Professors Donnez, Giudice and Fisher, and journalists Alfonso Andrade and Pilar Manzanares, receive awards from Fundación IVI

• Fundación IVI has provided a total prize fund of 56,000 euros
• The awards were presented in the framework of the 6^th International IVI Congress by representatives of IVI and MSD

ALICANTE, 25 APRIL 2015

The international researchers Jacques Donnez, Linda Giudice and Susan J. Fisher, and the Spanish journalists Alfonso Andrade and Pilar Manzanares, were presented with awards last night in the framework of the 6^th International IVI Congress, during the gala awards ceremony for the presentation of the Fundación IVI science and journalism awards.

This was the sixth occasion on which the international prizes have been awarded for the best basic scientific and clinical scientific career of outstanding groups in reproductive medicine, and it was the first time that the prizes were presented for the 1^st IVI Journalism Award for Assisted Reproduction and Maternal-Foetal Health.

Fundación IVI International Awards

The Fundación IVI International Awards were presented by Dr Carlos Simón, Director of Fundación IVI, and by Susana Rodríguez, Director of the Fertility Unit for Spain and Portugal at MSD.

These awards, which offer prize money of 25,000 euros each, enable Fundación IVI to recognise the work carried out by outstanding research groups investigating reproductive medicine that have put forward studies of clinical interest and that achieve new advances in research in the area of assisted reproduction that lead to great benefits for society.

It is for that reason that Professors Jacques Donnez and Linda Giudice have been awarded a prize ex aequo for the best clinical scientific career of outstanding groups in reproductive medicine, and that Professor Susan J. Fisher has been awarded the prize for the best basic scientific career of outstanding groups in reproductive medicine.

The panel of judges was on this occasion composed of distinguished figures in the scientific and academic domain, including: Mr Esteban Morcillo, Chancellor of the University of Valencia; Prof. Antonio Pellicer, President of IVI, recipient of the Premio Jaime I award for Medicine and co-editor of the journal Fertility and Sterility; Prof. Santiago Grisolía, Secretary of the Fundación Valenciana de Estudios Avanzados; Prof. Carlos Simón, Scientific Director of IVI and recipient of the Premio Jaime I award for Medical Research; Dr Rafael Aleixandre, member of the Documentation Centre at the University of Valencia; and Prof. Hans Evers, editor of the publication Human Reproduction.

The prize winners:

Prof. Jacques Donnez: Director of SRI (Infertility Research Unit) and Professor Emeritus of the Catholic University of Louvain.

Prof. Linda Giudice: Professor and Director of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, current President of the World Endometriosis Society, she serves on the March of Dimes Scientific Advisory Board and is a member elect of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of the United States.

Prof. Susan J. Fisher: Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, Director of the UCSF Human Embryonic Stem Cell Program and Director of the Sandler-Moore Mass Spectrometry Core Facility.

1^st IVI Journalism Award

The 1^st IVI Journalism Award for Assisted Reproduction and Maternal-Foetal Health was presented by Dr Manuel Muñoz, Director of IVI Alicante and host of the 6^th International IVI Congress.

The journalists Alfonso Andrade and Pilar Manzanares were the winners of this inaugural edition of the award for their pieces written for the categories of Assisted Reproduction and Maternal-Foetal Health respectively. With a prize fund consisting of 3000 euros and a trophy representing the Venus of Willendorf as a symbol of fertility, this award recognises the journalistic excellence of both professionals in terms of disseminating information relating to the treatment of infertility and maternal-foetal health.

The panel of judges, which was composed of various figures from the world of journalism as well as specialists in gynaecology and reproductive medicine, decided to award the prizes for the articles ‘Over 40… and in nappies’, by Mr Andrade, in the category of Assisted Reproduction, and ‘Born against all the odds’, by Ms Manzanares, in the category of Maternal-Foetal Health.