Spermatology and testis biology – honouring the contributions of James M. Cummins

This collection reflects the career and important contribution of James (Jim) Michael Cummins (1943–2023) to the field of reproductive biology. It covers a variety of topics but there is a clear focus on spermatology where his impact, as a scientist and teacher, was most profound.

Jim attended the University of Bangor where he gained a BSc in Zoology (honours in mammalian embryology) followed by an MSc in mammalian sperm morphology. In 1969, he completed his PhD at the University of Liverpool, with a thesis titled On the Nature and Causes of Infertility in Rabbits following Artificial Cryptorchidism, supervised by Professors T.D. Glover and C.R. Austin FRS.

He then completed post-doctoral work at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (Tennessee) and at the University of Hawaii School of Medicine where he worked with the legendary Ryuzo Yanagimachi. In 1974, he moved to the Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). In 1978, he joined the University of Queensland (Australia), where he taught in the School of Veterinary Science. Around this time, human IVF became a hot topic and Jim became a Scientific Advisor to the Queensland Fertility Group. He also became a Foundation Member of the Fertility Society of Australia when it was established in 1982.

In 1988, Jim accepted an offer to take up a post as the Scientific Director of PIVET Medical Centre in Western Australia. This was a big change, away from his more traditional role as an academic lecturer and researcher, to the rapidly developing human fertility industry. After a few years in the commercial world, Jim was again drawn back to university life, taking up a position as Associate Professor in Veterinary Anatomy at Murdoch University, where he stayed until he retired in 2016.

With his remarkable knowledge of all aspects of reproduction, and unbridled curiosity, Jim was also an exceptional educator, with a passion for teaching and research across a variety of species, from rodents to marsupials to humans, and across a variety of fields, from pure spermatology to clinical IVF. In the late 1990s, he became intrigued by mitochondrial DNA in gametes and published many papers on the topic, leading to a letter to Nature in 1999 where he proposed that ‘humans have a strong hereditary predisposition to infertility’ (https://doi.org/10.1038/17471).

From 2004 until 2022, Jim was a core member of the Editorial Board of Reproduction, Fertility and Development. For a series of Editors-in-Chief, he was a font of wisdom for all aspects of spermatology, reproductive technology in humans, and general reproductive biology, as well as a guardian of editorial principles and ethics.