Celebrations at the University of Cambridge honour the life, work and legacy of Sir Robert Edwards, whose work revolutionised fertility treatment through the invention of in vitro fertilisation.
A Nobel prize-winner and one of the most influential scientists of the twentieth century, Edwards spent much of his career in the Department of Physiology at the University of Cambridge.
Together with gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and technician and embryologist Jean Purdy, Edwards pioneered the technique of IVF, in which eggs are fertilised by sperm in a laboratory, creating an embryo that is transferred into a woman’s womb to achieve pregnancy.
Their breakthrough came when the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born in July 1978 - marking the beginning of a new era of medicine.
Researchers estimate there have now been over 13 million babies born from IVF worldwide.
A two-part event on Friday 26 September at the University of Cambridge will celebrate Edwards’ life, work and legacy, marking what would have been his 100th birthday on Saturday 27 September.
An afternoon of talks and discussion, focusing on science and clinical practice, will take part in the Physiology Lecture Theatre - the building where Edwards succeeding in fertilising a human egg in a test tube. It will involve clinicians and scientists who were trained or inspired by Edwards. The event afternoon session is hosted by the Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research based in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience. Speakers include Dr Kay Elder – Senior Research Scientist and former senior embryologist at Bourn Hall Clinic, Dr Kamal Ahuja – Founding Scientific and Managing Director, JD Healthcare, Professor Alan Handyside – pioneer of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and Professor Peter Braude former Director of preimplantation genetic diagnosis at Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital and head of Department of Women’s Health at King’s College London.
This will be followed by an evening panel discussion open to the public at Churchill College, Cambridge, where Edwards was a Fellow from 1979 and Member from 1974.
Among the evening panellists will be Louise Brown - the first IVF baby, Dr Jenny Joy - the second of Edwards’ five daughters, Emma Barnett - British Broadcaster and Journalist with a young IVF child, and Dr Mike Macnamee - former CEO of the world’s first IVF clinic, Bourn Hall Clinic, which was established in 1980 by Edwards together with Steptoe and Purdy.
“Scientists studying human reproduction at the University of Cambridge today are building on Sir Bob Edwards’ incredible legacy. Many of their careers overlapped with his, and now they’re developing his science further, and also building on his pioneering contributions to the ethics of assisted reproduction,” said Professor Kathy Niakan, Director of the University of Cambridge’s Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research, who will chair the scientific sessions at Friday’s event.
She added: “To be part of this field today is a unique opportunity for discovery and innovation, and a great honour to carry forward Sir Bob Edwards’ vision in advancing our understanding of human reproduction.”
Edwards’ daughter Jenny said, “Our family is delighted to be involved in this event, working with the Loke Centre in the Physiology Department and Churchill College, which both meant a great deal to our father.”
Edwards joined the University of Cambridge in 1963, and went on to win the Nobel Prize in 2010 for his work, by which time around four million people had been born following IVF treatment. Edwards died in 2013, aged 87.
Infertility affects over 10% of all couples worldwide, and IVF is now one of the most commonly used and successful fertility treatments available.
More information about the event is available online.
The Bob Edwards centenary conference has been organised by the family of Sir Robert Edwards, the Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research, and Churchill Archives Centre (Churchill College) - which houses Edwards’ papers.
The conference is supported by Cambridge Reproduction.
Adapted from a press release from the University of Cambridge: Cambridge marks centenary of IVF pioneer Sir Robert Edwards’ birth | University of Cambridge