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8th International Symposium on Spermatology, August 17-22, 1998

Published: 12 August 1998

More than three hundred experts from all over the world will meet at the Radisson Hotel des Gouverneurs in Montreal next week during the 8th International Symposium on Spermatology to discuss their latest findings about the male reproductive cell, whether it be that of a starfish or a man.

One alarming statistic which was reported by ³¢Â’²¹³¦³Ù³Ü²¹±ô¾±³Ùé journalist Yanick Villedieu, in the magazineÂ’s August issue, is that men worldwide are losing their spermatozoa at an annual rate of more than 2% since 1940. In his talk, "The sperm count decrease saga: the 1998 situation in humans, wild and domestic animals," which will be the topic of the sixth plenary lecture, the French spermatologist Bernard Jégou will put the research behind the statistic in perspective. Professor Bernard Robaire of the McGill Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, himself an authority on the pharmaceutical causes of male infertility, will chair this session to be held on Saturday August 22 at 9:15 am.

Director of the Royal Victoria Hospital Urology Research Laboratory and professor at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, Dr. Claude Gagnon, Chair of the 8th International Symposium on Spermatology, is particularly proud of the SymposiumÂ’s program. "We will broach such thorny issues as Â’New approaches to bypass male fertility problems,Â’ as well as Â’Potential pitfalls and ethical dilemmas for experimental reproductive technologiesÂ’ (N.Sofitikis, Japan, and J.Cummins, Australia, Wednesday August 9, 2:45 pm - 4:00 pm) or Â’Spermatozoa as a vehicle for viral infectionÂ’ and Â’How new reproductive technology laboratories deal with HIV positive patientsÂ’ (B. Bacetti, Italy, and S.Hamamah, France, Friday August 21, 11:55 am -12:30 pm)."

Meeting in Montreal, these eminent spermatologists from Japan, Spain, the USA, Italy, France, Australia, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Canada, to name but a few, have chosen the city of the scientist to whom they owe the most precise description of the human spermatozoonÂ’s anatomy and development: Dr Yves Clermont, McGill Emeritus Professor in Anatomy and Cell biology.

The organizers of the 8th International Symposium on Spermatology gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions of the following sponsors: the Medical Research Council of Canada, the World Health Organization, the Laylor Foundation, Serono Canada, Organon Canada and Tourisme Québec.

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