IETS 2027 Program Theme: Embryo Technologies in a Changing Environment—Emerging Challenges and Solutions

Program Chairs: Valentina Lodde and Marcelo Seneda

Friday, January 15, 2027

IETS Board of Governors

13:00 – 20:00

Board Meeting

Saturday, January 16, 2027

07:00 – 17:00

Registration

IETS Board of Governors

08:00 – 17:00

IETS Board Meeting

17:30 – 20:00

Foundation Organizational Meeting

 IETS HASAC Committee Meetings

09:00 – 19:00

TBD

IETS Local Organizing Committee Preconference Symposium

Additional registration required

08:45 – 19:00

From Environment to Fertility: Practical Strategies for Improving Reproductive Success In Vivo and In Vitro

08:45 – 09:00

Welcome and Introductory Remarks

09:00 – 09:45

Towards non-invasive selection of bovine embryos using media secretions

Alfonso Gutierrez-Adan, PhD (National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology [INIA-CSIC], Spain)

09:45 – 10:30

Non-surgical embryo transfer in swine: Current status and IVP perspectives

Maria A. Gil, PhD (University of Murcia, Spain)

10:30 – 11:00

Coffee break

11:00 – 11:45

Metabolic, genomic, and fitness impacts of bovine embryo technologies in calf and adult females

Enrique Gómez, DVM, PhD (Retired; Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario [SERIDA], Spain)

11:45 – 13:30

Lunch

13:30 – 14:15

Breeding and production of Japanese black cattle (Wagyu): Implementation of ARTs and genetic evaluation, final title to come

Satoko Matoba, PhD (NARO Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, Japan)

14:15 – 15:00

Conservation and development of native endangered cattle: The case of the Italian Varzese breed

Alberto M. Luciano, PhD (Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy)

15:00 – 15:45

Environmental and management factors determining pregnancy rates in timed-AI and timed-ET programs

Gabriel A. Bo, Med Vet, MVSc, PhD (Instituto de Reproducción Animal Córdoba [IRAC], Argentina)

15:45 – 16:15

Coffee break

16:15 – 18:00

Roundtable Discussion: Future perspectives of embryo technologies in Europe

Paneled by Daniel Martínez Bello, DVM (EmbrioMarket, Spain); Lais Barbosa Latorraca, PhD (CRV, The Netherlands); Hanna Grothmann, DVM (Synetics Germany GmbH, Germany); Giselle Gamarra, PhD, MSc, Zoot. Eng. (AURIVA-Élevage, France); and Alberto M. Luciano, PhD (Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy)

18:00 – 19:00

Hosted Happy Hour (LOC Preconference Attendees Only)

Equine ARTs Preconference Workshop

Additional registration required

08:30 – 18:00

Precision in Practice: Optimizing Every Step of Equine Assisted Reproduction

08:30 – 09:30

Optimizing ovum pick-up selection: Follicular waves, cycle stage, and age

Katrin Hinrichs, DVM, PhD, DACT (University of Pennsylvania, USA)

09:30 – 10:30

Nuclear transfer in science and practice

Vilceu Bordignon, DVM, MSc, PhD (McGill University, Canada), and Andres Gambini, DVM, PhD (The University of Queensland, Australia)

10:30 – 11:00

Coffee break

11:00 – 12:30

Toward more fillies: Sexing sperm, sexing embryos, sexing ultrasound, and genetic diversity

Pablo J. Ross, DVM, MS, PhD (ST Genetics, USA)

12:30 – 14:00

Lunch

14:00 – 18:00

Afternoon workshops

Sunday, January 17, 2027

07:00 – 18:00

Registration

07:30 – 08:30

Past Presidents’ Breakfast

07:30 – 08:30

Student Competition Finalists Breakfast

08:30 – 08:45

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Opening Keynote

08:45 – 09:30    

Exploring oocytes: From fundamental mechanisms to new perspectives in fertility

Melina Schuh, PhD (Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Germany)

IETS Foundation Student Research Competition Presentations

Chaired by Bradford W. Daigneault, PhD (University of Florida, USA)

09:30 – 11:00

IETS Foundation Student Competition Presentations

TBD

11:00 – 11:30

Break

Check out the poster presentations and exhibit hall!

