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 Godfrey P. Oakley Jr., PhD, MPH. This award is being conferred posthumously in recognition of the wide-reaching impact that Dr. Oakley had on the fields of birth defects research and developmental and reproductive toxicology, as well as his dedication to the Society as evidenced by his active participation for over 50 years, including serving as President. This award also acknowledges Dr. Oakley’s vision, passion, and exceptional leadership in the global prevention of spina bifida through fortification of staple foods. During his career, he played distinguished roles in leading birth defects work first at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and then joining as Research Professor at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.
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 Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention member with evidence of a successful, independent career in research on birth defects and/ or disorders of reproductive or developmental origin, or a related discipline. This year’s award recipient is Nicole R. Sparks, MS, PhD, University of California, Irvine.
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 Wendy Nembhard, PhD, MPH, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
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.
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 COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy and Birth Defects: Results From the CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry, United States 2021–2022, 2025; 117(5), e2474 [doi.org]. The lecture will be given by CAPT Andrea Sharma, USPHS, Retired.
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 keynote lecture recognizes a scientist who has significantly contributed to the field of research on birth defects and/or disorders of reproductive or developmental origin, or a related discipline, over his/her career. This year’s Josef Warkany Lecturer is Ralph L. Cooper, PhD, Quality Scientific Solutions, LLC.
Robert L. Brent Lecture
This lecture recognizes Robert L. Brent’s contributions to the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, particularly for the implementation of the “Teratogen Update.” This lecture is presented to facilitate the discussion of new and old teratogens as well as new and emerging topics in research on birth defects and/or disorders of reproductive or developmental origin, or a related discipline, during the annual meeting. This year’s Robert L. Brent Lecture will be presented by John M. Desso, PhD, Fellow ATS, Exponent.
Narsingh Agnish Fellowship
This award recognizes Narsingh Agnish for his outstanding contributions to the Society, particularly his leadership in implementing 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 isChristine P. Curran, PhD, Northern Kentucky University.
BDRP and ETS Exchange Lecture
The annual Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (BDRP) and European Teratology Society (ETS) Exchange Lecture provides an opportunity for both societies to share and compare perspectives on a selected topic. Established in 2009, the Exchange Lecture encourages friendly debate and spirited discussion. Each year, it is presented at both societies’ annual meetings. This year’s Lecture topic is The Value of NHPs for DART Risk Assessment. Natasha Catlin, PhD, DABT, will present for BDRP and C. Marc Luejens, Dr. rer. nat., will present for ETS.
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 students or postdoctoral scholars’ 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 66th Annual Meeting are Lauren T. L. Brown, BSc, Queen’s University at Kingston, and Julia do Amaral Gomes, PhD, University of California, San Francisco.
Information on eligibility and application requirements can be found on the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention website. Applications for the Edward W. Carney Trainee Award may be submitted when applying for a BDRP Travel Award (due February 22).
Wilson Presentation Award
The Wilson Presentation Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Finalists Platform Session 1 will showcase the work of eight students and postdoctoral fellows who were selected by the Student Affairs Committee to compete for the Wilson Presentation Award. 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 year, three of these students and postdoctoral fellows were also selected by the Awards Committee to compete for the 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 eight Wilson Presentation Award Finalists are listed below. Those who are also Innovator Award Finalists are noted with an asterisk (*). Both awards will be presented during the Awards Presentation and Reception.. Ji Yun Tark, PhD, MPH, Baylor College of Medicine, who will present Characterizing the Association Between In Vitro Fertilization and Congenital Heart Defects: A Population-Based Study of 1.5 Million Live Births; Xiyu Ge, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, who will present Extracellular Vesicle Dynamics and Molecular Signatures Illuminate Racial Disparities in Preterm Birth*; Lin Li, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, who will present Mapping Teratogen-Induced Disruption of Embryonic Lineage Trajectories at Single Cell Resolution*; Julia Enterria-Rosales, BA, Baylor College of Medicine, who will present Intravenous Maternal EV Delivery Enables Gestational Targeting for Spina Bifida Treatment*; Kanchaka Senarath Pathirajage, BScH, Clemson University, who will present Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) Pathway Drives TBBPA-Induced Cartilage Development Defects; Nneamaka Iwobi, BS, University of California, Irvine, who will present Single-Cell Transcriptomic Dissection of Bisphenol-Induced Disruption in Human Osteogenic Differentiation: Implications for Environment-Associated Skeletal Birth Defects; Madeline Vera-Colon, MS, University of California, Irvine, who will present Fine Particulate Matter Disrupts Human Stem Cell Osteogenesis and Reprograms Metabolism to Promote a Developmental Skeletal Risk; S. Gomathi, MSc, ICMR-NIN, who will present Riboflavin Deficiency in Dams Induces Metabolic Dysregulation and Photoreceptor Dysfunction in Rat Progeny.
Marie W. Taubeneck Award
This trainee award is presented in recognition of scholarship in research on birth defects and disorders of developmental origin and service to the Society. This award will be announced during the Awards Presentation and Reception.
James C. Bradford Memorial Student Poster Award
The James C. Bradford Memorial Student Poster Award is sponsored by the Middle Atlantic Reproduction and Teratology Association (MARTA). This award recognizes the best poster presentation by a student or postdoctoral fellow at the Annual Meetings of BDRP and DNTS. These awards will be announced during the Awards Presentation and Reception.