Pierre Comizzoli
Gamete Biologist / Center for Species Survival
EmailEducation and Degrees
- 2000 Ph.D. in Life Science, University of Tours, France
- 1997 M.Sc. in Reproductive Physiology, University of Paris VI, France
- 1994 D.V.M. National Veterinary School of Maisons-Alfort, France
Research Focus
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 Sahelo-Saharan region. These working experiences, involving wildlife and tropical veterinary medicine, allowed him to study different aspects of reproductive biology in various animal species.
Dr. 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 National Museum of Natural History of Paris. The research program was a collaboration between different 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).
In 2002, Dr. Comizzoli joined the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park in Washington DC as a staff scientist to develop new projects of gamete and gonadal tissue cryo-banking for rare and endangered species (including carnivores, ungulates, and amphibians). Based on fertility preservation studies in various wild and domestic animal species, his research is comparative and creates interesting bridges with human reproductive medicine. Besides basic research in fertility and assisted reproduction, Dr. Comizzoli is coordinating a Smithsonian-wide initiative to improve the management and use of biomaterial repositories within the Institution. He also is in charge of conservation projects on wild carnivores and ungulates in Northern Africa as well as in South-East Asia.
Most Recent Publications
Comizzoli, Pierre, Pukazhenthi, Budhan and Wildt, David E. The competence of germinal vesicle oocytes is unrelated to nuclear chromatin configuration and strictly depends on cytoplasmic quantity and quality in the cat model, Human Reproduction, 26 (8) 2165-2177. 2011.
Crosier, Adrienne E., Comizzoli, Pierre, Baker, Tomas, Davidson, Autumn, Munson, Linda, Howard, JoGayle, Marker, Laurie L. and Wildt, David E. Increasing Age Influences Uterine Integrity, but Not Ovarian Function or Oocyte Quality in the Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), Biology of reproduction, 85 (2) 243-253. 2011.
Pukazhenthi, Budhan S., Hagedorn, Mary, Comizzoli, Pierre, Songsasen, Nucharin and Wildt, David E. Cryopreserving endangered species gametes, embryos and gonadal tissue: Challenges, successes and future directions, Cryobiology, 63 (3) 308-309. 2011.
Comizzoli, Pierre, Songsasen, Nucharin and Wildt, David E. "Protecting and Extending Fertility for Females of Wild and Endangered Mammals". In: , Oncofertility, pp. 87-100. 2010.
Siriaroonrat, B., Comizzoli, Pierre, Songsasen, Nucharin, Monfort, Steven L., Wildt, David E. and Pukazhenthi, Budhan. Oocyte quality and estradiol supplementation affect in vitro maturation success in the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Theriogenology, 73 (1) 112-119. 2010.
View all publications, abstracts, and printable papers by Pierre Comizzoli
