February 20, 2003
Bremner to receive 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award from UW medical grads
Dr. William J. Bremner, the Robert G. Petersdorf professor and chair of the School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine, has been chosen to receive the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award from the UW Medical Alumni Association.
This annual award recognizes an individual graduate whose professional achievements and contributions have brought personal distinction, enhanced the profession, improved the welfare of the general public, and brought honor to the School of Medicine. The award will be presented at the All-School Celebration Banquet on June 7.
Bremner, a member of the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition, has chaired the Department of Medicine since 1998. His research in reproductive endocrinology focuses on control factors in the male reproductive system, including the relative roles of LH and FSH in controlling testicular function, the effects of androgens (such as testosterone) in men, and the effects of aging on the reproductive system. One goal of this research is the development of a reversible hormonal contraceptive for men.
He is co-founder and director of the UW Population Center for Research in Reproduction, which investigates the basic biology of male reproduction, infertility, and contraception. In September 2002, he became director of the Centers for Research in Reproduction and Contraception, a new NIH-funded, multidisciplinary effort at the UW that will conduct basic and clinical research on reproductive processes in the male that will support the development of hormonal contraceptives for men. Bremner is principal investigator for one of the new center’s first projects, “Hormonal Contraception and Testicular Function in Man.”
A graduate of Harvard University, Bremner received his medical degree from the UW in 1969. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in endocrinology here before earning a Ph.D. in physiology and medicine from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author or co-author of more than 210 publications and has held more than 90 invited lectureships and visiting professorships in the past 25 years. He is a recipient of the Henry Christian Award for Excellence in Research from the American Federation for Clinical Research. He is past president of the Western Association of Physicians and has served on numerous national and international bodies, including the Steering Committee for the World Health Organization Special Programme on Research in Human Reproduction and the Expert Advisory Committee for the Agency for International Development/CONRAD Program, among many others.
