Dr. Michael Griswold delivers 2024 Erwin Goldberg Lecture in Male Reproduction
On Friday, February 23rd, CRS hosted the Erwin Goldberg Lectureship in Male Reproduction, a part of CRS’s Translational Lectures in Reproductive Science seminar series. This lecture is held annually to commemorate the life and career of the distinguished reproductive biologist Dr. Erwin Goldberg, one of the founding members of our CRS. For this year’s lecture, our community had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Michael Griswold, PhD, Regents Professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences at Washington State University. Dr. Griswold is a world-renowned reproductive scientist known for his many contributions to our understanding of Sertoli cell structure and functions and the crucial role of Vitamin A in spermatogenesis. Notably, Dr. Griswold’s research has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1977! 
Dr. Griswold treated the CRS audience with a talk titled, “Cycles, Waves, and Pulses: Retinoic Acid and the Organization of Spermatogenesis.” From basics of understanding the seminiferous tubule and the important cell types that contribute to sperm development, to the timeline of spermatogenesis and the role of retinoic acid in directing spermatogenesis, Dr. Griswold conducted a master class in sperm biology and the innovative research his lab has been conducting. Touching on developmental dynamics and to emerging signaling pathways regulated by fluctuations in retinoic acid, the audience witnessed the impact of Dr. Griswold’s decades of research in the field.
Like Dr. Goldberg, Dr. Griswold has contributed a tremendous amount of knowledge to the field of reproductive science and medicine, knowledge that trainees in the lecture hall are taught as foundations in our field. The ability to interact with these scientific leaders assuredly will be memories that current students will share with their eventual mentees, paying forward the exceptional mentorship and innovative thinking these giants have in the field of reproductive science and medicine.