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AZA
Pierre Comizzoli, Ph.D., Post-Doctoral
Fellow, Department of Reproductive Sciences
Reproductive
Sciences
Education
National Veterinary School of Maisons-Alfort, France, D.V.M.,
1994
University of Paris VI, France, M.S., Reproductive Physiology,
1997
University of Tours, France, Ph.D., Life Science, 2000
Professional History and Interests
Pierre Comizzoli has worked as a veterinarian in French Guyana to study the seasonal reproduction of different mammalian species living in the rain forest. He has been in charge of reproductive and health monitoring programs (sheep, goat and cattle) in the African Sahelian zone and Lake Chad. These working experiences, involving wildlife and tropical veterinary medicine, allowed him to study different aspects of reproductive biology in various animal species.
Comizzoli then focused his studies on reproductive biotechnologies (artificial insemination, embryo transfer, in vitro fertilization, gamete and embryo cryopreservation) in bovine and deer species (red deer and Japanese sika deer). He described an original effect of the paternal component on early embryo development in both species, and produced in vitro the first transferable embryos in red deer and Japanese sika deer.
After completing his Ph.D., he has worked on the implementation of assisted reproductive techniques and genome resource banking in various deer species at the Laboratory of Animal Conservation of the National Museum of Natural History of Paris. This research program was a collaboration of various research institutes and was a part of a multidisciplinary conservation effort in genetics, behavior and endocrinology directed at endangered deer species (Formosan sika deer, Vietnamese sika deer, Eld’s deer).
Comizzoli joined the Department of Reproductive Science in 2002 as a visiting scientist/post-doctoral fellow. He is currently studying the cryobiology of domestic cat oocytes to develop freezing procedures for the oocytes of rare and endangered felids. He is also developing new methods for the in vitro production of cat embryos through enhanced culture conditions and the use of intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection. He also participates in ongoing studies to develop successful in vitro production of embryos in rare deer species. Comizzoli has published more than ten original articles and abstracts.
Selected Publications
P. Comizzoli, F. Urner, D. Sakkas, J.P. Renard.
Up-regulation of glucose metabolism during male pronucleus
formation determines the early onset of the S-phase in bovine
zygotes. Biology of Reproduction. 2003, 68, 1934-1940.
Comizzoli P., R. Mauget and P. Mermillod. 2001. Assessment of in vitro fertility of deer semen by heterologous in vitro fertilization with zona-free bovine oocytes. Theriogenology 56: 261-274.
Comizzoli P., P. Mermillod, Y. Cognié, N. Chai, X. Legendre and R. Mauget. 2001. Successful in vitro production of embryos in the red deer (Cervus elaphus) and the sika deer (Cervus nippon). Theriogenology 55 : 649-659.
Comizzoli P., P. Mermillod and R. Mauget. 2000. Reproductive biotechnologies for endangered mammalian species. Reproduction Nutrition Development 40: 493-504.
Comizzoli P., B. Marquant-Le Guienne, Y. Heyman and J.P. Renard. 2000. Onset of the first S-phase is determined by a paternal effect during the G1-phase in bovine zygotes. Biology of Reproduction 62: 1677-1684.
Contact
Smithsonian
National Zoological Park, Conservation & Research Center,
3001 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008
Phone:
(202) 673-4677 Fax: (202) 673-4733
