Trounson, Alan Osborne (1946 - )

Summary

Alan Trounson is a renowned embryologist who pioneered the technique of successful freezing and thawing human embryos. He was Scientific Director of Monash IVF which he founded and was part of the team who produced Australia's first 'test-tube baby' (1980). His colleagues at Monash included Carl Wood and Ian Johnston. Trounson acquired his skill of embryo transfer while under taking a three year postdoctoral post at the Agricultural Research Council's Unit of Reproductive Physiology and Biochemistry in Cambridge, UK. He was Professor and Personal Chair in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Monash University from 1991 to 2008, and Director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories. Trounson received numerous awards for his research.

Details

Chronology

1968

Education - BSc, University of New South Wales

1971

Education - MSc, University of New South Wales

1974

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Sydney

1974 - 1976

Career position - Dalgety International Research Fellowship at the Agricultural Research Council's Unit of Reproductive Physiology and Biochemistry in Cambridge, United Kingdom

1976

Career position - Visiting Research Fellow, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Utrecht University, Netherlands

1976

Career position - Visiting Professor, Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

1977

Career event - Joined the Monash's research team at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre

1978 - 1984

Career position - Lecturer (later Reader), Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash University

1983

Career event - First frozen embryo baby born in Australia

1985 - 2002

Career position - Director, Centre for Early Human Development, Monash University

1989 - 1990

Career position - Executive Co-Director and Board Member, Monash Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology

1990 - 1996

Career position - Director, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation of Australia

1990 - 2002

Career position - Deputy Director, Institute of Reproduction and Development

1991 - 1996

Career position - Executive Co-Director and Board Member, Monash Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology

1991 - 2008

Career position - Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (personal chair), Monash Medical Centre, Monash University

1993 - 1995

Career position - President, Australian Society for Reproductive Biology

1994

Award - Wellcome (Australia) Medal received

1994

Award - Patrick Steptoe Memorial Medal, British Fertility Society

1995

Award - Benjamin Henry Sheares Medal, Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society, Singapore.

1997 -

Career position - Chairman, Animal Gene Storage Resource Centre of Australia

1997

Award - Barbara Eck Manning Award for pioneering research and contribution to assisted reproductive technologies and embryology, RESOLVE: the National Infertility Association, U.S.A.

1997 - 2002

Career position - Director, Educational Program in Reproductive Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University

1998 - 2002

Career position - Board Member, International Scientific Advisory Board for Reproductive Medicine, N.V. Organon

2000

Career position - Ambassador for the National Gallery of Victoria

2000 - 2002

Career position - Member, Working Group on New Fields in Medicine, Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council

2001 -

Award - Honorary Member, Australian Veterinary Association

2001

Award - Centenary Medal for outstanding service through medical and agricultural science

2001 - 2007

Career position - Scientific Director, Monash IVF

2001 - 2007

Career position - Director, National Centre for Advanced Cell Engineering, Monash University

2002 -

Career position - Board Member, International Society for Stem Cell Research

2002

Career position - Member, Innovation Economy Advisory Board, Victoria

2002

Career position - Board Member, Preimplantation Genetics Diagnosis International Society

2003 -

Career position - Science Advisory Board Member, Genetics Policy Institute

2003

Award - Doctor Honoris Causa, Faculties of Medical Sciences and Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

2003

Career position - Director, Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation (VESKI Ltd)

2003 - 2005

Career position - Director, Master of Clinical Embryology Course, Monash University

2004

Career position - Founding Director, Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories

2004

Award - Bertarelli Foundation Award in Reproductive Health, Switzerland

2005 -

Award - Honorary Fellow, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

2006 -

Career position - Chair, Government Affairs Committee, International Society for Stem Cell Research

2006 -

Career position - International Scientific Advisory Board, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine

2007 - 2014

Career position - President, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

2008 -

Award - Life Member, Society for Reproductive Biology

2008 -

Career position - Emeritus Professor, Monash University

2014 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Science and Technology

2015 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences

2021

Award - Centenary Medal for outstanding service through medical and agricultural science

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Trounson, Alan O. and Wood, Carl, In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (Edinburgh, New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1984), 254 pp. Details

Edited Books

• Wood, Carl and Trounson, Alan O. eds, Clinical in vitro fertilization (Berlin: Springer, 1984), 212 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Leeton, John, 'Historical Review: the early history of IVF in Australia and its contribution to the world (1970–1990)*', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 44 (2004), 495. Details
• Pirisi, Angela, 'Alan Trounson, Scientific Director of Monash IVF, Australia', The lancet, 364 (10 July) (2004), 133. Details

Resources

• Emeritus Professor Alan Osbourne Trounson, Officer of the Order of Australia, It's an Honour, with Australian Awards and Honours Secretariat, Australian Government, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2009255. Details
• 'Trounson, Alan Osborne', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1473120. Details