Howard W. Jones, Jr., M.D.

Until his death at the age of 104 in 2015, Dr. Jones was Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School, and Honorary Chairman of the Board of the Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine. He was also Professor Emeritus of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he served as Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, acting Chairman of the Department, and Secretary General of the John Hopkins University Program for International Education.

Dr. Jones received his BA degree from Amherst College and his MD degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He had been awarded honorary degrees by the University of Cordoba, Old Dominion University, Amherst College, the University of Madrid, and Eastern Virginia Medical School. He was also the recipient of the Medal of the College of France and the Distinguished Service Award of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and had been made an honorary member of over 20 foreign scientific societies, including the Fellowship ad eundem of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Drs. Howard Wilbur and Georgeanna Seegar Jones, moved to Norfolk in 1978 and accepted the challenge of creating an in vitro fertilization program at Eastern Virginia Medical School. The Joneses are responsible for the birth of the first IVF baby in the United States.

Dr. Jones held key positions in the development of ethical standards for reproductive technologies. He was a past Chairman of the American Fertility Society Ethics Committee on Reproductive Technology. Dr. Howard Jones and Dr. Georgeanna Jones were the only American gynecologists invited by the Vatican to participate on a panel to advise Pope John Paul II concerning assisted reproduction. Scientists from as far away as Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia, and South America traveled to Norfolk to learn from the Drs. Howard and Georgeanna Jones and their colleagues.

Dr. Georgeanna Jones

Until her death at the age of 92 in 2005, Dr. Jones was a Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology at both the Eastern Virginia Medical School and Johns Hopkins University Medical School, and was an Honorary Director of the Board of the Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine.

Dr. Jones received her BA from Goucher College in 1932 and her MD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1936. She completed her postgraduate training at Johns Hopkins as a house officer in gynecology and as a National Cancer Institute trainee. She also performed laboratory research in endocrinology for the medical school’s department of surgery.

After her training, she was named Director of Johns Hopkins’ Laboratory of Reproductive Physiology and gynecologist-in-charge of the hospital’s gynecological endocrine clinic. She remained in these positions until moving to Norfolk in 1978.

Dr. Jones was a member of numerous local, state, national, and international medical societies. She served as President of the American Fertility Society in 1970. Her honorary degrees include those from Goucher College, Old Dominion University, Amherst College, and Eastern Virginia Medical School. She achieved numerous honors including the 1966 Rubin Award, the 1971 Barren Foundation Award, Virginia Woman of the Year in 1982, the Medical College of Pennsylvania’s Woman Scientist of the Year in 1985, Society of Hopkins Scholars in 1986, and the Cosmopolitan Club of Norfolk Distinguished Service Award Medal in 1988.

Dr. Jones wrote several textbooks and more than 350 infertility research papers.

Dr. Mason C. Andrews

A native of Norfolk, Dr. Andrews graduated from Princeton University and later Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he received his medical and obstetrics and gynecology training. He returned to Norfolk and established an active obstetrics and gynecology practice. In the early sixties, he worked to establish the Eastern Virginia Medical School and served as the first Chairman of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department from 1974 until 1990.

Dr. Andrews was an active civic leader. He served on the Norfolk City Council from 1974 until 2000 and as Mayor from 1992 until 1994. His civic contributions were numerous and included the revitalization of the city’s waterfront, the founding of the medical school and development of the downtown Norfolk campus of Tidewater Community College. He was named “First Citizen of Norfolk” in 1968 and served as President of the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society in 1994.

CHAIRMAN: Eli Y. Adashi, MD, MS, CPE, FACOG – Professor of Medical Science, Former Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI

Dr. Adashi received his medical degree in 1973 from the Sackler School of Medicine, completed residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tufts University (1974-77), and pursued fellowship training in the subspecialty of Reproductive Endocrinology and postdoctoral training in reproductive biology at Johns Hopkins University and at the University of California at San Diego, respectively (1977-81). Faculty positions were held at the University of Maryland (1981-1996), the University of Utah (1996-2004), and Brown University (2004-present). Prior to joining Brown University, Dr. Adashi served as the John A. Dixon Endowed Presidential Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center (1996-2004) and the founder and leader of the Ovarian Cancer Program of the Huntsman Cancer Research Institute (1999-2004).

Dr. Adashi has been the recipient of continuous National Institute of Health (NIH) funding from 1985 to 2005 inclusive of a Research Career Development Award. Mentor to over 50 postdoctoral trainees, and the author or co-author of over 350 peer-reviewed publications and over 120 book chapters/reviews, Dr. Adashi co-edited or edited 15 books in the general area of reproductive medicine with special emphasis on ovarian biology. Dr. Adashi ‘s work has also seen press with the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Huffington Post and several other media venues.

NIH service included but was not limited to membership with the National Council of the National Institute of Child health and Human Development (NICHD)(1997-2001), the Reproductive Endocrinology Study Section (1988-1992), and the Selection Committee of the Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP)(1988-2005). Dr. Adashi is the former Editor-In-Chief of Seminars in Reproductive Medicine and the former Associate Editor of Endocrinology, Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, Reproductive Medicine Review, Seminars in Reproductive Endocrinology, Reproductive Medicine Review, and Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders.

A former Franklin fellow and Senior Advisor on Global Women’s Health to the Secretary of State Office of Global Women’s Issues (1st term of the Obama Administration), Dr. Adashi is a member of the Advisory Council of The Hastings Center, Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University, and chair of the Medical Executive Committee and the Medical Advisory Council of the Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Adashi is a former member of the Board of Directors of Physicians for Human Rights, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Global Agenda Council on Population Growth of the World Economic Forum, and the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In addition, Dr. Adashi is a former advisor to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the WHO, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A former Examiner and Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), Dr. Adashi has served as President of the Society for Reproductive Endocrinologists (SRE), the Society for Gynecologic Investigation (SGI), and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society (AGOS).

Elected to the NAM in 1999, Dr. Adashi has served as a member of the committees on Antiprogestins: Assessing the Science (1993), Understanding Premature Birth and Assuring Health Outcomes (2005-2006), Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research (2006-2009), and on Women’s Health Research (2008-2012). In addition, Dr. Adashi served as co-chair of the Committee on Reducing Childbirth Mortality in Indonesia (2012-2013). Finally, Dr. Adashi has served both as a reviewer and a review coordinator for multiple IOM reports and as chair of the Maternal & Child Health and Human Development (IG-07) interest group (2009-2011). Dr. Adashi also served twice as a member of the Board on Health Sciences Policy.

As a tenured Professor of Medical Science at Brown University, Dr. Adashi is a member of the Brown Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights and co-directs the Healthcare in America course (a highly subscribed medical school elective) and the Healthcare Policy Concentration (a medical school elective for students with special interest in Healthcare Policy).

Christos Coutifaris, MD, PhD
The Celso Ramon Garcia Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Kathleen Devine, MD
Executive Medical Officer and Research Director, US Fertility, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Georgetown University School of Medicine and Research and Clinical Collaborator; REI Fellowship, Program in Reproductive and Adult Endocrinology, NIH, NICHD
Washington, DC

Mark D. Hornstein, MD, FACOG
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Harvard Medical School
Director of the Reproductive Endocrinology Division and the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Boston, MA

Pasquale Patrizio MD,MBE,HCLD,FACOG
Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology, Reproductive Sciences
Chief, Division Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine
Miami, FL

Jerome F. Strauss, III, MD, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

James P. Toner, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Emory Reproductive Center
Atlanta, GA

Thomas L. Toth, MD
Reproductive Endocrinologist Boston IVF
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Associate Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship Program
Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Biology, Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA