Committee Chairs
SRF Chair & Committee Chairs
Suman Rice – Chair of the SRF
Following on from a very successful Fertility 2024 meeting in Edinburgh, I’m honoured and humbled to have been elected as Chair of the SRF. I would like to thank and pay tribute to Prof. Richard Lea, under whose stewardship so much has been achieved. He has left a legacy which I, along with my wonderful colleagues who volunteer to serve on Council, will build on and extend. We are all committed to the promotion of research and education in reproductive science and providing opportunities for all our members to engage in these activities.
Having served as Programme Chair for the past three years, I have seen the Fertility conference grow and become the successful meeting that it is today, especially since the Covid years. I have learnt a great deal from my interactions with ARCS (Association of Reproductive & Clinical Scientists) and BFS (British Fertility Society) and I am pleased to say we have a very effective and close working relationship with them. Whilst the Fertility meeting remains a pivotal and central part of our joint activities, there are numerous other undertakings that we will continue to pursue and expand on. These include expanding our public engagement and new education opportunities, reviewing our funding and support strategies for our membership, supporting aspiring early career and established scientists, and establishing closer links with international societies representing reproductive sciences.
Dr Ali Fouladi-Nashta – Chair Grants and Membership Committee
I am immensely grateful to the SRF members who honoured me with their votes to become the Chair of the Grants and Awards Committee. I have been a member of this committee during the last three years and helped the SRF to support its members by provision of grants and scholarships for students and scientists at all stages of their careers.
We have created well-defined frameworks for all the funding schemes to make them fair and well-justified. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the current Chair of this committee Dr Adam Watkins for all the hard works he carried out in this position.
As the new Chair of the Education and Awards Committee, I will utilize my vast experiences and will work to the best of my abilities and with the other members of this committee to continue this tradition. We will also explore the possibility of creating novel funding opportunities such as PhD studentship, cross-society funding initiatives or joint training workshops with other fertility societies involved in the Fertility Conference.
I welcome suggestions and feedback from the SRF members on how we can improve our supports.
Kim Jonas – Chair Programme and Awards Committee
I am delighted to Chair the Programme and Awards Committee. This committee provides the all important SRF membership voice and reproductive science pathway at our joint Fertility societies flagship conference, overseeing the medal awardees for our Marshall Medal, Anne Maclaren and Emerging Investigator awards. I look forward to working with the PAC members, together with ARCS and BFS, to deliver high quality, cutting edge and interesting reproductive science to you over the coming years
Bruce Murphy – Finance Committee Chair
I have been a member of the Society for more than 40 years, and count many friends and colleagues among the membership. One of the important strengths of the SRF is its robust program of financial support of scientists. The encouragement and advancement reproductive science it offers to the community of students and new investigators is of particularly high value. My overall goal, as Treasurer of SRF, is to promote and reinforce policies and initiatives that maintain this vibrant contribution the membership, while ensuring current fiscal health and long-term stability of the Society. I believe that this is best achieved by maintaining a sound annual budget and building the wealth in the investments. It is my view that the annual investment yield could be increased by frequent review and judicious oversight of the portfolio. This is of particular significance, since much of the Society’s annual revenue is derived from investments. I, alongside the SRF Council work to best achieve management of our financial affairs, thereby ensuring the stability and continuity of the Society.
Erin Williams – Chair Education and Public Engagement Committee
Erin is Chair of the Education and Public Engagement Committee of the SRF council, she was elected in January 2024 and is a Sr Lecturer in Reproductive Anatomy and Physiology, curator of @ReproRocks and co-founder of registered charity, Feed.
Her area of interest is in the postpartum period with a focus on the interplay between peripartum immunity, the reproductive tract microbiome, uterine health and lactation.
She has been a member of SRF at different career stages; as PhD student and the society has always been a great source of inspiration and collaboration.
