Hugh Taylor
Hugh Taylor, MD
SRI President, 2015-2016
After two years of reorganization, 2016 was a year of consolidation and refocusing on our scientific goals. In 2014 the organizational structure of SRI was dramatically changed. Dr. Kelle Moley organized and led a strategic retreat. Plans for a major change in the management structure of the SRI and name change from the Society for Gynecologic Investigation to Society for Reproductive Investigation both came from that retreat. The new management strategy was implemented during the 2015 presidential year and overseen by Dr. Serdar Bulun. As a member of the presidential chain, I participated in these significant changes for our Society.
We had engaged an outside organization to oversee the business operations of the Society. Anne Krolikowski was our new Executive Director. 2016 was a time to refocus on our priorities and mission. We increased our training and mentoring programs. We re-engaged physician-scientists. Most importantly, we awarded our first seed and bridge funding grants. Our Society had been financially successful and we prioritized putting this money into helping provide initial support for new investigators as well as bridging those who needed funding at a time of very tight NIH pay line. We also made a push to engage researchers in developing countries as well as those under-represented in our country.
Our opening theme was “Prioritizing Reproductive Sciences in a Time of Diminished Resources”. This theme reflected both the need to prioritize Reproductive Biology as a whole, and also (given the limited funding), what areas within Reproductive Sciences should be considered as a priority.
In 2016, we also initiated a new award, the SRI Lifetime Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the SRI and significant contributions to the field of Reproductive Medicine and Women’s Health Research. The award was intended to recognize service to the field as an advocate rather than being limited strictly to scientific achievement. The first awardee was Dr. Alan DeCherney, head of the Program of Reproductive and Adult Endocrinology of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Dr. DeCherney was a past president of the Society. In addition to this new award, we also awarded Dr. Emre Seli the President’s Achievement Award and Dr. Jerry Strauss the Naftolin Mentorship Award.
Finally, throughout my time as president, I continued as Editor-in-Chief of Reproductive Sciences. Reproductive Sciences has grown from a small journal with most papers accepted and published only quarterly to a monthly highly competitive journal. We saw the number of submissions quadruple over the last several years with a truly international presence and reputation. The acceptance rate dropped below 30%. The journal is now highly selective. Further, the impact factor has shown a steady increase.
In summary, 2016 was a year to be proud of our accomplishments and to reprioritize our focus on the Society’s scientific and training mission. After going through a major structural reorganization, the Society was now able to focus on fulfilling its long-standing mission.