Dr. Kimmins received her Ph.D. from Dalhousie University in 2003 and completed her post-doctoral training at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire in Strasbourg, France in 2005. She was appointed to the Department of Animal Science in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2005 and is a tenured Associate Professor. She is an associate member of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine at McGill. She held a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Epigenetics, Reproduction and Development (2011-2021), and was the Associate Director for the McGill Center for the Study of Reproduction (2014-2017). In 2014 she received the Young Andrologist Award from the American Society of Andrology, and in 2016 the Society for the Study of Reproduction Young Investigator award.

Hélène Kiefer obtained a permanent researcher position in 2010 at INRAE of Jouy-en-Josas. She joined a team working on livestock epigenetics (leader: Hélène Jammes), and developed several tools to study DNA methylation at a genome-wide scale in cattle: a Roche-NimbleGen microarray, and more recently RRBS. She collaborates with bioinformaticians and statisticians to develop pipelines for DNA methylation analyses. Her research interest is to understand how epigenetic modifications vary under the influence of both environmental and genetic factors and contribute to phenotype variability in cattle. She is particularly interested in bull sperm epigenome and its potential role as a mediator of intergenerational inheritance effects.

Dr Sirard spent all his professional life working in IVF. He used a laparoscopic approach to perform IVF in cattle and obtained the first test-tubes calves in 1985. During his post-doc in USA, Dr Sirard developed a method to produce bovine embryos by the hundreds using oocytes recovered from post-mortem cows. This extraordinary tool was then used in hundreds of laboratories to understand and improve all aspects of IVF in large animals and humans. Over the last 3 decades. He came back to Québec in 1987 and obtained an industrial chair to work on oocytes and sperm in 1990. He founded the Centre de Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction in 1995 which has grown to include more than 100 people today. He obtained a senior Canadian Research Chair in 2000 on genomics applied to reproduction and has created an international effort to define the normal genomic program in early mammalian embryos which has become an NSERC strategic network, EmbryoGENE in 2008. He has published over 325 scientific papers and has been invited to give over 95 invited lectures in international meetings. His current research activities are focus on the epigenetic mechanism allowing information transfer from one generation to the next.

Dr. Xiuchun (Cindy) Tian is a professor of biotechnology and Interim Department Head of Animal Science at the University of Connecticut. She obtained her MS and PhD from Cornell University in reproductive endocrinology. As a recipient of the National Research Service Award from the NIH she did her post-docs in developmental genetics and molecular embryology. Dr. Tian’s current research interests are 1) nuclear reprogramming by somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning); 2) genetic engineering to improve production efficiency of domestic animals; 3) embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells; 4) epigenetics of pre-implantation development. Dr. Tian has more than 110 primary publications in both premium journals such as Nature Genetics, Nature Biotechnology, PNAS, Stem Cells and specialty journals such as Biology of Reproduction and Cellular Reprogramming. She serves as a Section Editor for BMC Developmental Biology, associate editor for PLoS One, Scientific Reports, Journal of Reproduction and Development. She was on the Board of Govern for the International Embryo Technology Society from 2018-2021.

Vilceu Bordignon, DVM, MSc, PhD, is Associate Professor of Animal Science and Director of the McGill Large Animal Research Unit. His main research interest is on reproductive and developmental biology. Current research in his lab is investigating epigenetic mechanisms regulating embryo development and cell reprogramming. His lab is also investigating how early stage embryos deal with stressful conditions by regulating coping mechanisms, and testing conditions to improve development of embryos derived by different in vitro technologies. His research program applies several cell and molecular technologies including in vitro embryo production, somatic cell nuclear transfer, interference RNA and genome-editing.

Pascale Chavatte-Palmer graduated as DVM in France in 1989 and specialized in animal reproduction in UK, USA and France, with a research focus in placental and perinatal development in horses. In 1999, she joined the Biology of Development and Reproduction (BDR) research unit at INRA in France and studied feto-placental and postnatal consequences of cloning and embryo technologies in cattle. In 2006, she started to develop biomedical and veterinary models for studying the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), with an emphasis on placental function. Her group studied the programming effects of nutritional challenges, metabolic imbalance, embryo technologies and exposure to airborne and/or food pollutants, taking advantage of access to a large number of species, including horses, and developing multidisciplinary approaches. Since 2020, she is the director of the new Biology of Reproduction, Environment, Epigenetics and Development (BREED) research unit (succeeding BDR), that gathers expertise in animal and human reproduction and development. With this new responsibility, she decided to focus her own research mostly on the equine species.

