Dr. Robert Oates, M.D. is a Professor of Urology at Boston University School of Medicine. Having completed one of the early clinical fellowships in Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery in 1988, he returned to Boston and has trained many fellows and residents in his subspecialty. He has presented at local, national and international meetings on innumerable occasions (symposia, podium, poster, roundtable). In his male reproductive surgical research career, he authored the first papers on the intentional cryopreservation of epididymal and testis sperm and has been actively involved in clinical and laboratory research on the genetic basis of male reproductive failure, having directed the research leading to the first peer-reviewed manuscript linking Congenital Bilateral Absence of the Vas Deferens and mutations in the Cystic Fibrosis genes. He authored the definitive publication on the clinical aspects of a Y chromosomal AZFc microdeletion with David Page. He has served as President of the Society for the Study of Male Reproduction (SSMR), the President of the Society of Male Reproduction and Urology (SMRU), an affiliate society within ASRM, and President of the New England Fertility Society. He directs the Fellowship and Residency programs for the Boston University Department of Urology, and has a busy clinical practice involving all aspects of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery. He has served as Program Chair for many national societal meetings and was the Scientific Program Chair for the 2012 ASRM Annual Meeting.