We are delighted to announce that Jonathan Van Blerkom and Catherine Racowsky will be taking on the role of joint Editors-in-Chief for Zygote from 1^st June. Please read on to find out more about them.

Catherine Racowsky - Harvard Medical School, USA

Dr. Catherine Racowsky is Professor Emerita of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harvard Medical School, and was director of the IVF laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for over 20 years. She is currently a University Consultant in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine at the Foch Hospital, Suresnes, France. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Zoology at the University of Oxford, her Ph.D. in Reproductive Physiology from the University of Cambridge and undertook her post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Racowsky is a Past President of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Her major research interests include investigating maternal and environmental factors affecting oocyte quality, studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying oocyte maturation and expanding methodologies for assessing human embryo developmental competency.

Jonathan Van Blerkom - University of Colorado Boulder, USA 

Jonathan Van Blerkom is a Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Director of the IVF Laboratory at Colorado Reproductive Endocrinology in Denver. He has been engaged in research focused on mammalian reproduction and early development and has published widely in the areas of the ovary, oogenesis, fertilization and preimplantation embryogenesis. His recent focus has been on the regulation of the functional organization of the oocyte plasma membrane at the molecular level and the role of mitochondrial bioenergetics in the establishment of developmental competence.