Jane Morrell

Jane Morrell is a veterinary surgeon from the United Kingdom, currently employed as the Faculty Professor in Veterinary Reproductive Biotechnologies at SLU in Ultuna. She is particularly interested in optimising reproductive efficiency in all animal species (e.g. through the responsible use of artificial insemination and other reproductive biotechnologies), both as the basis for feeding the global population and as an aid to conservation breeding for rare and endangered species. She is also passionate about finding alternatives to antibiotics in semen extenders for artificial insemination, to help prevent the development of antimicrobial resistance. These are all important One Health issues. In addition to her employment at SLU, she was a guest professor at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2021-2024.

Artificial insemination is one of the most important tools available for animal breeding but success is dependent on sperm quality, among other factors. Improving sperm quality for artificial insemination has been an overarching theme of Prof. Morrell´s work. Her PhD project involved developing a method for sexing mammalian spermatozoa by identification of X- or Y-chromosomes, which was later patented by other researchers and is the basis of the current commercial method. As a post-doc, she worked with various aspects of andrology in a range of species, before focussing on sperm selection to improve sperm quality since arriving at SLU. Here she has worked on a variety of species, from honey bees to elephants, notably including alpacas and pandas. She has 7 patents for a method for selecting robust spermatozoa from a semen sample. She has published widely, with >400 peer-reviewed publications and several thousand citations (h-index 38, i-10 index 150).

Current projects: as PI

• Alternatives to antibiotics in semen extenders for artificial insemination (financed by Seydlitz Foundation, 2024-2028).
• Alternatives to antibiotics in semen extenders: a field insemination trial (Gustafsson & Whitmore, 2024)
• Equine endometritis (PhD project, 2025-2028)
• Equine ovum pick-up (PhD project, 2025-2029)
• Sex-sorting of boar spermatozoa

Questions that interest me

How can we use sperm selection to improve reproductive efficiency?

How does seminal plasma influence sperm fertility and how can we utilise this knowledge to optimise fertility in livestock?

Does the use of antibiotics in semen for artificial insemination affect female fertility?

Does sperm DNA integrity contribute to early embryonic death in cattle and what can we do about it?

Is mare welfare adversely affected by ovum pick-up?

Is vulvoplasty the best method to use to prevent equine endometritis?

Clinical work

Responsible for sperm quality referrals at KV-Lab, including necropsy of reproductive organs on demand. Answering questions from colleagues on andrology-related matters. Advising governmental committees on reproductive matters e.g. on infectious diseases spread in semen.

Swedish representative on ex situ conservation for the European Regional Focal point for Animal Genetic Resources (regional platform for the support of management, conservation and sustainable use of animal genetic resources). I have organised two workshops on semen cryopreservation in small ruminants and am planning another similar workshop on semen cryopreservation in pigs and horses. 

Teaching reproduction to veterinary students in 4th and 5th years. and on the Masters course in Biology of the Horse. External teacher on Diploma in Bovine Reproduction course offered by University of Liverpool, UK.  Teacher on specialisation courses in equine, bovine and porcine artificial insemination for veterinarians.

Course leader for PhD student courses through the Research School GS-VMAS in: Sperm Quality Evaluation (2018, 2026); How to write your first grant application (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026); Questionnaire design and management (2019, 2022, 2026), Camelid Reproduction (2019), as well as a NOVA course: Sperm Quality Evaluation (2022). Previously course leader for free-standing course One-Health: Humans, Animals and Ecosystems.

Various projects for Masters students (>70), ranging from alternatives to antibiotics in semen extenders to embryo transfer in alpacas in the Peruvian Highlands and antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in cats on Masai Mara, Kenya.

BSc (Hons) Animal Science 1980

BVetMed 1984

PhD 1987

Dilpomate of Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 2000

MBA 2003

Associate professor 2012

Professor 2012