Honorary Members
Honorary Members
Dennis Lo, PhD
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
SRI Honorary Member, 2024
Known as the “father of non-invasive prenatal testing”, Professor Lo is the Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Associate Dean (Research) and Chairman of the Department of Chemical Pathology of CU Medicine. Professor Lo joined CUHK in 1997 and reported the presence of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma the same year. He and his colleagues have been instrumental in making non-invasive DNA-based prenatal testing a clinical reality. The non-invasive prenatal test they developed for Down syndrome is regarded as a significant breakthrough by the global scientific community, and has been widely adopted in dozens of countries. Professor Lo has developed genome-wide genetic and epigenetic approaches that lay the foundation for early detection of multiple types of cancer. He and his team have successfully developed technologies that allow for their detection and have been working with commercial partners on clinical applications.
In recognition of his work, he has received numerous international honours and awards. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2011 and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2013. He received the 2014 King Faisal International Prize for Medicine and became the first Chinese scientist to be honoured with the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award, in 2015. In 2016, Professor Lo was selected as the winner of the inaugural Future Science Prize-Life Science Prize, regarded as China’s Nobel Prize. In the same year, he was named as the Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate – Chemistry, an honour considered as a predictive index of the Nobel Prize. He was also the first Chinese recipient of the Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Award, in 2019. In 2021, he received the Breakthrough Prize, widely known as the Oscars of Science, and became the first Chinese scientist to receive the Royal Medal in biological sciences from the Royal Society of London. In 2022, Professor Lo was awarded the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, widely regarded as the US’s top biomedical research prize.
Graham Burton, FMedSci FRS
University of Cambridge
SRI Honorary Member, 2024
Graham Burton is the Emeritus Mary Marshall and Arthur Walton Professor of the Physiology of Reproduction and Founding Director of the Centre for Trophoblast Research, a centre-of-excellence in placental biology, at the University of Cambridge.
Burton has a long-standing interest in early placental development and function, and in particular how this is influenced by the prevailing oxygen concentration. In collaboration with Eric Jauniaux, he showed the importance of the uterine secretions in supporting development of the human embryo during the first three months of pregnancy before the maternal circulation to the placenta is fully established. Most recently, he has been involved in the derivation of both endometrial and trophoblast organoids, allowing the maternal-fetal interactions during early pregnancy to be investigated in a systematic fashion.
His research has been acknowledged by the award of several international prizes, including the FEDERA award from the Dutch Federation of Medical Scientific Societies, the Anne McLaren Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for Reproduction and Fertility, and the Joan Hunt Senior Award in Placentology from the International Federation of Placenta Associations. He was elected a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences in 2011, and of the Royal Society in 2022. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles, authored and edited four books and written over 30 book chapters.
Susan Fisher, PhD
University of California, San Francisco
SRI Honorary Member, 2024
Dr. Susan Fisher is a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. She is jointly appointed in the Department of Anatomy. Dr. Fisher is the Director of the UCSF Human Embryonic Stem Cell Program and the Faculty Director of the Sandler-Moore Mass Spectrometry Facility, which is a campus-wide technology core.
Dr. Fisher obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky. The ongoing research projects in her lab include exploring the basic mechanisms involved in human placental development; devising new methods for deriving, propagating and studying human embryonic stem cell lines; and applying mass spectrometry-based approaches to compile protein catalogues with a particular focus on biomarker discovery. She has served on many NIH and National Academy of Sciences panels.
Most recently she chaired the NIH Reproductive Biology Study Section and was the principal organizer of the first Keystone Conference on Reproduction.
She received the UCSF Outstanding Teacher award and the UCSF Graduate Association Outstanding Mentor Award. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Ashley Moffett, CMG FMedSci FRS
University of Cambridge
SRI Honorary Member, 2024
Dr. Moffett is an Emeritus Professor of Reproductive Immunology in the University of Cambridge Department of Pathology, and is the foremost international authority on the immunology of human reproduction. Her pioneering research has defined how the maternal immune system interacts with the placenta, transforming our global understanding of both normal and abnormal pregnancies. In particular, her genetic studies have provided critical breakthroughs into the causes of major pregnancy disorders such as pre-eclampsia, offering vital insights into high rates of maternal mortality in Ugandan populations.
Alongside her transformative research, Dr. Moffett has a long and distinguished history of mentorship at Cambridge, teaching and influencing generations of medical students, and training young British and African physicians.
In 2026 Dr. Moffett was elected as a as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This prestigious accolade follows her appointment as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2025 New Year Honours, and her being honoured with a Karolinska Institutet’s honorary doctorate for a lifetime of research.
Robin Lovell-Badge, PhD
Francis Crick Institute
SRI Honorary Member, 2024
Robin Lovell-Badge is a senior group leader and head of the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Francis Crick Institute. He obtained his BSc in zoology at University College, London in 1975.
He obtained his PhD in embryology at University College London in 1978, carrying out mouse stem cell and embryo research with Martin Evans.
After postdoctoral research in Cambridge, also with Martin Evans, and then in Paris, he established his independent laboratory in 1982 at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Mammalian Development Unit, University College, London, directed by Anne McLaren. In 1988 he moved to the MRC National Institute for Medical Research (now part of the Francis Crick Institute), becoming Head of Division in 1993. His lab relocated to the new Francis Crick Institute in October 2016.
