Education & Positions Held:
M.S. in Animal Science 7/89; Slovak Agricultural University, Nitra, Czechoslovakia (Slovakia), Magna cum laude and Dean’s Award.
PhD in Physiology of Reproduction 8/94; Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Libechov, Czech Republic
Postdoctoral Fellow 1994-1997: University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Staff Scientist 1997-2001 Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR.
Assistant Professor of Animal Science and Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology 2001-2007 University of Missouri-Columbia
Associate Professor of Animal Science and Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology 2007-9/2013 University of Missouri
Professor of Animal Science and Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health 9/2013-present University of Missouri
Total of 234 publications, 9,850 citations in SCOPUS 1992-2023, most cited paper 510 citations (Nature 1999), h index = 52. Total of 12,500 citations in Google Scholar, most cited paper 795 citations (Nature 1999), h index = 63, i10 index =169.
Awards & honors:
2023: ASAS Phenomics Workshop Speaker, Albuquerque NM.
2022: Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium Keynote Lecturer, Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO
2021: The Arnold Theiler Memorial Lecturer, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
2020: University of Missouri Faculty Author Event honoree (Mitochondrial Inheritance, Springer-Nature 2019).
2020: Mizzou Athletics Classroom Champion honor presented by MU athletic director Jim Stark at Mizzou Arena basketball game January 7, 2020.
2019: Elected Fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2018: Named Honorary Citizen by major of his native home town of Beckov, Slovakia.
2017: Honorary Professorship, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru, the oldest University in all of Americas, established in 1551.
2016: Professorem Hospitem (Guest Lecturer/Honorary Visiting Professor), Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Medicine Pilsen, Czech Republic.
2015: Fall 2015 Warnick Lecturer, D.H. Barron Reproductive and Perinatal Biology Research Program, University of Florida
2015: University of Missouri Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity in the Biological Sciences
2015: Honorary Doctoral Degree (Doctor Honoris Causa), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
2015: Inducted in National Academy of Inventors as a Founding Member of Mizzou Chapter
2011: Chancellor’s Medal in recognition of contributions to the partnership between Czech University of Life Science (CULS), Prague, and CAFNR, University of Missouri, award by Chancellor of CULS
2010: Faculty Entrepreneur of the Year, University of Missouri System
2009: CAFNR Distinguished Researcher Award 2009, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri
2008: Technology Innovation Award, Oregon Health & Science University
2008: Research article featured in “Highlights” section and on the cover, Journal of Cellular Physiology Vol. 217(2)
2008: Commemorative award at the occasion of 800th anniversary of founding of Beckov.
2007: Paper of the Week Award, Journal of Biological Chemistry (top 1% of 6,600 papers/year published in JBC)
2007: Big 12 Raising Star Award, Inaugural Kauffman Foundation Big 12 Innovation and Capital Formation Conference
2006: Best Biological Paper of 2005. Microcopy and Microanalysis. Award presented at Microscopy & Microanalysis 2006 Meeting, Chicago, IL, July 31-August 3, 2006
2006: Selected one of “Twenty Life Science Innovators You Should Know, Who Are Changing our World” at BIO2006, Chicago, IL, a world biotechnology fair, attended by 18,000 participants
2005: Inaugural USDA NRI Discovery Award (Awarded for “improving fertility in livestock”; PS is the inaugural recipient; one award was selected from among 2,500 active USDA-NRI research projects).
1999: USDA New Investigator Award, U.S. Department of Agriculture
1994: Fogarty International Research Fellow of the NIH
1992: Fellow of the International Center for Students and Scholars (C.I.E.S.), Paris, France
Editorial Board Appointments
2019-2022: Scientific Reports (Nature)
2019-present: Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology, Monograph Series, Springer, Editor-in-Chief
2017-present: Acta Fytotechnica et Zootechnica
2017-present: Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology and Food Sciences
2015-present: Scientia Agriculturae Bohemica
2014-2018: Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology, Monograph Series, Springer, Series Co-Editor
2013-2015: Biology of Reproduction, Board of Reviewing Editors
2012-2016: Andrology (merger of Int. J. Androl. & J. Androl.)
