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January 13, 2022 CRYO-CONSERVATION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES | LIVER CELLS AND TISSUE PRESERVATION
8:00AM US/Pacific | 11:00AM US/Eastern | 4:00 PM United Kingdom | 5:00PM Central Europe | 8:00 PM Gulf Standard Co-Chairs Harriette Oldenhof - University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany James Benson - University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Speakers
CRYO-CONSERVATION: CURRENT STATUS AND CHALLENGES OF GAMETE AND REPRODUCTIVE TISSUE CRYOPRESERVATION IN ENDANGERED SPECIES CONSERVATION Nucharin Songsasen - Head, Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, Washington DC, USA
This presentation will discuss the state-of-the-art, applications, and challenges of gamete and reproductive tissue cryopreservation in endangered species conservation.
Biography Nucharin Songsasen is the Center Head of the Center for Species Survival. She joined the Smithsonian in 2002 when offered the opportunity to study the reproductive biology of domestic and wild carnivores. Over the years, she built the Global Canid Conservation Program and expanded this conservation and research initiative from a laboratory setting to field conservation in range countries, including Brazil and Thailand.
Nucharin is a leading expert in the field of canid reproductive biology. Research conducted in her laboratory focuses on developing innovative technologies to rescuing valuable genetics from wild canids and felids, while improving human reproductive health. In addition to reproductive research, she has collaborated with SCBI scientists and developed partnerships with national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations to address many threats to the sustainability of wild canids, including the maned wolf, dhole, red wolf and African painted dog, living in zoos or the wild. Since 2009, she has led the collaboration with USGS’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in studying the reproductive biology and endocrinology of the whooping crane and identifying the causes of poor reproduction in this endangered species.
Nucharin has adjunct appointments at the University of Maryland, Cornell University and George Mason University. She is also a member of the IUCN’s Canid Specialist Group (CSG), the coordinator of CSG’s Dhole Working Group and the Maned wolf Species Survival Plan (MWSSP) as well as Reproductive Advisor to the Canid Taxon Advisory Group.
Nucharin received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Kasetsart University in Thailand, and Master of Science and doctoral degrees from the University of Guelph in Canada.
MULTISCALE TRANSPORT AND OSMOTIC TOLERANCE IN LIVER CELLS AND TISSUES Iqra Azam - Graduate Student, Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
There has been recent success in high-subzero storage of livers, however longer storage durations achieved in liquid nitrogen require high concentrations of toxic and mechanically disrupting cryoprotectants. While there has been some work on cryobiologically relevant hepatocyte biophysics, here I show how the unique cell anatomy of hepatocytes affects basic assumptions of modelling in cryobiology. Moreover, I show how these structures are affected in-situ using 4D microscopy techniques. Finally, I present preliminary data on preventing osmotic damage during CPA equilibration.
Biography Iqra Azam is a Ph.D. student working in James Benson's lab in the Department of Biology at the University of Saskatchewan. During her Masters, she evaluated insects as bioindicators of heavy metal contamination and assessed the spatial and temporal distribution of metals using Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques. Her current research focuses on biophysical characterization and mathematical optimization of cryopreservation of liver cells and tissues. Towards this, she has developed real-time volumetric quantification of adherent cells by using modern 3D & 4D microscopic imaging techniques. She is also developing an imaging protocol to track cells and nuclei within a live precision-cut tissue slice and for quantification of tissue expansion and shrinkage. She enjoys working with microscopes and learning new tools to do cell and tissue imaging.
ISBER Liquid Nitrogen Best Practices Addendum to 4th Edition Released
May 7th, 2019. ISBER launches the release of the liquid nitrogen-based cryogenic storage of specimens best practices addendum.
Membership to the Society for Cryobiology is open to students, individuals, and organizations who are engaged in and support scientific research in low temperature biology and medicine.
CRYO-CONSERVATION: CURRENT STATUS AND CHALLENGES OF GAMETE AND REPRODUCTIVE TISSUE CRYOPRESERVATION IN ENDANGERED SPECIES CONSERVATION 
MULTISCALE TRANSPORT AND OSMOTIC TOLERANCE IN LIVER CELLS AND TISSUES 