Distinguished Service Award

Gail A. Cornwall, Ph.D.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Dr. Cornwall is Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, TX. She received her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1988 under the mentorship of Thomas S.K. Chang, Ph.D., Brady Urological Research Institute, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Larry Ewing, Ph.D. The Department of Population Dynamics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health (now known as the Bloomberg School of Public Health) during which she studied sperm motility maturation in the epididymis. She continued her studies of the epididymis as a postdoctoral fellow with Marie-Claire Orgebin-Crist, Ph.D., Center for Reproductive Biology Research, Vanderbilt University where she examined sperm mannosidases and their role in fertilization.  During this time, she also initiated studies with Stephen R. Hann, Ph.D., Department of Cell Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, to use subtractive hybridization to identify genes differentially expressed in the epididymis.  From these studies, Dr. Cornwall identified CRES, the defining member of a new reproductive subgroup of family 2 cystatins of cysteine protease inhibitors, that she continued to work on in her own lab as an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and now as a Professor. Her current research is focused on studying the amyloid properties of CRES including mechanisms of its assembly at the atomic level, its role as a functional extracellular amyloid scaffold in host defense in the epididymis, and more recently its role in sex-specific learning and memory in the brain.

Dr. Cornwall has been a member of the ASA since 1984. As one of her nominators notes, hers is the kind of story the Society imagines when it promotes trainee activities and involvement in Society affairs. Over the last thirty years Dr. Cornwall has gone from a graduate student within the Society to an internationally recognized scientist and full professor and a Fellow of the American Association of Science. Over that time, she has been a major contributor to ASA programs, activities, and administration at a truly outstanding level. She received several ASA trainee awards as a doctoral student (1987) and postdoctoral fellow (1989, 1991) and the ASA Young Andrologist Award (now the Matthew P. Hardy Young Andrologist Award) as a young faculty member in 1997. Throughout her career she has served the ASA in many ways. Dr. Cornwall is a past President of the Society, responsible for overseeing the Program committee and organizing the 37th ASA Annual Meeting “Male Reproductive Health: This Generation to the Next”  in 2012 in Tucson, Arizona. As ASA President, Dr. Cornwall headed the development of the Society’s first Strategic Plan, negotiated the merger of the Journal of Andrology and the International Journal of Andrology, launched a new ASA logo, and submitted a bid for the International Congress of Andrology meeting. During this time she also served as the Chair of the Nominations committee.

Dr. Cornwall’s other contributions to the ASA include her serving as a member of the Executive Council (1998-2001), Treasurer (2001-2005), and as an Associate Editor (2012-2014) and Editorial Board member ( 2014-2023) for the journal Andrology. She was the Program Organizer for the International Congress of Andrology meeting in Denmark in 2017 and for the ASA annual meeting in 2008.  She also has participated in and/or chaired many ASA committees. These include serving as a member of the ASA program committee in 1998, 2003 and 2023, Journal Oversight Committee 2013-2019, Awards committee Chair 2016-2018, Long-range planning committee 1994-2000, and Student Affairs Committee 1994-1996.

Dr. Cornwall’s colleagues describe her as an international ambassador for the ASA, with her career and her person serving to validate the Society and the field of andrology. She has long been an active member of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, a participant in Gordon Conferences, and an NIH reviewer on special emphasis panels and study sections. Her research and service awards at her institution bring direct attention to her as an active, respected woman scientist and indirect attention to the American Society of Andrology where she has served and continues to serve with distinction.

For her role as a visionary and strategic ambassador for the ASA and the field of male reproductive biology and medicine and her exemplary career-long commitment and dedication to the success and growth of our Society, the American Society of Andrology is pleased to present the 2024 Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Gail Cornwall.