Robert Edwards (physiologist)

Sir Robert Edwards
FRS CBE MAE
Sir Robert Edwards FRS CBE MAE
Born	Robert Geoffrey Edwards; 27 September 1925; Batley, England
Died	10 April 2013 (aged 87); near Cambridge, England
Alma mater	Bangor University (BSc); University of Edinburgh (PhD);
Known for	Pioneering in-vitro fertilisation
Spouse	Ruth Fowler (m. 1959)
Awards	Knight Bachelor (2011); Nobel Prize (2010); Lasker Award (2001);
	Scientific career
Fields	Physiology; Reproductive medicine;
Institutions	University of Cambridge; University of Edinburgh; Bangor University; National Institute for Medical Research; University of Glasgow; California Institute of Technology; Churchill College, Cambridge; Bourn Hall Clinic;
Thesis	The experimental induction of heteroploidy in the mouse (1955)
Doctoral advisor	R. A. Beatty; C. H. Waddington
Doctoral students	Richard Gardner (embryologist); Martin Hume Johnson; Roger Gosden; Azim Surani
Website	nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2010

Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards CBE FRS MAE^[2]^[3]^[7] (27 September 1925 – 10 April 2013) was a British physiologist and pioneer in reproductive medicine, and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in particular. Along with obstetrician and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe^[8] and nurse and embryologist Jean Purdy, Edwards successfully pioneered conception through IVF, which led to the birth of Louise Brown on 25 July 1978.^[9] They founded the first IVF programme for infertile patients and trained other scientists in their techniques. Edwards was the founding editor-in-chief of Human Reproduction in 1986.^[10] In 2010, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the development of in vitro fertilization".^[11]^[12]

^ Robert Edwards profile at Lasker Foundation
^ ^a ^b Gardner, Richard (2015). "Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards CBE. 27 September 1925 – 10 April 2013". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 61. Royal Society: 81–102. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2014.0020. ISSN 0080-4606.
^ ^a ^b Johnson, M. H. (2011). "Robert Edwards: The path to IVF". Reproductive BioMedicine Online. 23 (2): 245–262. doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2011.04.010. PMC 3171154. PMID 21680248.
^ Cite error: The named reference edwardsphd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Surani, M. A. H. (1975). Modulation of Implanting Rat Blastocysts to Macromolecular Secretions of the Uterus. ethos.bl.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 500574338. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.474243.
^ ^a ^b "EDWARDS, Sir Robert (Geoffrey)". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Fisher, S. J.; Giudice, L. C. (2013). "Robert G. Edwards (1925–2013)". Science. 340 (6134): 825. Bibcode:2013Sci...340..825F. doi:10.1126/science.1239644. PMID 23687039. S2CID 34150798.
^ Edwards, R. G. (1996). "Patrick Christopher Steptoe, C. B. E. 9 June 1913 – 22 March 1988". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 42: 435–52. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1996.0027. PMID 11619339.
^
Multiple sources:
- Steptoe, P. C.; Edwards, R. G. (1978). "Birth After the Reimplantation of a Human Embryo". The Lancet. 312 (8085): 366. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(78)92957-4. PMID 79723. S2CID 31119969.
- "1978: First 'test tube baby' born". BBC. 25 July 1978. Retrieved 13 June 2009. The birth of the world's first "test tube baby" has been announced in Manchester (England). Louise Brown was born shortly before midnight in Oldham and District General Hospital
- Moreton, Cole (14 January 2007). "World's first test-tube baby Louise Brown has a child of her own". Independent. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010. The 28-year-old, whose pioneering conception by in-vitro fertilisation made her famous around the world ... The fertility specialists Patrick Steptoe and Bob Edwards became the first to successfully carry out IVF by extracting an egg, impregnating it with sperm and planting the resulting embryo back into the mother.
^ Fraser L. R. (2000). "In Appreciation of Professor R. G. Edwards, Founding Editor of the Human Reproduction Journals". MHR: Basic Science of Reproductive Medicine. 6 (5): 3. doi:10.1093/molehr/6.5.3. PMID 10775640.
^ "The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Press Release". Nobelprize.org. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
^
Multiple sources:
- Jones Jr, H. W.; Gosden, R. G. (2013). "Professor Sir Robert Edwards, 1925–2013". Fertility and Sterility. 99 (7): 1799–800. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.04.042. PMID 23726252.
- Johnson, M. H.; Franklin, S. B.; Cottingham, M.; Hopwood, N. (2010). "Why the Medical Research Council refused Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe support for research on human conception in 1971". Human Reproduction. 25 (9): 2157–74. doi:10.1093/humrep/deq155. PMC 2922998. PMID 20657027.

[lasker-1] Robert Edwards profile at Lasker Foundation

[rsbm-2] Gardner, Richard (2015). "Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards CBE. 27 September 1925 – 10 April 2013". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 61. Royal Society: 81–102. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2014.0020. ISSN 0080-4606.

[frs-3] Johnson, M. H. (2011). "Robert Edwards: The path to IVF". Reproductive BioMedicine Online. 23 (2): 245–262. doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2011.04.010. PMC 3171154. PMID 21680248.

