ASRM Lifetime Achievement Award

Catherine Racowsky, PhD, HCLD

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine proudly bestows its Lifetime Achievement Award upon Dr. Catherine Racowsky, Professor Emerita of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard Medical School and former director of the IVF laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Racowsky’s career stands as a testament to what can be achieved when scientific rigor, clinical excellence, and collaborative spirit unite. Her leadership has not just advanced protocols and research—it has nurtured mentors and friends, shaped international standards, and inspired future innovators.

Dr. Racowsky’s academic career began with a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD in Reproductive Physiology from the University of Cambridge, and postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School.

She was the Director of Research in the University of Arizona Ob Gyn department and was managing her first IVF laboratory when she received her first NIH grant to study oocyte physiology. She was then recruited to Brigham & Women’s Hospital to manage the IVF laboratory of a rapidly growing program.

For more than two decades, she directed the IVF laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she spearheaded improvements in quality control, embryo culture techniques, and laboratory validation processes. 

“Both clinically and in her research, Catherine has been at the forefront of moving the field of embryology to day two, then day three and then blastocyst culture,” says ASRM President Dr. Elizabeth S. Ginsburg.

In addition, her mentorship of embryologists and trainees at Harvard has cultivated a generation of leaders in reproductive medicine.

“Catherine has mentored 20 PhD students and REI fellows in research, not to mention many early career physicians, such as myself,” says Dr. Ginsburg.

Dr. Racowsky has authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, numerous book chapters, and co-edited nine textbooks. Her research delves deeply into the factors shaping oocyte quality, the molecular mechanics of oocyte maturation, and refined methods to assess embryo developmental competence—fields vital to both basic science and clinical outcomes.

She has shaped the discourse and standards of the field through editorial leadership, serving as Editor’s Editor for Fertility and Sterility, Associate
Editor for Human Reproduction, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of journals like Zygote.

Dr. Racowsky’s contributions to ASRM span decades of active engagement and leadership, including:

• Member of the Practice Committee for six years
• Secretary of the Board for 12 years
• Service on the SART Executive Council, ASRM Research Committee, and as Chair of the SART Embryo Morphology Committee
• Chair of the ASRM COVID-19 Task Force during an unprecedented global crisis
• President of ASRM from 2019 to 2020
• Currently on the ASRM Global Health Committee
• ASRA Pain Medicine

These roles reflect not only her strategic insight but also her commitment to shaping the future of reproductive medicine through collaboration and
shared governance.

“ASRM has been an integral part of my life for 34 years,” said Racowsky. “Through our society, I have met extraordinary people, many of whom are now valued friends. Our annual congresses provided numerous opportunities to learn new and interesting cross-disciplinary ideas and from being a member of the ASRM Board, to becoming ASRM President, provided me the extraordinary opportunity to help shape our society going forward and to meet reproductive medicine leaders from across the globe.” 

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors not just an individual, but a bridge-builder—one who has connected disciplines, continents, and careers. In
celebrating Dr. Catherine Racowsky, ASRM celebrates the values and vision that will carry reproductive medicine into its next era.

Previous recipients of the ASRM Lifetime Achievement Award:

2025 Catherine Racowsky, PhD, HCLD
2024 John E. Buster, MD
2023 William E. Gibbons, MD
2022 Robert W. Rebar, MD
2021 Christos Coutifaris, MD, PhD
2020 Zev Rosenwaks, MD and Alan H. DeCherney, MD
2019 David R. Meldrum, MD
2018 Eli Y. Adashi, MD, MS, CPE, FACOG