2022 SSR Board of Directors Elections

2022-2023 SSR Vice President-Elect

Jennifer R. Wood, PhD, MS

Since joining SSR in 2002, Jennifer has been a very active member serving on the awards, bylaws, program, and public affairs committees. She also served on the FASEB Public Communications committee as the SSR representative. In addition to direct service in SSR, Jennifer serves the larger reproduction community as a reviewing editor for Biology of Reproduction, Molecular Reproduction & Development, and Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology and has been an ad hoc reviewer for at least 10 other journals. She recently became an Associate Handling Editor for Frontiers in Developmental Biology, Molecular and Cellular Reproduction. Jennifer has also served as an ad hoc grant reviewer for NIH, USDA, and Pennsylvania Department of Health Review and reviews UNL Hatch projects. Training the next generation of scientists is essential to continue strong research in reproduction. Jennifer has trained 13 graduate students (9 MS, 4 PhD) as a major advisor or co-advisor and served on 27 graduate student committees. Fourteen undergraduates have carried out independent projects in her lab. In addition to UNL students, Jennifer served as a panelist for the Women in Science Conference for High School students (2011-2019) and developed activities for the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute and Waverly school system. Learn More about Jennifer

2022-2024 SSR Secretary

Jodi Anne Flaws, PhD, MS

Dr. Flaws has been a dedicated member of SSR since 1987. Her service to the Society began when she served as trainee representative from 1993-1995.  Since that time, Dr. Flaws has been actively involved in several SSR committees, including the local arrangements committee (2001-2002), strategic planning-outreach subcommittee (2003-2004), future meeting sites committee (2003-2005), nominating committee (2008-2009), publications committee/BOR subcommittee for strategic planning (2008), abstract review committee (2009-current), program committee (2011-2012 and 2016-2017), awards committee (2016-2020), and diversity committee (2021-current).  She also served as an Associate Editor (2009-2013 and 2017-2021), member of the Editorial Board (1999-2004), and member of the Board of Reviewing Editors (2007-2009) for Biology of Reproduction.  Dr. Flaws also served as the Program Chair for the 2011 annual SSR meeting and she served on the Board of Directors of SSR (2011-2014).  Dr. Flaws also serves the reproductive biology community in her role as an Associate Editor for other journals in the field (Reproductive Toxicology, Toxicological Sciences, and Journal of the Endocrine Society).  She also co-organized the 2018 Ovarian Workshop and several scientific sessions for annual SSR meetings.  Further, Dr. Flaws has served as a regular member and chair for the Cellular Molecular Integrative Reproduction (CMIR) study section of NIH and as an ad hoc reviewer for several other NIH study sections as well as private foundations. Learn More About Jodi

2022-2025 SSR Board of Directors  

Julie Kim, PhD

Dr. Kim has been a member of SSR since 1995, first as a postdoctoral fellow and throughout her career. SSR has been her home society even as her research branched out into cancer and endocrinology. Within SSR, Dr. Kim has served as Reviewing Editor of Biology of Reproduction since 2013, was organizer and chair for the ASRM-SSR Pre-conference Workshop, Organizer & Chair of the ASRM-SSR Symposium 2020 as well as Chair of the SSR Nominating Committee. For the greater Reproductive Biology community, Dr. Kim was an enthusiastic supporter of Frontiers in Reproduction, serving as laboratory assistant for a two week module on Implantation of the six week course. She served in the Program Committee as SRI, on advisory boards for research programs involving women’s health, including the Botanical Research Center for Women’s Health at UIC, and Organotypic Models for predictive toxicology at Vanderbilt-Pittsburgh. Dr. Kim served on the NIH Integrative and Clinical Endocrinology and Reproduction (ICER) study section as a regular member. She is also an active member of the Society of Reproductive Investigation (SRI), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and the Endocrine Society. She currently serves are Director for Northwestern’s Center of Reproductive Science alongside Dr. Francesca Duncan. Learn More About Julie 