[edwardsphd-4] Cite error: The named reference edwardsphd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[surani-5] Surani, M. A. H. (1975). Modulation of Implanting Rat Blastocysts to Macromolecular Secretions of the Uterus. ethos.bl.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 500574338. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.474243.

[whoswho-6] "EDWARDS, Sir Robert (Geoffrey)". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[retro-7] Fisher, S. J.; Giudice, L. C. (2013). "Robert G. Edwards (1925–2013)". Science. 340 (6134): 825. Bibcode:2013Sci...340..825F. doi:10.1126/science.1239644. PMID 23687039. S2CID 34150798.

[8] Edwards, R. G. (1996). "Patrick Christopher Steptoe, C. B. E. 9 June 1913 – 22 March 1988". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 42: 435–52. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1996.0027. PMID 11619339.

[9] Multiple sources:
Steptoe, P. C.; Edwards, R. G. (1978). "Birth After the Reimplantation of a Human Embryo". The Lancet. 312 (8085): 366. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(78)92957-4. PMID 79723. S2CID 31119969.

"1978: First 'test tube baby' born". BBC. 25 July 1978. Retrieved 13 June 2009. The birth of the world's first "test tube baby" has been announced in Manchester (England). Louise Brown was born shortly before midnight in Oldham and District General Hospital

Moreton, Cole (14 January 2007). "World's first test-tube baby Louise Brown has a child of her own". Independent. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010. The 28-year-old, whose pioneering conception by in-vitro fertilisation made her famous around the world ... The fertility specialists Patrick Steptoe and Bob Edwards became the first to successfully carry out IVF by extracting an egg, impregnating it with sperm and planting the resulting embryo back into the mother.

[10] Steptoe, P. C.; Edwards, R. G. (1978). "Birth After the Reimplantation of a Human Embryo". The Lancet. 312 (8085): 366. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(78)92957-4. PMID 79723. S2CID 31119969.

[11] "1978: First 'test tube baby' born". BBC. 25 July 1978. Retrieved 13 June 2009. The birth of the world's first "test tube baby" has been announced in Manchester (England). Louise Brown was born shortly before midnight in Oldham and District General Hospital

[12] Moreton, Cole (14 January 2007). "World's first test-tube baby Louise Brown has a child of her own". Independent. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010. The 28-year-old, whose pioneering conception by in-vitro fertilisation made her famous around the world ... The fertility specialists Patrick Steptoe and Bob Edwards became the first to successfully carry out IVF by extracting an egg, impregnating it with sperm and planting the resulting embryo back into the mother.

[10] Fraser L. R. (2000). "In Appreciation of Professor R. G. Edwards, Founding Editor of the Human Reproduction Journals". MHR: Basic Science of Reproductive Medicine. 6 (5): 3. doi:10.1093/molehr/6.5.3. PMID 10775640.

[nobelpr-11] "The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Press Release". Nobelprize.org. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.

[12] Multiple sources:
Jones Jr, H. W.; Gosden, R. G. (2013). "Professor Sir Robert Edwards, 1925–2013". Fertility and Sterility. 99 (7): 1799–800. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.04.042. PMID 23726252.

Johnson, M. H.; Franklin, S. B.; Cottingham, M.; Hopwood, N. (2010). "Why the Medical Research Council refused Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe support for research on human conception in 1971". Human Reproduction. 25 (9): 2157–74. doi:10.1093/humrep/deq155. PMC 2922998. PMID 20657027.

[16] Jones Jr, H. W.; Gosden, R. G. (2013). "Professor Sir Robert Edwards, 1925–2013". Fertility and Sterility. 99 (7): 1799–800. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.04.042. PMID 23726252.

[17] Johnson, M. H.; Franklin, S. B.; Cottingham, M.; Hopwood, N. (2010). "Why the Medical Research Council refused Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe support for research on human conception in 1971". Human Reproduction. 25 (9): 2157–74. doi:10.1093/humrep/deq155. PMC 2922998. PMID 20657027.

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Sir Robert Edwards FRS CBE MAE

Born	Robert Geoffrey Edwards (1925-09-27)27 September 1925^[6] Batley, England
Died	10 April 2013(2013-04-10) (aged 87) near Cambridge, England
Alma mater	Bangor University (BSc) University of Edinburgh (PhD)
Known for	Pioneering in-vitro fertilisation
Spouse	Ruth Fowler (m. 1959) ^[6]
Awards	Knight Bachelor (2011) Nobel Prize (2010) Lasker Award (2001)^[1]^[2]^[3]
Scientific career
Fields	Physiology Reproductive medicine
Institutions	University of Cambridge University of Edinburgh Bangor University National Institute for Medical Research University of Glasgow California Institute of Technology Churchill College, Cambridge Bourn Hall Clinic
Thesis	The experimental induction of heteroploidy in the mouse (1955)
Doctoral advisor	R. A. Beatty C. H. Waddington^[4]
Doctoral students	Richard Gardner (embryologist) Martin Hume Johnson Roger Gosden Azim Surani^[5]

Website	nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2010