2012-2017: Spermatogenesis (merged with SBiRM in 2017)
2010-present: Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine; Associate Editor
2009-2013: Domestic Animal Endocrinology
2009-present: Journal of Assisted Reproduction & Genetics
2008–2017: Slovak Journal of Animal Science
2007-present: Cell & Tissue Research; Section Editor for Reproductive Biology
2006-2010 Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine
2005-2008: Eurekah Bioscience (2005-2007) Landes Bioscience Publishers;
Invited Plenary Lectures:
2019: Symposium Repronutri – Reproduction, Production and Nutrition of Bovines, September 26&27, 2019, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.
2019: IXth International Conference on Boar Semen Preservation, August 11-14, 2019, Hunter Valley, Australia
2019: Scientific Days 2019, Czech University of Life Sciences, April 24-26, 2019, Prague, Czech Republic.
2018: International Bull Fertility Conference – Theory to Practice, May 27-30 2018, Westport, North Ireland
2018: 44th International Embryo Technology Society (IETS) Annual Conference, January 14-16, 2018, Bangkok, Thailand
2017: International Conference on Analytical Cytometry, Prague, Czech Republic, October 15-17, 2017
2017: XVI Reunion Cientifica ICBAR – Latin American science congress organized by Universidad Nacional San Marcos, August 9-11, 2017, Lima, Peru
2017: Collaborate for Cure, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansa City, July 24, 2017
2017: 50th annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, July 14-17, Washington DC
2017: American Society of Animal Science, annual meeting, July 8-12, 2017, Baltimore, MD
2017: XlI International Veterinary Technical Meeting of MAGAPOR, 26-27 April 2016, Zaragoza, SPAIN
2017: XII Congreso Internacional de Reproducción Porcina Dr. Santiago Martín Rillo, México – León, Guanajuato, March 30-31, 2017
2017: 43rd International Embryo Technology Society (IETS) Annual Conference, Morulae Workshop, Austin TX, January 13-17, 2017
2016: Ag Innovation Showcase, Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center, September 12-14, St. Louis MO
2016: Gateway to Parenthood, St. Louis Infertility Awareness 2016, April 30(presented by associate, Dr. Michal Zigo).
2016: Boar Stud Managers’ Conference V, August 3-4, St. Louis MO (presented by grad student Karl Kerns).
2016: 11th International Scientific Conference on Biotechnology and Quality of Raw Materials and Foodstuffs, January 27-29, 2016, Stará Lesná, Slovak Republic.
2015: National Swine Improvement Federation Annual Meeting 2015, December 3&4, Nashville, TN.
2015: Warnick Lecturer, D.H. Barron Reproductive and Perinatal Biology Research Program, University of Florida. November 3, 2015
2015: Annual Meeting of the Chilean Society of Reproduction and Development, September 4-7, 2015, Antofagasta, Chile
2015: VIIIth International Conference on Boar Semen Preservation, August 9th_12th in Champaign, Illinois
2015: Gordon Research Conference on “Nanoscale Science and Engineering for Agriculture and Food Systems”, June 7-12, 2015, Bentley University, Waltham, MA
2015: XIX Curso “Novos Enfoques na Producao e Reproducao de Bovinos”, XIX Course on New Advanced in Bovine Production & Reproduction, Uberlandia, Brazil, March 19 & 20, 2015
2014: IV International Scientific-Technical Day on Bovine Reproduction, Congress Palace, Huesca, Spain (delivered via videopresentation, scheduling conflict prevented travel to Spain)
2014: Joint Closing & Opening Session, World Congress of Andrology and Applied Animal Andrology Symposium, Newcastle, NSW, AUSTRALIA, August 8-15, 2014
2014: USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum, February 20-21, 2014, Crystal City, Virginia (pre-recorded presentation),
2013: 3rd Peruvian Symposium of Animal Reproduction, Lima, Peru, August 13-16, 2013
2013: Pre-Symposium Training Course in Reproductive Biology, 3rd Peruvian Symposium of Animal Reproduction, Lima, Peru, August 13-16, 2013
2013: Triangle Consortium of Reproductive Biology and Molecular Reproduction & Development Conference on Model Systems in Reproductive Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC
