This award recognizes an ASRM member who has made outstanding contributions to clinical or basic research in reproduction published during the previous 10 years. Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov earned his MS in reproduction in 1987 and his PhD in Human Genetics in 1994 from the Research Center for Medical Genetics in Moscow. In 1995, he moved to the US and completed a postdoctoral training at Utah State University, and, in 1998, he joined Oregon Health & Science University as faculty. Currently, Dr. Mitalipov is a director of Center for Embryonic and Gene Therapy at Oregon Health & Science University. His research is focused on investigating and developing novel cell and gene therapy approaches in the area of reproductive medicine.

Dr. Mitalipov's laboratory pioneered the concept of mitochondrial/cytoplasmic replacement therapy (MRT), allowing replacement of defective cytoplasm or mutant mtDNA in patient eggs prior to fertilization. MRT approaches have been initially developed and tested in a nonhuman primate model and more recently extended to clinical trials for treatment of female infertility that resulted in birth of healthy children. MRT was also successfully used to prevent the transmission of pathogenic, maternally inherited mtDNA mutations from mothers to their children. His laboratory is also exploring applications of in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) as a future therapy for infertility. He is also investigating novel gene editing strategies that would allow repairing gene defects in gametes or early preimplantation embryos and thus prevent passage of thousands of heritable genetic disorders from parents to their children.

Previous recipients of the ASRM Distinguished Researcher Award: