Dear Campion Fund Supporter,
Now more than ever the mission of the Campion Fund is vital for our society. We live in times where fundamental science is under attack. Reproductive science is especially targeted. The Campion Fund has been an advocate for science and reproduction since 2013 and has positively impacted many aspects of this important scientific field by supporting scientists, sponsoring scientific meetings and holding educational events for interested non-scientist.
During this past year we have highlighted many matters regarding reproduction from discussions on the High US maternal mortality to male testicular aging. We fostered increased awareness of reproductive sciences among the public at large by hosting six Science Cafes on topics pertaining to the basic molecular elements of reproduction, reproductive diseases and the scientific method. One of our very important goals is to encourage the health of young parents to assure that all infants are born robust and vigorous in order to mature into healthy children and adults. This does not happen without a strong scientifically oriented health care system. Therefore, our educational program for non-scientists is a critical endeavor at this point in time. Campion Fund blogs for non-scientists are posted on our website every month. They are also sent to all on our newsletter subscribers. In 2025 our blogs covered current knowledge of the both the X and Y chromosomes; uterine fibroids; how the sex of the fetus affects maternal and placental health, male reproductive health over the lifespan and the affect of pregnancy on the mother’s brain. In addition, the Campion Fund has pledged to support scientists by making a financial contribution to the 2026 Gordon Conference on the theme of Molecular Mechanisms and Systemic Impacts in Mammalian Reproduction.
Sadly, we were unable to give Campion Awards to junior scientists this year for the simple reason that the annual meeting of the Triangle Consortium for Reproductive Biology was not held. One aspect of why this was so is that NIH meeting travel was curtailed. As 2025 progressed it became increasingly difficult to conduct reproductive science as loss of NIH staff occurred and cancelled grant funding was ordered. The United States will pay a terrible cost for this loss of funding. The health of young parents is vital to the birth of healthy babies. Loss of research capacity to ensure that infants and mothers are as healthy as they can be will lead to increased infant morality and morbidity. Likewise lack of evidence-based maternity care will lead to increase maternal mortality.
Along with my colleague, Dr. Yvonne Maddox I am preparing a paper that will be submitted to a professional peer-reviewed journal to outline what we need to do as a nation to reduce maternal mortality. We will draw on discussions and presentations from the Campion Fund meeting on Strategies that Work to Reduce Maternal Mortality as well as present a review of published work on this important topic.
The Campion Fund is a small non-profit organization but we are doing all that we can to preserve and enhance the science of reproduction. We are working now with master’s degree students enrolled in a course on Non-profits and NGOs from the University of Utah’s School of Public Administration to plan for our future so that our efforts will continue for years to come.
The hallmark of any society is measured by how it cares for mothers and infants and ensures that every child is born as healthy as can be. You can help us in our efforts to ensure that we as nation maintain a vigorous fundamental reproductive science. Please contribute as you are able.
Sincerely yours,
Phyllis Leppert
Phyllis Leppert, MD, PhD