Dr. Braulio Peramo, an Obstetrician, Gynecologist and IVF physician, is the Medical Director and the General Manager of the Al Ain Fertility Center (AAFC). Dr. Peramo has been internationally practicing in the field of reproductive medicine, specializing in Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ARTs), gynecology and andrology for almost two decades in the USA, UK, mainland Europe and UAE.

Dr. Peramo obtained his Medical and Surgery degree from the University of Madrid in 1991. Following this, he received his obstetrics and gynecology training in Doce de Octubre Hospital Universitario, where his work won the XVIII Prize of the Gynecological Society of Madrid in 1995. Later in 1997, he became a Clinical Fellow of Obstetrics and Gynecology during his visit at the Florida Hospital in Orlando, USA.

In 2004, Dr. Peramo was awarded a Masters in Reproductive Medicine from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and in 2007, he attended advanced workshops on IVF and infertility in the New York University, USA. In January 2008, he received the European Diploma of Gynecological Endoscopy from the University of Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

His expertise and research in the field of reproductive medicine has contributed in the development of infertility treatments and optimization of a number of ART protocols. Dr. Peramo has produced over 100 publications in short communications, full-length research papers, abstracts, posters and book chapters. His work in standardizing assisted reproduction aspects, from ovarian stimulation to the successful management of difficult andrology cases, has been internationally recognized.

Mitinori Saitou received his M.D. from the Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine in 1995, and was award a Ph.D. in 1999 for his study of the structure and function of tight junctions under Shoichiro Tsukita at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine. He then moved to the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Institute, where he worked as a postdoctoral research associate in Azim Surani’s laboratory, focusing on his long-term interest in the origin of the germ line in the mouse. He was appointed team leader at the CDB in 2003, and received a three-year grant from the Japan Science and Technology (JST) Corporation under the PRESTO program for the development of a single-cell microarray technology. In 2004 he became Associate Professor at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Biostudies, and was subsequently appointed Professor of the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in 2009. He continues to investigate the origin, properties, and regulation of the mammalian germ cell lineage with the aim of reconstituting the lineage in vitro.

Professor Evelyn Telfer holds a personal chair in Reproductive Biology at the University of Edinburgh. Evelyn heads a research group in Ovarian Development. The group’s interests cover all aspects of follicle and oocyte development in mammals with particular interest in developing in vitro models to support oocyte development from primordial stages in domestic species and human.

Helen Picton is an ovarian biologist by training. She is currently Chair of Reproduction and Early Development in the Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics, University of Leeds where she has established and now heads the Division Of Reproduction and Early Development. Since 1999 Prof. Picton has been the Scientific Director of the Leeds Centre For Reproductive Medicine within the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The research conducted by the Division of Reproduction and Early Development is focussed on developing an in depth understanding of the molecular and cellular biology of oocytes, sperm and embryo development in large animals and humans. This fundamental biology is then used to investigate the aetiology of human infertility and to design new methods which can be used to quantify oocyte quality, treat infertile couples and to preserve the fertility of young female cancer patients. She has published over 100 research papers, reviews and book chapters in the field of female reproduction and fertility and has generated over £5.6M of research funding from the UK Research Councils (BBSRC and MRC), Wellcome Trust, CRUK, UK charities and industry. Prof Picton was the Chair the Society For Reproduction and Fertility from 2005-2009 and the Chair of the joint executive committee of the British Fertility Societies from 2007-2009. She is currently the Coordinator of the ESHRE Task Force on fertility preservation in severe diseases.

