Robert John Aitken (born 4 September 1947) is a British reproductive biologist, widely known for identifying oxidative stress as a significant contribution to infertility and its actions on human sperm function. He also made substantial contributions to clinical practice translation in male reproductive health, notably the development of new contraceptive vaccine.
He was born in Bath, England but moved to Australia in 1997, where he took Chair of Biological Sciences at the University of Newcastle, then nominated to Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Health and Medicine and Laureate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Newcastle since 2013. He is currently Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, a former president of the International Society of Andrology. Aitken also founded and directed the Priority Research Centre in Reproduction at the University of Newcastle, where he and his colleagues work on a broad spectrum of reproductive issues from conception to parturition.
Aitken has received many honours for his contributions to science throughout his career, including the Carl G. Hartman Award and the 2012 NSW Scientist. Aitken is the most cited author of several biology journals, particularly in the field of Andrology: Reproduction, Molecular Human Reproduction, International Journal of Andrology, Journal of Andrology.
Early life and education
Aitken was born in Bath, in England, on 4 September 1947. Born into a family of real estate agents in Devon, he attended Barnstaple Boys Grammar School, but quit at the age of 16 to follow his parents' footsteps and become an estate agent. After six months of selling houses to the semi-rural residents of Barnstaple, Aitken decided to return to school. He then re-enrolled at his former school to study art, English, and geography, but they were all full, so he had no choice but to study chemistry, botany, and zoology, despite his initial intention to avoid science.
Aitken graduated from the University of London, where he received a Bachelor of Science (Special Honours) in 1967. While at university, he studied zoology, specifically embryology, which made him interested in reproductive biology, prompting him to pursue a Master's degree in Embryology and Mammalian Reproduction from the University College of North Wales in 1969.
He continued his post-graduate studies focusing on wild animal reproduction in Veterinary Clinical Studies at the University of Cambridge under Professor Roger Short's supervision.
First scientific papers
In 1971, Aitken's first paper, "Ultrastructural changes in the uterine glands of the Roe deer during delayed implantation” was published in the Journal of Physiology. After 4 years working with Dr Roger Short, Aitken completed his thesis, and received a PhD for research on reproductive study in roe deer from the University of Cambridge in 1973.
Scientific career
1973–1976: first start on research career
After Cambridge, Aitken started a postdoctoral position at the University of Edinburgh's Institute of Animal Genetics, working collaboratively with Anne McLaren, a graduate from the University of Oxford. However, for the first 12 months at Edinburgh, he had not done any outstanding research due to transformations in study models from descriptive on wild animals to mechanistic approaches using the mouse, as well as changes in laboratories. Despite initial difficulties, he became familiar with new study models of in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer in the second year. In later years, combining these techniques with electrophoretic analysis of proteins, his publication rate rose dramatically and was being cited by other scientists at that time.
WHO mission
In late 1975, Aitken was invited to study problems associated with fertility regulation at the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s Human Reproduction Unit in Geneva. As consulting scientists of WHO, he and Mike Harper conducted several reviews on fertility control strategies, which help prevent or disrupt implantation.
Returning from the WHO informative sessions, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Bordeaux for 1 year before continuing his research activities at the University of Edinburgh in September 1977.
1977–1981: human reproductive study
Despite a short period at WHO, Aitken had the opportunity to consider all the problems that concern human health, particular infertility issue, during his time here, which prompted him to pursue research in human reproductive biology.