Ashok Agarwal, Ph.D., HCLD, is the Director of the Andrology Center and the Director of Research at the American Center for Reproductive Medicine. He holds these positions at Cleveland Clinic, where he is a Professor at the Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and, since 1993, Senior Staff in the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Obstetrics-Gynecology, Women’s Health Institute, Anatomic Pathology, and Immunology.

Ashok Agarwal received his Ph.D. in 1983 from Banaras Hindu University, India. He did his post-doctorate training in Reproductive Biology under a fellowship from The Rockefeller Foundation at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He was an Instructor in Surgery and then an Assistant Professor of Urology at Harvard Medical School from 1988 to 1992. Ashok was appointed in 1993 by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, as the Head of the Clinical Andrology Center, which over 28 years under his leadership, has become a center of excellence in the United States for the diagnosis of male infertility and fertility preservation of men with oncological conditions. He is board certified as a Clinical Laboratory Director in Andrology by the American Board of Bioanalysis and an Inspector for the College of American Pathologists “Reproductive Laboratory Program” for accreditation of Andrology & IVF Laboratories. Ashok served as the Chairman of the Board of the American College of Embryology from 2009 to 2012. He is included in a number of biographical reference directories such as “International WHO’S WHO Historical Society”, “International WHO’S WHO of Professionals”, “Marquis who’s who” and “Strathmore’s Who’s Who”. Ashok is the recipient of several awards, such as the 2011 Innovator Award from Cleveland Clinic Innovations for the development of “Remote Sperm Banking Kits”; Star Award from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine from 2011 to 2020; Scholarship in Teaching Awards from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine for both the annual Summer Internship Course in 2011, 2013 and 2014, and for the Training Program in Advanced Reproductive Techniques in 2013 and 2014. Recently Ashok was recognized by the American College of Embryology as the ”IVF Expert of the year for 2019” for significant contributions to human reproductive embryology. Dr. Agarwal has been recognized for his innovative Online educational initiative during the pandemic (2020-21) by the following organizations: The Mexican Association of Reproductive Medicine, Arab School of Urology, Royal College of Ob-Gyn in Egypt, the American College of Embryology, French-speaking Society of Andrology.

Ashok has published over 813 scientific papers and review articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, authored over 225 book chapters, and presented over 830 papers at both national and international scientific meetings. His Hirsch index (h-index) as of December 2021 is 149 on Google Scholar, 107 on Scopus, while his citation count is 89,188 on Google Scholar and 42,384 in Scopus. Ashok is ranked as the #1 author in the world in the fields of Male Infertility/ Andrology and Human Assisted Reproduction in Scopus, based on his number of peer-reviewed publications, citation scores, and h-index. Ashok is an editor of over 44 medical textbooks/manuals related to male infertility, ART, fertility preservation, DNA damage, and antioxidants. He is the guest editor of 14 special journal issues. Ashok is a member or office bearer of several professional societies including the Alpha Scientist in Reproductive Medicine, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, American Society of Andrology, American Urological Association, Society for the Study of Male Reproduction, and Society for the Study of Male Reproduction and Urology. Ashok serves on the Editorial Board of Annals of Translational Medicine, Arab Journal of Urology, Asian Journal of Andrology, Basic and Clinical Andrology, Human Andrology, Human Fertility, International Brazilian Journal of Urology, International Journal of Fertility & Sterility, Reproductive BioMedicine Online, Reproductive Biology & Endocrinology, Translational Andrology and Urology, and The World Journal of Men’s Health. He is also an ad hoc reviewer of over 50 scientific journals.

Ashok is active in basic and clinical research and his laboratory has trained more than 525 basic scientists and clinical researchers from the United States and more than 55 countries. Ashok has been invited as a guest speaker at important international meetings in more than 25 countries. He has directed more than a dozen ART and Andrology Laboratory Workshops and Symposia in recent years. His laboratory has provided hands-on training in Embryology and Andrology techniques to 210 candidates from more than 40 countries. Ashok is the Program Director of a unique and highly successful Summer Internship Course in Reproductive Medicine. In the last 13 years, about 320 pre-med and medical students from across the United States and overseas have graduated from this highly competitive program. In 2020, Ashok started two novel remote learning programs due to the Covid pandemic; the first is an online summer mentorship that offers a six-week training in the art of scientific writing for publication. The program selected 28 undergraduate students from 12 institutions for this novel training in the summer of 2020. The second initiative is an online training in andrology and human-assisted reproduction. This highly focused virtual course offers training in a new module each month. In the last six months, over 5,000 participants from more than 80 countries have received their training and certificates.

Ashok is the recipient of over 110 research grants. His current research interests are identifying biological markers of oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis using proteomic research tools and bioinformatics analysis as well as preserving fertility in patients with cancer. Ashok is actively involved in laboratory and clinical studies assessing the efficacy of certain antioxidants in improving male fertility.