Session I: The Evolution of Reproductive Technologies

11:30 – 12:15

Dissecting the circuits of mammalian embryo development with a gene editing scalpel

Pablo Bermejo-Álvarez, DVM, PhD (National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology [INIA-CSIC], Spain)

12:15 – 12:30

Short oral communications

TBD

12:30 – 13:15

From oocyte biology to fitness assessment

Marie-Hélène Verlhac, PhD (Collège de France, France)

13:15 – 13:30  

Short oral communications

TBD

13:30 – 15:00

Lunch

Explore the exhibit hall!

Sponsored by PETS

13:30 – 15:00

IETS Board Lunch with Partner Societies

13:30 – 15:00

Morulas Mentor Lunch

Additional registration required

Session II: Environmental Stress and Gamete Fitness—Cellular and Epigenetic Mechanisms Shaping Fertility

15:00 – 15:45

Ovarian effects of environmental and metabolic stress

Aileen Keating, PhD (Iowa State University, USA)

15:45 – 16:00

Short oral communications

TBD

16:00 – 16:45

Germ–somatic communication in the ovarian follicle: Implications for oocyte competence and in vitro embryo production

Felipe Perecin, DVM, PhD (University of São Paulo, Brazil)

16:45 – 17:00

Short oral communications

TBD

17:00 – 17:30

2027 IETS Distinguished Practitioner Award Presentation: Dr. Luiz Fernando Tonissi Nasser (Born Animal Biotechnology-Panamá, Panama)

17:30 – 18:00

2027 IETS Distinguished Service Award Presentation: Dr. Pierre Comizzoli (Smithsonian Institute, USA)

18:00 – 20:00

Welcome Reception

Socialize with attendees and sponsors/exhibitors!

20:00 – 21:00

IETS Morulas Forum/Business Meeting

21:00 – 22:00

Student Mixer (hosted by the IETS Morulas)

Monday, January 18, 2027

07:00 – 17:00

Registration

07:00 – 08:00

Foundation Meeting

Session III: Managing the External Conditions to Improve the Internal Conditions of the Embryo

09:00 – 09:45

Managing prenatal environment to improve ovarian development and reproductive potential of female offspring in ruminants

Francesca Mossa, Med Vet, PhD (Università degli Studi di Sassari, Italy)

09:45 – 10:00

Short oral communications

TBD

10:00 – 10:45

Genomic selection and gene editing for thermotolerance in dairy cattle

Peter J. Hansen, PhD (University of Florida, USA)

10:45 – 11:00

Short oral communications

TBD

11:00 – 11:45

Break

Check out the poster presentations and exhibit hall!

11:45 – 12:15

IETS Business Meeting

IETS Peter W. Farin Trainee Travel Scholarship Presentations

12:15 – 12:20

Introduction for the 2027 IETS Peter W. Farin Trainee Travel Scholarship Presentations

12:20 – 12:25

2027 Peter W. Farin Trainee Travel Scholarship Presentation I

TBD

12:25 – 12:30

2027 Peter W. Farin Trainee Travel Scholarship Presentation II

TBD

12:30 – 12:35

2027 Peter W. Farin Trainee Travel Scholarship Presentation III

TBD

12:35 – 12:40

2027 Peter W. Farin Trainee Travel Scholarship Presentation IV

TBD

12:40 – 12:45

2027 Peter W. Farin Trainee Travel Scholarship Presentation V

TBD

12:45 – 14:15

Exhibitor and Attendee Networking Lunch

12:45 – 14:15

Data Retrieval Committee Meeting

Session IV: Current Advances for a Successful Cattle Breeding—From Embryo to Calving

14:15 – 15:00

Beyond morphology: Decoding the molecular signature of high-quality bovine embryos

Christine Wrenzycki, Dr Med Vet (Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany)

15:00 – 15:15

Short oral communications

TBD

15:15 – 16:00

Molecular traits of the fertile uterine microbiome: Insights from the bovine model

Osvaldo Bogado Pascottini, DVM, PhD, DACT (University College Dublin, Ireland)