2012: International Symposium on the Mechanisms of Sexual Reproduction in Animals and Plants, Nagoya, Japan, November 12-16, 2012
2012: Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Workshop on Nanotechnology Applications for Boosting Agricultural Productivity, Yilan, Taiwan, R.O.C., September 3-7, 2012 (Invited speaker & facilitator/resource person)
2012: 8th Biannual Meeting of the Association for Applied Animal Andrology (AAAA), July 28 & 29, 2012,Vancouver, BC, CANADA
2011: 4th Annual Symposium of Réseau Qébeçois en Reproduction, Montreal, November 15 &16, 2011
2011: From Researcher to User – Workshop on Knowledge Transfer, Réseau Qébeçois en Reproduction, Montreal, November 14, 2011
2011: Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle, Joplin, MO, August 31-September 1, 2011
2011: Kansas City Animal Health Investment Forum, August 29-30, 2011
2011: International Symposium on Animal Reproduction and Genetics, Lima, Peru, August 18, 2011
2011: Animal Physiology 2011, Mojmirovce, Slovakia, June 1&2, 2011
2010: 8th International Ruminant Reproduction Symposium, September 3-7, 2010, Anchorage, Alaska
2010: 16th European Workshop on the Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology of the Testis (ETW), May 8-12, 2010, Elba Island, ITALY
2010: Missouri Life Sciences Summit, March 7-9, 2010, Kansas City, MO
2009: XXX Annual ANAPORC Symposium, October 27-29, 2009, Segovia, SPAIN
2009: 14th Latin American Congress of Buiatrics, September 15-17, Lima, Peru
2009: International Conference on Pig Reproduction, June 1-3, 2009, Banff, CANADA
2009: Bio-immunoregulatory Mechanisms Associated with Reproductive Organs: Relevance in Fertility and in
Sexually Transmitted Infections, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, INDIA, February 9-13, 2009
2008: IV International Campus Course on Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Preservation Techniques in Reproduction:
Applying to South American Camelids, Lima Peru, December 15-20, 2008
2008: National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) Technical Conference 2008, Milwaukee, WI, September 18-19, 2008
2008: Midwest Boar Stud Managers Conference III, St. Louis, MO August 7-8, 2008
2008: Invited Plenary Speaker, Association for Applied Animal Andrology (AAAA) Meeting, Budapest, HUNGARY, July 12-13, 2008.
2008: Invited Plenary Speaker, Central States Microscopy and Microanalysis Society Meeting, April 25, 2008
2008: Invited Plenary Speaker, Life Sciences Week Entrepreneurship Workshop, Missouri Life Sciences Week 2008, Columbia, MO
2008: Billy N. Day Appreciation Club Speaker, Billy N. Day Symposium, March 18, 2008, Des Moines, IA
2007: Gordon Research Conference on Fertilization and the Activation of Development, Holderness School, Plymouth, NH, July 15-20, 2007
2006: Nordic Association for Andrology (NAFA) Meeting 2006, Stockholm, Sweden
2006: BIO2006, Chicago, IL, April 9-12, 2006
2006: Invited Plenary Speaker, 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, Omaha, Nebraska; Minisymposium “Using Domestic Livestock as Models to Understand Reproductive Function.”
2006: Invited Plenary Speaker, International Symposium on Gamete Research, February 22-26, 2006, New Delhi, India
2005: Invited Plenary Speaker, Pig Transgenesis and Cloning Symposium, Chungnam Natl. University, South Korea
2004: Invited Plenary Speaker, International Symposium on Gametogenesis and Fertilization Signaling, November 15-16, 2004, Kobe University, Japan.
2004: Invited Plenary Speaker, The Fourth International Symposium on the Molecular and Cell Biology of Egg- and Embryo-Coats (MCBEEC), November 8-12, 2004, Ise-Shima, Japan
2004: Invited lecturer, SERONO Symposium “Andrology and the Andrologist in the Post-Assisted Reproduction Technology Era,” Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2004: Invited Plenary Speaker, European Congress of Reproductive Immunology, Plzen, Czech Republic
2003: Invited Plenary Speaker, Biology of Spermatozoa Meeting, University of Sheffield, UK.
2003: Invited Plenary Speaker, 19th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), Madrid, Spain