Established in 2019, the Dayong Gao Young Investigator Award (DGYI) is the Society for Cryobiology’s prestigious award for excellent researchers who are in the first 10 years of their post-doctoral career. This year’s winner is Dr. Sylwia Judycka from the Team of Fish Reproduction and Development of our Institute. 

The aim of the award is to foster and encourage early career cryobiology researchers. The DGYIA is open to cryobiology researchers from around the world. The award carries a cash prize, sponsored by GoldSim, as well as a special lecture and registration waiver to the Society for Cryobiology’s annual meeting.

Dr. Judycka’s research concerns effective methods of preserving the biodiversity of native fish species, which is extremely important today in the face of climate catastrophes. In her research, she uses the cryopreservation technique, which involves storing fish semen at low temperatures, but ensuring that sperm remain viable after thawing. She and her team have demonstrated the effectiveness of this technique for salmonid and perch species. The point of the developed procedures has been confirmed by the high results of egg fertilization using cryopreserved semen.

„One hallmark of Dr. Judycka’s work is the establishment of a comprehensive sperm cryobank housing genetic material from a diverse array of fish species. This includes sex-reversed female rainbow and brook trout, rainbow trout variants (both spring and autumn lines), Atlantic salmon, whitefish, sea trout, grayling, carp, and Atlantic sturgeon. These repositories serve as invaluable reservoirs of genetic diversity, safeguarding the future of endangered species and bolstering breeding programs” –  we read in the CRYO2024 Conference Book.

Congratulations!