At the 111th annual meeting of the Society for Reproduction and Development, held in Nagano, Japan in September, the 2018 SRD awards were presented to each winner.

SRD Outstanding Research Award

The SRD Outstanding Research Award is given for outstanding basic and applied research in animal reproduction. The SRD Award Committee has selected the following members as the winner in 2018:

Kumiko TAKEDA (Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, NARO) for “Study on mitochondrial mismatch and function in reconstituted embryos and offspring”, and
Masashi NAGANO (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University) for “Studies on the acquisition of developmental competence and in vitro growth culture of bovine oocytes”.

SRD Innovative Technology Award

The SRD Innovative Technology Award is given for the research which contributed to a development of innovative technology in animal reproduction. The SRD Award Committee has selected the following members as the winner in 2018:

Osamu DOCHI (Department of Sustainable Agriculture, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Sciences, Rakuno Gakuen University) for “Improvements of direct transfer method in bovine embryo and pregnancy rate in cattle using embryo transfer”, and
Seizo HAMANO (Livestock Improvement Association of Japan Inc.) for “Production, dissemination activities and supplying-system development for in vitro fertilized bovine eggs”.

SRD Young Investigator Award

SRD Young Investigator Award is given for outstanding research in animal reproduction which was performed by an exceptionally promising young investigator who has not reached the age of 40 before April 1st of the year when the award is presented. The SRD Award Committee has selected the following members as the winner in 2018:

Ryotaro MIURA (Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University) for “Physiological characteristics and the effect on fertility of the first follicular wave dominant follicle in cattle”,
Kei MIYAMOTO (Faculty of Biology-Oriented Science and Technology, Kindai University) for “Studies on reprogramming mechanisms in eggs and oocytes”, and
Kanako MOROHAKU (Department of Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture) for “A basic study on in vitro oogenesis producing eggs with developmental competence”.

SRD Outstanding Presentation Award

The SRD Outstanding Presentation Award is given for outstanding oral presentation at the annual meeting of SRD. Chair of the 111th annual meeting of SRD selected the following five members as the winners in 2018:
 

• Ihshan AKTHAR (Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine) for “Sperm enter bovine uterine glands ex-vivo and initiate a pro-inflammatory response”,
• Yasuhisa MUNAKATA (Tokyo University of Agriculture) for “MicroRNAs of extracellular vesicles in porcine fluid regulating maturation and subsequent embryo development of oocytes”,
• Tomohiro MANO (Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology) for “Functional analysis of totipotent-cell specific gene Zbed3”,
• Hirohisa KYOGOKU (RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research) for “Why is the spindle stability weak in oocytes?”, and
• Ren WATANABE (Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Yamagata University) for “Promoted autophagy at neonatal stage expands the primordial follicle pool and enhances the fertility in mice”.