Ji Wu was awarded Ph.D. by Peking University, China in 1997. After completing her graduate study, Dr. Wu joined the University of Göttingen, Germany as a Postdoctoral Fellow (1997-1999). Dr. Wu has conducted research on development of germ cells or germline stem cells in University of Utah in the USA (1999-2001), Temple University in the USA (2001-2004) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China (2004-Present) as a Research Fellow, Associate Scientist and Professor, respectively. Dr. Wu has published over 50 scientific articles in leading journals such as Nature Cell Biology, Journal of Molecular Cell Biology, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Developmental Biology，etc. She has given many conference presentations including over 10 invited talks. Dr. Wu serves in the Guest Editor for Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology and American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, and Editorial Board for Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, World Journal of Medical Genetics, and Journal of Clinical Rehabilitative Tissue Engineering Research. She has also refereed papers for more than 15 international journals (Nature Cell Biology, PNAS, Molecular Human Reproduction, Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, Cell Proliferation, Cloning and Stem Cells, Developmental Dynamics, etc). Her research finding has been nominated by Ministry of Education as One of Chinese Universities' Top Ten Achievements in Science and Technology in 2009.

Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte has been a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratories at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California since 1993. In 2004, he helped to establish the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona and was its Director between 2004 and January 13, 2014. While maintaining the lab on site at Salk, in 2012, Dr. Izpisua Belmonte joined other labs from Salk, Sanford-Burnham, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, and UCSD, as the inaugural occupants of the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla.

Izpisua graduated from the University of Valencia, Spain with a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy and Science. He then earned a Master’s degree in Pharmacology from the same university before moving on to complete his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Pharmacology at the University of Bologna, Italy and the University of Valencia, Spain. He followed that with a stage as a postdoctoral fellow in different institutions, including the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), in Heidelberg, Germany and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, USA prior to moving to the Salk Institute in 1993.

His work has been influential in our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of how an organism with millions of cells develops from a single cell embryo after fertilization. These discoveries may have implications for disease treatment, as well as organ and tissue regeneration and aging. He is the lead author of a 2015 paper revealing a promising new approach to influence aging.

Dr. Izpisua Belmonte has received several awards and honors over the years, including the William Clinton Presidential Award, the Pew Scholar Award, the Gold Medal of the Junta Castilla-La Mancha, the 2016 National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award and the Roger Guillemin Endowed Nobel Chair. A notable honor was the naming of a secondary school, Instituto Enseñanza Secundaria (IES) Izpisua Belmonte, in his hometown of Hellín, Albacete, Spain.

Sjoerd Repping is a top international researcher in human reproductive medicine. He is capable of taking observations in fundamental research – for example concerning the genetic causes of male infertility – and using them at very short notice to produce relevant improvements in treatment. One striking example is that he has made it possible to protect the fertility of young boys undergoing chemotherapy. Repping is a vigorous participant in the public debate about new fertility treatments and the use of stem cells. In that sense as well, he serves as a role model for a new generation of young researchers.

Sjoerd Repping conducts fundamental and translational research in the area of human reproduction. The study is designed to gain insight into the first few cell divisions of the human pre-implantation embryo and the development of spermatozoa from spermatogonial stem cells. The general purpose of the study is to improve healthcare for people with fertility problems by finding the most effective and safe treatment methods in a laboratory setting and developing new techniques. In his capacity as head of the Fertility Laboratory of the AMC's Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Repping contributed to several recent developments in reproductive medicine in the Netherlands, such as eliminating HIV from the sperm of HIV-infected men, extracting spermatozoa from the testes of infertile men (TESE), the genetic screening of human embryos (PGS) and the vitrification of ova.

Repping is principal investigator at the AMC's Obstetrics/Gynaecology department and serves on the board of the Association for Clinical Embryology (KLEM) and the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRA). In 2008, Repping received a VIDI grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research in support of his research on the development of a stem cell in the testis to a fully developed spermatozoon. Four years ago, he received a VIDI grant to study how errors in the Y chromosome can result in poor quality sperm and infertility. Repping has published articles in various leading international scientific periodicals such as Nature Genetics, Cell, NEJM and JAMA.

Sreepoorna completed her PhD in Reproductive Biology from the Stem Cell Biology Lab at National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai, India. Her research focus was on development of strategies for fertility preservation of men with gonadal insufficiency due to chemotherapy. She was able to successfully develop and characterize a culture system for growth and proliferation of human testicular germ cells.