History of the FNPS
The Society was founded in 1974 during an informal meeting in Oxford, UK, when Professor Geoffrey Dawes and Dr Bo Gennser took the initiative. The proposed mission for the FNPS was to stimulate discussion and exchange of ideas between physiologists, obstetricians and neonatologists on fundamental science, clinical and population health issues within the broad fields of Perinatology. The name of the Society has had several permutations, reflecting its widening scope and interests. Between 1974 and 1980, the Society was known as The Conference on Fetal Breathing, then becoming The International Conference on Fetal Breathing and Other Movements in 1981 until 1983. From 1984 to 1995, the name changed to The Society for the Study of Fetal Physiology (SSFP) and since 1996 we are known as The Fetal and Neonatal Physiological Society (FNPS).
Past Presidents
Before 1974, the meetings of the Society’s Executive Board had no named coordinator or secretary. Professor Dawes became the first President in 1974 and chaired the Board meetings for over 10 years. Between 1987 and 1997, there was no formal successor to the Presidency of the Society. However, Professor Visser acted as Scribe. After 1997, the position of President and Scribe became more formalised.
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Geoffrey Dawes Lecture Series
This lecture series is given in memory of the late Geoffrey Dawes and is designed to stimulate, educate and entertain on a topic in reproduction or perinatology, but as was Geoffrey's wont, can be quite 'left field' in nature.
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1999 Christine L Muimmery, the Netherlands
2000 David Barker, UK
2001 Ruud Kleinpaste, NZ
2002 Anthony Carter, Denmark
2003 Peter Gluckman, NZ
2004 Angelo Vescovi, Italy
2005 Jeffrey Robinson, Australia
2006 Stephen O'Rahilly, UK
2007 Hitoshi Oshitani, Japan
2008 Simone Buitendijk, the Netherlands
2009 Lawrence Longo, USA
2010 Colin Sibley, UK
2011 Richard Harding & David Walker, Australia
2012 Gerard Viser, Netherlands
2013 Anibal Llanos & Maria Seron Ferre, Chile
2014 Maria Lodovica Gullino, Italy
2015 Stephen Lye, Canada
2016 AJ Murray, UK
2018 Jan Nijhuis, the Netherlands
2019 Marilyn Renfree, Australia
2022 Anna Osello, Italy
2023 Frances Northington, USA
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