth Ramsey (1987); Jack A. Pritchard (1988); Kenneth J. Ryan (1989); Paul C. MacDonald (1990); Giacomo Meschia (1991); Samuel S.C. Yen (1992); Robert B. Jaffe (1993); Daniel R. Mishell, Jr. (1994); Paul G. McDonough (1995); Lawrence D. Longo (1996); Pentti K. Siiteri (1997); Edward J. Quilligan (1998); Orlando J. Miller (1999); Howard W. Jones, Jr. (2000); Georgeanna Seegar Jones (2000); James R. Scott (2000); Robert K. Creasy (2000); Frederick P. Zuspan (2001); Joe Leigh Simpson (2002); Frederick Naftolin (2003; Luigi Mastroianni, Jr. (2004); Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulous (2005); Jerome F. Strauss, III (2006); D. Michael Nelson (2007); Linda C. Giudice (2008); John R.G. Challis (2009); Gautam Chaudhuri (2010); James M. Roberts (2011); this year's award recipient is Peter Nathanielsz.

The President's Achievement Award
An award is made annually to a junior member of the society whose record in scientific investigation is outstanding and assures a continued productive career in research.  The recipient is selected by the President with the advice of officers and other members.  Past awardees include: Gary D. Hodgen (1983); Evan R. Simpson (1984); John R.G. Challis (1985); Joe Leigh Simpson (1986); A.H. DeCherney (1987); Aaron J.W. Hsueh (1988); Eli Y. Adashi (1989); Jerome F. Strauss (1990); Murray D. Mitchell (1991); Roberto Romero (1992); Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos (1993); Robert Schenken and M. Linette Casey (1994); Rogerio A. Lobo (1995); Linda C. Giudice (1996); Stephen J. Lye (1997); Deborah J. Anderson (1998); Mark I. Evans (1999); Ricardo Azziz (2000); Sarah L. Berga (2000); Richard S. Legro (2000); Katherine D. Wenstrom (2001); Serdar Bulun (2002); Sandra Davidge (2003); Yoel Sadovsky (2004); Phillip Baker (2005); Sam Mesiano (2006); Kelle Moley (2007); Hugh Taylor (2008); Fiona Lyall and Jane Norman (2009); Marilyn Cipolla (2010); Lisa M. Halvorson (2011); this year's award recipient is Stephen Matthews.

The Frederick Naftolin Award for Mentorship
This award was established in 2003 to recognize the contributions of a member of the society to training and career development of investigators in the field of reproductive and women's health.  The award is named in honor of Dr. Naftolin, a former President of the society and past recipient of the President's Distinguished Scientist Award.  Dr. Naftolin a staunch advocate for creating a mechanism for the society to celebrate outstanding service to our scientific community through excellence in mentoring.  The award was endowed by generous contributions from members or the society.  Dr. Naftolin's colleagues and trainees.  The awardee is selected by Council in consultation with the Past President's and members of the society.  The first recipient of this award was Lawrence D. Longo (2004) followed by: Edward J. Quilligan (2005); Mortimer Levitz (2006); Philip J. DiSaia (2007) and James Roberts (2008); B.C.J.M. Fauser (2009); Louis Peeters (2010); James C. Rose (2011); this year's award recipient is John Challis.

The Rogerio A. Lobo Award
This award was established in 2007 to recognize the most outstanding contribution to Reproductive Sciences by a member of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. The award is named in honor of Dr. Lobo, a former President of the society and former Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation (JSGI) which is now Reproductive Sciences. The first recipients of this award were: Michael G. Ross and Omid Khorram (2008); Joan S. Hunt (2009); Carolyn Y. Muller (2010); Linda C. Giudice (2011); this year's award recipient is Nasser Chegini.

The Pfizer (formerly Wyeth) President's Presenter's Award
The Pfizer President's Presenter's Award was established in 1996 to recognize the 25 most meritorious abstracts (either poster or oral presentation) submitted by individuals still in training.  Fellows and those in both pre and post-doctoral training are eligible to receive the award which, has been generously funded by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.  The 25 awardees will receive a certificate, a check and they and their training directors will be honored at a luncheon during the SGI annual meeting.  The society has always sought a means by which to encourage young investigators to present their research at our meeting.  We anticipate the Pfizer President's Presenter's Award will result in the submission of more and better abstracts by the very people who need encouragement to consider a research career. A list of awardees can be found on the SGI web site each year.

The Giorgio Pardi Foundation President’s Presenter’s Award 
This award has been generously funded by the Giorgio Pardi Foundation and recognizes the three best abstracts (either poster or oral presentations) in the field of fetal medicine and placental function presented by a senior researcher and by two junior researchers still in training. In addition, Giorgio Pardi Foundation will fund 5 travel awards to highly meritorious abstracts submitted by individuals still in training from Italy.  The FGP will also recognize the "Special Giorgio Pardi Award 2011" for the best abstract (either poster or oral presentation) on the topic "The Fetus of Today is the Adult of Tomorrow".  All of the awardees will be announced a the Awards Ceremony.