VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine (“Jones Foundation”) is pleased to announce that Dr. Georgeanna Seegar Jones was one of ten trailblazing women inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame on September 24, 2026. The biennial Induction Ceremony stands as a national beacon of inspiration, illuminating stories that too often go untold and ensuring they take their rightful place in our shared history. Since 1973, the National Women’s Hall of Fame has honored distinguished American women whose achievements have shaped our world.
As a young medical student at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1938 Georgeanna Seegar was the first to demonstrate that the pregnancy hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is produced by the placenta rather than the pituitary gland. In 1949, as the Director of the Laboratory of Reproductive Physiology at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Jones further determined that the lack of the hormone progesterone during a critical phase after ovulation was significant and treatable.
Years later when Dr. Jones entered the in vitro fertilization (IVF) field in the late 1970s, she applied her successful infertility protocol of menopausal gonadotropin plus chorionic gonadotrophin therapy to IVF techniques, greatly increasing the success rate of IVF, revolutionizing the treatment of infertility and resulting in the birth of America’s first IVF baby born in l981, Elizabeth Carr. Her research helped lay the foundation for IVF, establishing key clinical protocols that continue to influence IVF practice today.
Robert W. Jones, Chairman of the Jones Foundation commented, “Dr. Georgeanna Jones, along with her husband and partner, Dr. Howard W. Jones, Jr., transformed the treatment of infertility in the United States. The Jones Foundation, founded in l984 by these remarkable physicians, is rightfully dedicated to funding the most innovative and promising studies across the United States. In honor of Dr. Georgeanna Jones, whose achievements shaped the world of reproductive medicine, we will continue to invest in career scientists and physicians, ensuring they can continue their work and grow within this vital area of research.”
In honor of Dr. Jones’s remarkable career and induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine in collaboration with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) is offering a $100,000 grant – The Georgeanna Seegar Jones, MD, Women of the Hall Investigative Scientist Award. The purpose of the grant is to support an innovative research project dedicated to improving the assisted reproductive technology techniques necessary for in vitro fertilization, including bridge funding. Additional information including applications guidelines can be found at the Jones Foundation website: www.jonesound, or the ASRM website: www.asrm.org
About The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation For Reproductive Medicine
The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine was founded by IVF pioneers Dr. Howard W. Jones, Jr. and Dr. Georgeanna S. Jones who established the first in vitro fertilization program in the United States, the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine. The Jones institute was responsible for the first American born IVF baby in l981.
The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine is a 501(c)(3) organization that solicits funds from the general public to support scientific and medical research and education in the field of reproductive medicine. In addition to providing research grants to deserving scientific investigators, the Foundation Board of Directors is prepared to serve in an advisory capacity to the agencies it supports. The Foundation may also sponsor seminars or other educational activities designed to evaluate public policy issues related to reproductive medicine in order to educate the general public and attempt to improve the human condition.
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SOURCE The Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine
