<p>Sponsored by F. B. Morrison Fund
</p><p>
Dr. Bazer is an international leader among reproductive biologists in animal sciences and related disciplines. His research at the University of Florida and Texas A&M University focused on interactions between the uterine environment and developing conceptus in livestock. Bazer discovered uteroferrin, a purple acid phosphatase, produced by uterine glandular epithelium in response to progesterone that transfers iron to the developing conceptus and stimulates hematopoiesis. He discovered estradiol as the pregnancy recognition signal from swine conceptuses and interferon tau as the pregnancy recognition signal from ruminant conceptuses and unraveled mechanisms whereby they maintain functional corpora lutea for production of progesterone, the hormone of pregnancy. Those and related discoveries have changed animal management to increase conceptus survival and pregnancy. For those achievements Bazer received the 2003 Wolf Prize, the top honor worldwide for contributions to agriculture. </p>