Pascale Chavatte-Palmer is a founding member of the French speaking society for DOHAD (SF-DOHAD), she was president of the International Society for Embryo Technologies from 2018 to 2020. She is currently president of the European Placenta Group (EPG) and of the French society for the Study of Fertility (SFEF). She has co-authored more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals. As a personal interest, she is also involved in the breeding of show-jumping horses, together with her husband Eric Palmer.

Veronique Ouellet received her PhD in animal sciences from Laval University in Quebec city, Canada. During her graduate studies, she interned for Pr Wolfang Heuwieser and Dr Victor Cabrera at the Frei Universitat in Berlin and at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. After obtaining her PhD, she was hired as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Florida in the lactation physiology laboratories of Dr Jimena Laporta and Dr Geoffrey Dahl. Her work at UF mostly focused on the maternal consequences of heat stress on the subsequent offspring. She recently joined the Department of Animal Sciences at Laval University as an Assistant Professor in dairy science. Her research program focuses on the effects of the environment on the performance of dairy cows. Through her research, her collaborations and involvement in in many transfers and extension activities, Véronique wishes to contribute to ensuring the sustainability and resilience of the Canadian dairy sector.

Dr. Stephanie McKay was born and raised in Texas where she attended Texas A&M University and received her undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Genetics. After receiving her M.S. degree at Texas A&M, Stephanie ventured to the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where she received her Ph.D. in 2007. Currently, Stephanie is an Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomics in the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Vermont. The McKay lab performs genetic, genomic and epigenomic work with cattle and our primary interest is identifying epigenetic mechanisms driving epigenetic variation of complex traits.

Dr. Eveline Ibeagha-Awemu is a senior Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She has established national and international reputation for her research in animal genomics and epigenomics for dairy health management and production. Her research supports the animal science community to develop strategies that contribute to the production of safe and affordable food. Dr. Ibeagha-Awemu’s research focuses on applying OMICs and emerging technologies to unravel the molecular mechanisms of lactation, detect genetic/epigenetic markers of production and health traits, uncover the contribution of epigenetic factors to phenotypic variation, unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying bovine diseases, and develop next generation biomarkers/therapeutics for bovine health management. She is among pioneer scientists to characterise regulatory elements in the bovine genome and to create awareness of the important contributions of epigenetic factors to phenotypic outcomes in livestock health and production traits. Dr Ibeagha-Awemu is frequently invited to expert consultancy meetings/panels and to render technology transfer activities. She has led many research and development programs, participated in many expert committees and professional societies including holding executive position as President of the Canadian Society of Animal Science. Dr Ibeagha-Awemu has contributed significantly to scientific innovation through authorship/co-authorship of 205 scientific communications including 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, as well as numerous invited presentations to audiences in many countries. She has made significant contributions through mentorship of Canadian and International Animal Scientists in universities and governments, with several of them holding faculty or research scientist positions in universities, governments and industry.

Stéphane Fabre, PhD
Research director, Department of Animal Genetics, laboratory of Genetics, Physiology and Breeding Systems, INRAE, Toulouse, France
He received his doctorate in Molecular Biology from the Clermont-Ferrand University in 1995, and was a postdoctoral fellow in human retrovirology at the Ecole Normale Supérieure from 1996–1999 in Lyon. He obtained a researcher permanent position in 1999 at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture and Environment (INRAE) in Nouzilly, working in molecular reproductive physiology on the ovarian function. In 2011, he moved to INRAE in Toulouse to focus his research more on molecular genetics. Thanks to whole genome approaches (SNP chip genotyping, GWAS, high throughput DNA and RNA sequencing), he tries to evidence causal mutations and cellular mechanisms controlling fertility associated traits in small ruminants (ovarian follicle reserve, ovulation rate, litter size, embryonic lethality, sperm parameters). He is author or co-author of 74 peer-reviewed research articles, reviews and book chapters. He also serves as a fellow of the scientific council of the INRAE Animal Genetics division, and supervises a small ruminant experimental farm.