16:00 – 16:15

Short oral communications

TBD

16:15 – 18:15

Exhibits and Poster Reception I

Concurrent Sessions

18:15 – 20:15

Practitioners’ Forum

18:15 – 20:15

Companion Animals, Non-Domestic, and Endangered Species (CANDES) Forum

 

Tuesday, January 19, 2027

07:30 – 09:30

IETS Board of Governors Organizational Breakfast 

08:00 – 15:00

Registration

09:30 – 11:30

Exhibits and Poster Reception II

IETS Foundation Award Presentations

11:30 – 11:35

Introduction for the 2027 Early Career Achievement Scientist Award Presentation

TBD

11:35 – 12:00

2027 IETS Foundation Early Career Achievement Scientist Award Presentation: TBD

12:00 – 12:05

Introduction for the 2027 Early Career Achievement Practicing Professional Award Presentation

TBD

12:05 – 12:30

2027 IETS Foundation Early Career Achievement Practicing Professional Award Presentation: TBD

12:30 – 14:00

Lunch

12:30 – 14:00

Morulas Career Lunch Meeting

Additional registration required

12:30 – 14:00

IETS Program Committee Lunch

14:00 – 14:30

2027 IETS Pioneer Award Presentation: Dr. Matthew B. Wheeler (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA)

Session V: George E Seidel Jr. Keynote Lecture

14:30 – 15:15   

Redefining the relationship between nutrition, metabolism, and reproduction in the modern era

Matt Lucy, PhD (University of Missouri, USA)

15:15 – 15:45

IETS HASAC Open Forum

IETS Foundation Student Competition Awards

15:45 – 15:50

CSIRO Best Poster Award Announcement

15:50 – 15:55

Undergraduate Student Poster Competition Award Announcement

15:55 – 16:00

Graduate Student Research Competition Award Announcement

16:00 – 16:05

Palmer Prize in Equine Reproduction Announcement

16:05 – 16:15

Award Winners and Competition Finalists Photos

16:15 – 16:20

AETE, ICAR, AETA, SBTE Announcements

16:20 – 16:40

Closing Ceremony and IETS 2028 Invitation

Save the date for #IETS2028, in Phoenix, AZ, USA, January 16–18, 2028!

17:15 – 18:00

Board and Exhibitor Meeting

19:00 – 22:00

Closing Reception

Additional registration required

 

Wednesday, January 20, 2027

Domestic Animal Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) and Epigenetics (DADE) Postconference Symposium

Additional registration required

09:00 – 19:00

Molecular Memory: How Gametes, Embryos, and Maternal Environment Shape Generations to Come

09:00 – 09:15

DADE Welcome and Opening Remarks

Session I: Gametes and Transmission

09:15 – 10:00

Paternal sncRNA legacy to early embryo

Veronique Duranthon, PhD (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment [INRAE], France)

10:00 – 10:15

Short oral communications

TBD

10:15 – 10:30

Short oral communications

TBD

10:30 – 10:45

Short oral communications

TBD

10:45 – 11:00

Short oral communications

TBD

11:00 – 11:30

Break

Session II: The Embryo and Its Environment

11:30 – 12:15

Epigenetics and embryo

Marcella Pecora Milazzotto, PhD (Universidade Federal do ABC, Brazil)

12:15 – 12:30

Short oral communications

TBD

12:30 – 12:45

Short oral communications

TBD

12:45 – 13:00

Short oral communications

TBD

13:00 – 13:15

Short oral communications

TBD

13:15 – 15:00

Lunch

Session III: Maternal Health, Gestational Stress and Offspring Transmission

15:00 – 15:45

Maternal metabolic health and fertility: Caring about mother’s and daughter’s oocyte

Jo Leroy, PhD (University of Antwerp, Belgium)

15:45 – 16:00

Short oral communications

TBD

16:00 – 16:15

Short oral communications

TBD

16:15 – 17:00

From ovarian reserve to mammary function: Understanding the multigenerational legacy of prenatal heat stress

Jimena LaPorta, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)

17:00 – 17:15

Short oral communications

TBD

17:15 – 17:30

Short oral communications

TBD

17:30 – 17:45

Thank You and Welcome to Student Poster Session

17:45 – 19:00

Student Poster Session and Cocktail Hour