Meeting Information
Annual Meeting Awards
Edward W. Carney Distinguished Service Award
This award honors Edward W. Carney, Past President of the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, for his exemplary dedication and service to the Society and the field. This year's Edward W. Carney Distinguished Service Award recipient is Christina D. Chambers, PhD, MPH, University of California, San Diego. Dr. Chambers has had a wide-reaching impact on the fields of birth defects research and developmental and reproductive toxicology. Her dedication to the Society is evidenced by her active participation for over 25 years, serving key roles on nearly all standing committees and Council, including as President. This award also acknowledges her exceptional leadership and contributions to the Center for Better Beginnings, various teratology and epidemiology organizations, and your many contributions to the field of birth defects with an outstanding number of publications. Dr. Chambers has left an indelible mark on the Society and the field at large.
F. Clarke Fraser New Investigator Award
This award honors F. Clarke Fraser, one of the founding members of the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, for his many contributions to the field of developmental toxicology. The award recipient must be an active member of the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention with evidence of a successful, independent research career in birth defects research. This year's award recipient is Bevin E. Blake, PhD, US Environmental Protection Agency.
Patricia Rodier Mid-Career Award in Research and Mentoring
This award honors the legacy of Dr. Patricia Rodier, a past President of the Developmental Neurotoxicology Society and a past Council member of the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention. The purpose of the award is to recognize a mid-career individual who has demonstrated a successful, independent research career and a track record of mentorship. This year's award recipient is Natacha M. De Genna, PhD, University of Pittsburgh.
Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention Innovator Award
This award recognizes innovative and translational research at the intersection of at least two of the following areas: basic science, new technologies, clinical research, policy, and outreach. The three finalists for this year's award are Mengjing Wang, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, who will present Integrative Proteomic and In Silico Analysis of Perfluorooctanoic Acid Exposures in Primary Human Placental Cytotrophoblasts; Ricardo Scheufen Tieghi, BS, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, who will present Elucidation of Adverse Outcome Pathways for Compound-Induced Developmental Neurotoxicity Using Knowledge Graphs; and Julia A. Gomes, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, who will present An Integrative In Vitro and Transcriptomic Profiling Approach to Screen Environmental Chemicals for Developmental Neurotoxicity. The finalists will present during the Innovator Award Finalist Platform Session 2.
James G. Wilson Publication Award
This award honors James G. Wilson, one of the founding members of the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, and is presented in recognition of the best paper published in the journal Birth Defects Research during the prior year. The dual purpose of the award is to provide recognition to the author(s) of the best paper and to encourage authors trained in various disciplines to submit high-quality papers to Birth Defects Research. The paper selected for this year’s award is Climate Change and Congenital Anomalies: A Population-Based Study of the Effect of Prolonged Extreme Heat Exposure on the Risk of Neural Tube Defects in France, 2024; 116(9), e2397 [doi.org]. The lecture will be given by Tim A. Bruckner, PhD , University of California, Irvine.
Josef Warkany Lecturer
This lecture recognizes Josef Warkany’s contributions to the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention. Dr. Warkany was the first to show that exposure to environmental chemicals can cause congenital malformations. His early studies culminated in the formulation of the scientific principles of teratology. This award recognizes a scientist who has significantly contributed to the field over his/her career. This year’s Josef Warkany Lecturer is Sonja A. Rasmussen, MD, MS, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Robert Brent Lecture
This lecture recognizes Robert L. Brent's contributions to the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention and particularly for the implementation of the "Teratogen Update." The purpose of the Robert L. Brent Lecture is to facilitate the discussion of new and old teratogens during the Annual Meeting. This year's Robert L. Brent Lecture will be presented by Vani Vannappagari, MPH, PhD, ViiV Healthcare.
Narsingh Agnish Fellowship
This award recognizes Narsingh Agnish's contributions to the Society, particularly the implementation of the Education Courses. The Narsingh Agnish Fellowship is awarded to a long-standing member who has made a major contribution to education in the field. This year's recipient is Stephen B. Harris, PhD, FRSB, Fellow ATS, Stephen B. Harris Group.
Keynote Lecture
The Society is honored to have Sarah G. Običan, University of South Florida, present the 2025 Keynote Lecture on Fetal Surgery. Dr. Običan is a practicing Obstetrician and Gynecologist and an Associate Professor in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida. Through her medical and clinical training in obstetrics and gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine, she has an extensive clinical understanding of pregnancy and post-natal disorders. Through her fellowship training in teratology and toxicology, she honed her training in animal toxicology, human embryology, fetal development, and birth defects. She is an expert in clinically treating high-risk pregnant women, in fetal echocardiography, and fetal therapy. Dr. Običan is the medical director of the Fetal Care Center of Tampa Bay and takes care of pregnancies affected by fetal complications such as anemia, congenital abnormalities, and twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.
Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Awards
Travel Awards
Each year the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention awards money to students and postdoctoral fellows to assist them with their travel expenses to attend the annual meeting. Students and postdoctoral fellows who have an abstract that is accepted for presentation and present the abstract during the meeting, as either a platform or poster presentation, are eligible for a Travel Award.
Edward W. Carney Trainee Award
This award supports graduate student or postdoctoral scholar travel to meetings that offer significant educational opportunities in the field of reproductive and developmental toxicology, such as the annual meetings of the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention and the Society of Toxicology. The award is supported by the Edward W. Carney Trainee Award Fund, which was established within the SOT Endowment in memory of Dr. Carney to encourage education and training in reproductive and developmental toxicology. The recipients for travel to the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention 65th Annual Meeting are Megan E. Cull, MSc, Queen's University, and Mikayla Watt, BS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Wilson Presentation Award
The Wilson Presentation Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Finalists Platform Session 1 showcases the work of eight students and postdoctoral fellows. The participants in this session were selected by the Student Affairs Committee. Two of the trainees presenting in this session will be selected to receive the Wilson Presentation Award, named in honor of founding member James G. Wilson. This award will be presented during the BDRP Social Event & Awards Presentations.
James C. Bradford Memorial Student Poster Award
This award recognizes the best poster presentation by a student or postdoctoral fellow at the Annual Meetings of BDRP and DNTS and is jointly sponsored by the Middle Atlantic Reproduction and Teratology Association (MARTA) and Sanofi US. These awardees are selected by MARTA and will be announced during the BDRP Social Event & Awards Presentations.