Reproductive endocrinology scientist Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, has actually been granted a National Medal of Science for her pioneering operate in maintaining fertility for individuals with cancer, to name a few accomplishments.
Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD
Woodruff is the Michigan State University (MSU) research study structure teacher in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and functioned as the president of the Endocrine Society in 2013-2014. She was amongst 14 researchers who got the medal in a White House event on January 3, 2024.
Developed in 1959 by the United States Congress, the National Medal of Science is “the greatest acknowledgment the country can bestow on researchers and engineers,” according to the National Science Foundation's site. It is offered to “people deserving of unique acknowledgment by factor of their exceptional contributions to understanding in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or social and behavioral sciences, in service to the Nation.”
Woodruff's clinical work concentrates on the female reproductive system. Her Medal especially pointed out 2 particular locations: She produced the clinical field and created the term “oncofertility,” which aims to protect fertility in clients with cancer. And she was a directing force in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2016 requirement for scientists to think about sex as a biological variable in all NIH-funded research study on vertebrate animals and human beings.
Of note, she likewise codiscovered the so-called “zinc stimulate,” a formerly unidentified marker of a fertilized egg's practicality.
“I'm humbled to get this award. I have had the honor and satisfaction to deal with many trainees and partners throughout my profession. My essential belief is science needs to assist tomorrow's clients be dealt with much better than today's,” Woodruff stated in an MSU declaration.
Woodruff's previous postdoctoral trainee Monica M. Laronda, PhD, informed Medscape Medical News,”Teresa supported my profession with her assistance and knowledge. Teresa made a long lasting impression on me when I was a PhD trainee and member of the Center for Reproductive Science at Northwestern University. She appeared bigger than life and represented for me the kind of leader and pioneer I desire be. Her limitless interest for science, for promoting females's health research study, and for training the next generation is infectious.”
Laronda is now director of the gonadal tissue processing, fertility & & hormonal agent conservation & & remediation program in the Departments of Endocrinology and Pediatric Surgery at the Ann & & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago in Chicago. She kept in mind that this program “would not exist if Teresa had actually disappointed a light on fertility as a significant quality-of-life issue for cancer clients … Her assistance and the chances she managed me inscribed how I try to find services.”
Maintaining Fertility in Patients With Cancer
In 2002, Woodruff was called associate director for fundamental research study at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer. Quickly afterwards, a mom generated her teen boy with cancer and inquired about banking his sperm.
