FIRST ANNUAL MEETING

American Society of Andrology

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INTRODUCTIONThe First Annual ASA Meeting Program

Worchester, MA, March 31 -April 2, 1976

Richard J. Sherins, MD

In 1975, only five years after beginning my work in male reproductive medicine, I was approached by Emil Steinberger, MD from the University of Texas, to help in forming a new scientific society focused on male reproduction; the American Society of Andrology.

To better understand the impact of the first Annual ASA Meeting held with scientists focused on male reproduction, it is important to understand the twenty-five-year history that preceded the founding of our Society. At that time, I was a young clinical investigator at the NIH having been given the opportunity to develop a program to study the physiology of male reproductive function and infertility. This was only a few years after it was possible to measure hormones in small volumes of blood, where only a few senior investigators existed scattered around the world, where there were few medical school or university programs focused on male reproductive subject material, and where presentation of new scientific information occurred mainly in large scientific forums diluted by the co-existence of a broad array of other scientific disciplines.

The term “Andrology” itself had only been coined in 1951 by Harold Siebke a Professor of Gynecology in Bonn, Germany and the first scientific journal dedicated to Andrological topics (Andrologie) was introduced only in 1969 by Carl Schirren of Hamburg, Germany. In 1970, the scientific organization “Comite Internacional de Andrologia” (CIDA) was formed in Europe, under the principle efforts of Drs. Puigvert and Pomerol of Barcelona and Mancini of Buenos Aires, to promote the study of male reproduction; CIDA adopted Andrologie as its publication arm.

Meanwhile, in North America, efforts in this regard began during the 1960s, when Warren O. Nelson from the Rockefeller Institute in New York

City and Charles LeBlond from McGill University in Montreal, formed the Male Reproductive Biology Club; which later was renamed the Warren O. Nelson Club, a small gathering of like-minded individuals interested in discussing topics on male reproductive biology/disorders. Emil Steinberger became actively involved in the “Club” and soon thereafter became passionately involved in trying to gather a larger group of scientists to form a national society for this purpose. His efforts were helped along by the enthusiastic international participation in the first Testis Workshop, a satellite symposium sponsored by the NIH that was held in Washington, DC in 1972 in conjunction with an International Congress of Endocrinology.

I am always amused when I think back as to how Emil Steinberger actually introduced what he wanted me and others to do in 1975. With an arm on my shoulder, he said, “Richard, I now dub you an Andrologist”. I had no idea what he was talking about, as “Andrology” was not yet part of our scientific lexicon. We met at NIH and talked extensively about his perceived need for us to create a national scientific forum focused on male reproductive biology and medicine; a Society that brought together scientists and physicians from a broad spectrum of relevant fields. Such a national forum did not exist at that time; but was seriously needed if one were to make significant progress in the field. I was intrigued by the concept of an American Society of Andrology based on the above principles as this had been the intramural NIH model for success; bringing investigators together in close proximity from a broad array of scientific disciplines to share new concepts and methodologies on the scientific horizon; and above all to establish fruitful collaborations.

Emil recruited about 250 persons to be charter members of ASA both from North

America and abroad; who were recognized for scientific work or clinical interest in male reproduction among the fields of biology, anatomy, endocrinology, urology, gynecology and animal science. While some of the Charter Members were long established academic thought-leaders or clinical specialists, a number of us (including me) were young investigators. The diversity of the charter member group was remarkable; the first organizing meeting taking place in Fort Collins, CO in July 1975 and the first scientific meeting of ASA took place in March/April, 1976 in Worchester, MA.

While time dulls memory after 40 years, thinking about the first ASA meeting in Worchester as an attendee and part of the program committee does bring back strong feelings. The first and most important was that the meeting was truly a conclave of a large number of international experts scattered among a very enthusiastic group of young investigators where the entire 3-day meeting was devoted to the topic of male reproduction. This was novel. Thought-leaders abounded in the crowd; there were provocative discussions after each presentation that led to even more vigorous discussions at happy hour. A broad array of topics were presented from guest speakers and symposia as well as individual papers; that included steroid metabolism, ultrastructure anatomy, cell biology, prostate biology, disorders of sexual development, endocrine physiology, and male infertility to name a few. The second remembrance was the enthusiasm, which I felt to return to the lab and clinic to pursue further studies and to return to the next ASA meeting. Friendships and collaborations developed quickly; the benefits of which have lasted throughout my career.

As Shakespeare wrote, “What’s past is prologue”! ASA continues to bring together a broad spectrum of international experts in Andrology with a purposeful mix of basic and clinical science.

Richard J. Sherins, MD Past President 1982-1983