He was elected a member of EMBO in 1993, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999, and a fellow of the Royal Society in 2001. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA, elected 2002), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (elected 2011). He has received the Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine (1995), the Amory Prize (Awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences) (1996), the Feldberg Foundation Prize (2008), and the Waddington Medal of the British Society for Developmental Biology (2010).
He has been a Visiting Professor, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, since January 1996; an Honorary Professor, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University College, London, since April 2003, and a Visiting Professor, Division of Craniofacial Development and Stem Cell Biology, Dental Institute, King’s College London, since September 2016. He was a Distinguished Visiting Professor (2009-2015), and is now a Special Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong. He is President of the Institute of Animal Technologists. He was awarded a CBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List.
He is also very active in both public engagement and policy work, notably around stem cells, genetics, human embryo and animal research, and in the ways science is regulated and disseminated.
Arturo Zarate, MD, PhD
National University of Mexico, Instituto Mexicano Seguro Social
SRI Honorary Member, 2014
Arturo Zárate, MD, PhD is a distinguished Mexican physician-scientist, educator, and pioneer in the field of gynecological endocrinology. He pursued his medical degree at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí and later earned a PhD in medical sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Dr. Zárate completed specialized training in internal medicine and endocrinology at the National Institute of Nutrition in Mexico City, followed by a research fellowship in endocrinology at the Medical College of Georgia in the United States. His academic and clinical career has been closely tied to UNAM and the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), where he has served as a professor of medicine and director of the Endocrine Research Unit.
Over several decades, Dr. Zárate has made significant contributions to research on reproductive endocrinology, infertility, and hormonal disorders, authoring hundreds of scientific publications and books. He has been recognized as a National Emeritus Investigator by Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) and is a member of prominent scientific organizations, including the Endocrine Society and the Mexican National Academy of Medicine.
Widely regarded as a leading figure in his field, Zárate’s work has helped shape modern understanding of hormonal regulation in women’s health and has influenced both clinical practice and medical education in Mexico and internationally.
Markku T. Seppälä, MD, PhD, FRCOG
University of Helsinki
SRI Honorary Member, 2014
Markku T. Seppälä, MD, PhD, FRCOG is a prominent Finnish physician, researcher, and academic leader specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. Born on May 16, 1936, in Helsinki, Finland, he earned his medical degree in 1964 and a doctorate in medicine and surgery in 1965 from the University of Helsinki.
Over a distinguished career spanning several decades, Seppälä served as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Helsinki (1979–2001) and chaired the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Helsinki University Central Hospital. He also held international appointments, including visiting professorships and advisory roles with organizations such as the World Health Organization.
A highly influential researcher, Seppälä has authored approximately 500 peer‑reviewed scientific publications along with numerous books and review articles, contributing significantly to reproductive medicine, endocrinology, and pregnancy-related research. He was part of the team that achieved Finland’s first successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) birth in 1984.
Dr. Seppälä’s work has earned international recognition, including the prestigious Matti Äyräpää Prize and fellowship in leading professional organizations such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG). Widely regarded as a leader in reproductive and gynecologic science, his contributions have had lasting impact on both clinical practice and biomedical research worldwide.
Jacques Cohen, PhD, HCLD
Alpha Scientists in Reproductive Medicine
Conceivable Life Sciences
SRI Honorary Member, 2014
Jacques Cohen is a reproductive biologist, laboratory product developer and high complexity laboratory director (HCLD). He is often described as the most influential embryologist in the history of IVF. He has been associated with many of the critical innovations in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) over the past 40 years.
After receiving his B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the State University of Leiden, Jacques went on to receive an M.Sc. in Reproductive Physiology from Leiden University. In 1981, he was awarded his PhD in Medicine from Erasmus University.
Jacques first came to the attention of the IVF community as a post doc in the UK at Bourn Hall Clinic lab of Robert Edwards who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work associated with the birth of the first IVF baby. It was at Bourn Hall that Jacques successfully pioneered the freezing and thawing of a human blastocyst for use in IVF, an achievement that provided the foundational platform for many of the innovations that were to come in ART during the next 30 years.
In addition to blastocyst cryopreservation, some of the critical IVF breakthroughs associated with Jacques include assisted fertilization, assisted hatching, preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy, ooplasmic donation, single sperm freezing, CODA filtration, Global media, and GPS dishes.
A serial entrepreneur, Jacques is the co-founder of Althea Science, which develops software solutions for laboratories and clinics. He was co-founder of Reprogenetics, a genetic screening service used in fertility clinics, which was acquired by Cooper Genomics in 2015. In addition, Jacques co-founded Life-Global/IVF-Online, a company also acquired by Cooper Surgical in 2018. Jacques is also the founder of Alpha – Scientists in Reproductive Medicine, a leading global professional group for scientists working in the field of Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART).
A widely published author, Jacques has written more than 300 articles for peer-reviewed scientific publications and authored several foundational textbooks concerning issues in ART. He is also Emeritus Chief Editor of Reproductive Biomedicine Online.