T Rajendra Kumar, PhD

I have served SSR in various roles as Biology of Reproduction Editorial Board Member (2002-2004), Board of Reviewing Editors (2013-2017), Associate Editor (2017- 2021), Associate Editor for Reviews (2021-204), Annual Meeting Symposia and Platform Session Chair - Growth Factors and Hormone Action (2003), Gene regulation in the HPG axis (2006), Neuroendocrinology & Behavior (2007), Gonadotropins (2013), Co-Chair & Leader, HORMONES Module (2013), Neuroendocrine Module (2014), and Male Reproductive Tract: Testis Development & Function (2010). My service includes as Member on Education Committee (2003-2005), Reproduction and the Environment Committee (2008-2012), Program Committee (2013-2014), Nominating Committee (2015), Chair, Nominating Committee (2016-2017), Representative, SSR booth at the ASRM Annual Meeting (2018), Member and Co-Chair, SSR Awards Committee (2019-2022) and Sub-Committee on Selection of SSR Distinguished Fellows (2019). I served as the Team Leader, and Abstract Evaluation Committee (2013, 2017, 2018-2022). I served the greater reproductive biology community as an instructor at the Frontiers in Reproductive Biology course, and as a member of > 35 national and international grant review panels for NIH and other funding agencies that support reproductive biology research. I served as Chair of reproductive biology symposia at the Endocrine Society Annual Meetings. I have established the Makowski Annual Award for the best Masters Student in Reproductive Sciences and Medicine at Northwestern University, the Makowski Summer Scholar Award for training students in Reproductive Genetics and the Makowski Award for the best platform presentations by pre-doctoral fellows at the SSR Annual Meetings. Learn More About Raj

2022-2025 Early Career Investigator

Diana Monsivais, PhD

I have been a member of the SSR since I was a graduate student in 2012. After attending my first SSR meeting held at Penn State University, I was impressed by the emphasis placed on trainee career-development and these opportunities motivated me to continue my membership every year. As a trainee, I enjoyed participating in the meetings as a presenter, in the trainee-mentor luncheons, the diversity symposium, and in the career-development sessions. As a new faculty member, I continue to enjoy the scientific and career-development opportunities offered by the society and have served on the Diversity Committee for the past two years. As a member of the Diversity Committee, I have worked with the group to identify speakers for the Diversity Symposium and to highlight scientists of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds throughout the year. I have also served as an abstract reviewer and as a member of the 2018-2019 SSR Program Committee and am on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Biology of Reproduction. I also serve as ad hoc reviewer for journals in the field and recently served as an Early Career Reviewer for the NIH ICER Study Section. At the regional level, I participate in the annual Texas Forum for Reproductive Sciences, where I have served as an abstract reviewer and presentation judge. At BCM, I teach in the Frontiers in Reproduction course at Baylor College of Medicine. In my laboratory, I also train undergraduate students, graduate students and medical fellows that are interested in reproductive biology research. Learn More About Diana

2022-2023 Junior Trainee Representative

Jacinta H. Martin, Post Doctoral Researcher

I am currently a Post Doc in Professor Brett Nixon's Laboratory at the University of Newcastle, Austalia and I would love the opportunity to be your next Trainee Representative. In my current role, I am characterizing the male echidna reproductive tract to determine how monotremes and traditional mammals compare. Prior to this I worked in the laboratory of Dr Rima Slim in Montreal Canada mammals examining the molecular mechanisms of molar pregnancies using transgenic mouse models. Prior to working in Canada, I completed my PhD at the University of Newcastle (Australia) under the supervision of Professor Brett Nixon, Laureate Professor John Aitken and Dr Elizabeth Bromfield. Here I focused on exploring the quality control mechanisms utilised by the female germline to ensure genomic fidelity. During this time, I was fortunate to also contribute to several projects which were focused on sperm and testis biology in a variety of species including the crocodile and wombat. I was also a post-doc for Associate Professor Kirsty Pringle at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (Australia), exploring placentation and the pathogenesis of pregnancy complications. In 2017, I was fortunate to attend the Frontiers in Reproduction course at MBL (USA) which reinforced my passion for reproductive biology. As for leadership experience, I was involved in the University of Newcastle ‘Women in Reproductive Science’ Mentoring Initiative in 2018-2019. Where I organised quarterly meetings and workshops related to subjects of career and personal development. I also oversaw the allied mentoring program. Learn More