John Schjenken is a senior lecturer and director of the Hunter Medical Research Institute Infertility and Reproduction Research Program (Infertility and Reproduction Research Program website) based at the University of Newcastle who teaches into the discipline of biological sciences program. His research program aims to advance knowledge of the male contribution at conception with emphasis on investigation the composition of seminal plasma and the function of signalling molecules present in this fluid. To achieve this, his group uses multi-omic approaches, combining transcriptomics, proteomics and bioinformatics.

Hélène Kiefer, PhD, is a researcher in the "Biology of Reproduction, Environment, Epigenetics and Development" research unit at INRAE, Jouy-en-Josas, France. Her research focuses on DNA methylation in cattle and its role in the elaboration of phenotypes. In particular, she is investigating the links between sperm DNA methylation and male fertility and offspring phenotype.

Dr. Clara González-Marín holds a Ph.D. in Reproductive Physiology and Cellular Biology from Universidad Autónoma of Madrid and an M.S. in Reproductive Biology from Universidad Complutense of Madrid (Spain). She joined STgenetics in 2010 and currently leads the Research and Development in Male Reproduction, with a focus on sperm sex-sorting and reproductive biotechnologies. With over 15 years of experience in animal reproduction, Dr. González-Marín has led international research initiatives to improve sex-sorted sperm quality, fertility outcomes, and the efficiency of reproductive technologies across multiple species. She collaborates widely with global institutions to advance sustainable livestock production.

Sean Fair is Professor of Animal Reproduction and Head of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Limerick, Ireland. His research group uses physiological and molecular approaches to study the complex and multidimensional etiology of subfertility in farm animals with a specific focus on how sperm interact with the female reproductive tract and its secretions using both in vivo and in vitro models.

Akio is a professor of Global Agromedicine Research Center (GAMRC) of Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan. He is currently interested in the immune-crosstalk of sperm and embryos with uterine and oviduct. His team recently found that the innate immune receptor, TLR2, is involved in such a communication for proceeding on the path to fertilization and embryo receptivity in the cow. Akio is a true beer lover, those from Munich, Ireland, Japan and many other countries !

Nucharin Songsasen, DVM, PhD is the Head of the Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian's National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute. Her research focus on understanding reproductive biology and developing reproductive technologies in domestic and wild carnivores.

Mariusz P. Kowalewski, PhD, is a Professor of Veterinary Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, and Head of the Institute of Veterinary Anatomy at the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Switzerland. His research group of Reproductive Endocrinology investigates endocrine regulations of canine placental and luteal function, conceptus-maternal communication and canine-specific mechanisms of decidualization, and the mechanisms of hypoxia and HIF1α-mediated steroidogenesis.

Satoshi Ohkura, Ph.D., is a Professor at the Department of Animal Sciences, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Japan. His current research focuses on the neuroendocrine mechanism underlying the regulation of the pulsatile release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in ruminant species, especially in goats.

Casey Nestor, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University in Fort Collins Colorado USA. His research examines central mechanisms whereby undernutrition suppresses the reproductive axis using sheep as a neuroendocrine model. His laboratory team routinely employs neuroanatomical approaches such as RNAscope and immunohistochemistry together with central drug delivery and frequent blood collection to assess the role of various components that regulate GnRH/LH secretion.

Vasantha Padmanabhan, MS, PhD, is Professor Emerita (in service) in the Department of Pediatrics, University of MIchigan, USA. Her research centers on developmental origin of reproductive and metabolic dysfunctions. She uses sheep as a model system to study the impact of inappropriate gestational exposure to steroids and real-life environmental chemical mixtures on offspring reproductive and metabolic health.

Kshitiz is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut Health, USA, and Director of the Evolutionary Medicine Laboratory. Kshitiz earned his B.Tech. In Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Medicine under supervision of Dr. Andre Levchenko and Dr. Gregg Semenza. He then started a startup in Seattle, before returning back to academia as a Research Associate at Yale University, where he stumbled upon the confluence of cancer and evolutionary biology with Gunter Wagner. Kshitiz joined UConn Health in 2018, and has developed a new research program in evolutionary medicine, along with multiple startups in cancer therapy, AI, and reproductive biology. Along with this, Kshitiz is a classical dancer, and an author of books centered on ancient classics.

Toshihiro Sakurai, Ph.D., is a Professor at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ohu University, Japan. His research focuses on the molecular regulatory mechanisms of placental development in cattle, with particular emphasis on the roles of endogenous retroviruses.

Dr. med. vet. Christiane Pfarrer is Full Professor and Head of the Institute for Anatomy at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany. Her research is focussed on comparative placentation, with special respect to the development of in vitro models for the bovine placenta and analysis of the fetomaternal contact interface by molecular biological and histological methods (from light microscopy to electron microscopy, including 3-D reconstruction).

Goro Yoshizaki, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Marine Biosciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Japan. His research centers on germ-cell manipulation in fish, with a particular focus on its applications to aquaculture and fish conservation.

Marie Saint-Dizier, DVM, PhD, is a Professor at the University of Tours, France, and at the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE). Her research centers on maternal interactions with gametes and embryos during the periconception period, with a particular focus on the oviduct epithelium and its impact on sperm selection and embryo quality.

Aixin Liang, PhD, is an associate professor in the College of Animal Science and Technology at Huazhong Agricultural University, China. Her research focuses on animal reproductive physiology and biotechnology, with a particular emphasis on reproductive regulation in buffaloes.