Professor David Gardner AM FAA is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Melbourne and Scientific Director of Melbourne IVF. An internationally recognised reproductive biologist and embryologist, his research has focused on the physiology, metabolism and culture of the mammalian preimplantation embryo. His pioneering work on human embryo culture led to the clinical introduction of blastocyst culture and transfer and helped enable the move towards single embryo transfer in IVF. He is also widely known for the Gardner grading system for blastocyst assessment. David was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2017 and has received numerous international honours, including the Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2022 for significant service to reproductive medicine and education. David has a longstanding association with the Society for Reproductive Biology, receiving the Society’s early-career visiting lecturer award in 1991 and, most recently, delivering the prestigious SRB Founders’ Medal Lecture in 2025.