Axis 2 invited speaker

Deborah Bourc’his obtained her PhD at Paris Diderot University in 2000, on the topic of DNA methylation, its implication in an immunodeficiency syndrome and profile changes resulting from somatic cloning.

She then did a postdoc at Columbia University in New York, where she identified a DNA methylation co-factor, DNMT3L, absolutely essential for mammalian fertility, due to its involvement in the establishment genomic imprinting and repression of transposable elements during gametogenesis.

She established her research team in 2009 at the Institut Curie in Paris. Her team studies the epigenetic determinants of mammalian reproduction, mainly using the marine model, and through approaches of genomic mappers, functional genetics and high throughput screens.

Johanne Cameron a grandi près de la ferme familiale de son grand-père Louis-Philippe McCarthy). Ce contact avec l’élevage l’a poussé vers l’agronomie où elle a terminé son Baccalauréat en 2001 (Université Laval). Suite à l’obtention de ce diplôme, elle a débuté une maîtrise sur l’utilisation de la photopériode avec le chercheur François Castonguay d’AAC. Depuis la réalisation de sa maîtrise en 2001, elle a travaillé sur de nombreux projets de recherche portant sur la photopériode, ce qui lui a permis de développer de nouvelles connaissances, de développer des outils pour les producteurs et surtout, de se spécialiser dans ce domaine. En juin 2003, elle entre dans les rangs du Centre d’expertise en production ovine du Québec, où elle occupe à temps plein le poste de Coordonnatrice de la vulgarisation, jusqu’à l’automne 2010. À l’automne 2010, elle quitte temporairement le CEPOQ pour mettre plus de temps au travail de la ferme. Toutefois, dès le printemps 2011, elle reprend un poste de chargée de projet au CEPOQ pour travailler sur différents projets de recherche et de développement pour la production ovine, à temps partiel. En juin 2018, Johanne a décidé de cesser de travailler dans la recherche pour concentrer son travail dans la ferme qui se développe constamment. Elle enseigne toujours la production ovine au Collège d'agriculture de St-Hyacinthe en hiver et agit à titre de conseillère auprès de certains producteurs ovins de sa région. Johanne est très impliquée dans l'industrie du mouton, dans l'agriculture et dans la communauté. Elle fait partie du conseil d’administration de l'Association canadienne des éleveurs de moutons depuis 2011 (SCEA) et elle est présidente de la Société des éleveurs de moutons de race pure du Québec depuis 2018 (SEMRPQ). Elle est également membre du Comité agricole pour la MRC de la Vallée du Richelieu, présidente du Concours des Jeunes agriculteurs d’élites du Canada, Section Québec et elle a siégée au conseil municipal de 2013 à 2017.
En 2012, Johanne et Martin ont été co-récipiendaires du Concours des Jeunes agriculteurs d’Élite du Canada. C'était la première fois que des éleveurs de moutons remportaient ce concours au niveau national.

Dr. Lisa Greenhill currently serves as the Senior Director for Institutional Research and Diversity at the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC). Dr. Greenhill directs the Association’s internal study of academic veterinary medicine through collaborative research, analysis and publication efforts. She also manages the DVM: DiVersity Matters initiative, which promotes increased representation of underrepresented persons in academic veterinary medicine, inclusive academic environments and the inclusion of diversity related professional competencies in the DVM curriculum.

Dr. Greenhill previously served nearly three years with the AAVMC, during which time she managed legislative and regulatory policy issues including agriculture production, biomedical research, professional education, food safety and environmental health. She holds a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and a Doctorate in Education from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. She is mom to an amazing daughter and a terrier mix.

Bin completed his Ph.D. degree in Cell Biology at Zhejiang University in China. He then completed his Postdoc training in Dr. Janet Rossant’s Lab at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. There he developed a few genome editing technologies to generate mouse models with large insertion and chromosome structural defects. Bin joined Michigan State University as a assistant professor in 2020 and his lab use genome editing technology to develop challenging mouse models and study human diseases.