Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine announces winners of the Abby and Howard Milstein Innovation Award in Reproductive Medicine and the 2016 Project Awards in Reproductive Medicine

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., July 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of its mission to support vital and innovative research in the field of reproductive medicine, the Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine announced today that it has awarded a second year of funding of $200,000 to co-investigators working on a translational research project that will attempt to identify noninvasive parameters capable of identifying eggs with the greatest potential of yielding a successful pregnancy. The Abby and Howard Milstein Innovation Award in Reproductive Medicine project has the potential to create an immediate impact on the in vitro fertilization technique.

The awardees are:

• Jon D. Hennebold, Ph.D., Professor and Chief of the Division of Reproductive & Developmental Sciences at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University and adjunct faculty in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Physiology & Pharmacology at the Oregon Health & Science University.
  
  
• Shawn L. Chavez, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Division of Reproductive & Developmental Sciences at the Oregon National Primate Research Center and adjunct faculty in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Physiology & Pharmacology at the Oregon Health & Science University.

Howard P. Milstein has been Chairman of the Howard and Gerogeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine for the past 13 years, and a member of the Board of Directors for nearly 30 years.

"The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation is a leader in the development of reproductive medical techniques that have profoundly served humankind," Mr. Milstein said.  "This award furthers the noble efforts that were begun by Dr. Howard and Georgeanna Jones over 40 years ago."

Project Award Recipients

Winners of the Young Investigators Achievement Award are: Monica Mainigi, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for a project entitled The effect of superovulation on early placentation and vasculogenesis and Lei Lei, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan Medical School for a project entitled Role of Balbiani-body-associated RNP complexes in determining oocyte developmental potential.

About the Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine

The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine is a 501(c)(3) organization that solicits funds from the general public to support scientific and medical research in the field of reproductive medicine. In addition to providing research grants to deserving scientific investigators, the Foundation Board of Directors is prepared to serve in an advisory capacity to the agencies it supports. The Foundation may also sponsor seminars designed to evaluate public policy issues related to reproductive medicine in order to educate the general public and attempt to improve the human condition.

The Jones Foundation works in close collaboration with other organizations of medical excellence, including the American Skin Association, the Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation (MMAAP Foundation), the Milstein Melanoma Research Program at the Rockefeller University, the New York Blood Center (NYBC), and the Program for Translational Chemical biology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical center. For more information, please visit the Jones Foundation website at www.jonesfound.org.

SOURCE The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine