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== Answers to Module 7 Questions ==

Education
Professor John Aitken graduated from the University of London, where he received a Bachelor of Science (Special Honours) in 1967.

He then went on to earn a Master in Embryology and Mammalian Reproduction (Zoology) at University College of North Wales in 1969.

In 1973, Aitken undertook his PhD studies in Veterinary Clinical Studies at the University of Cambridge under Professor Roger Valentine Short's supervision.

Animal study
Professor Aitken has been doing research since 1971, when he was a graduate student at Cambridge University. As a PhD undergraduate, he studied the reproduction of roe deer under the supervision of Professor Roger Valentine Short. Roger Short was an "inspirational mentor" with "encyclopedic knowledge of reproductive biology", who influenced Aitken to pursue a career in reproductive biology. (Aitken et.al, 1971)

After Cambridge, he began a postdoctoral job at the University of Edinburgh's Institute of Animal Genetics. He found difficulty to shift his research from descriptive studies on mild animals to study of biological mechanisms on mouse and roe deer. However, Aitken adapted in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer techniques after spending a year research blastocyst implantation with Anne McLaren. In 1976-1977, He was invited to the World Health Organization's Human Reproduction Unit in Geneva. As Consulting Scientist, he and Mike Harper conducted reviews of fertility control strategies by preventing or disrupting implantation.( https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-7824(77)90022-1)

He returned to the University of Edinburgh, after completing tasks in WHO, to run the first Medical Research Council's Reproductive Biology Unit, where continued with the biochemistry of embryo implantation.

Andrology
He discovered an improved technique to analyse proteins and carbohydrates during the preovulatory period. However, he took the initiative in the andrology field after spending months of lacking clinical materials. (Andrology-Wikipedia, n.d)

In 1982, Aitken was appointed to senior scientist position in Medical Research Council at University of Edinburgh where he and his team had made numerous significant findings on molecular mechanisms related to the suppression of sperm function. He was one of the first scientist discover that free radicals could be the primary cause of impaired sperm function. Later this discovery was broadly acknowledged by thousands of scientists and provided a fundamental principle for study of associated pathophysiology related to reactive oxygen species.

Major work after 1998
After successes in identifying relationship between oxidative stress and male health reproductive, Professor Aitken and his team continued to develop therapeutic strategies to prevent further damage caused by free radicals.

Award
In 2012, he was awarded the NSW Scientist Award for his outstanding contributions to reproductive biology study.