Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Gonadal Development -A major focus of my laboratory is identifying factors (transcription factors and paracrine growth factors) that regulate critical morphological differentiation in the testis and ovary. Current experiments are utilizing transgenic mice, embryonic organ cultures, and real-time PCR to identify angiogenic factors involved in both vascularization and formation of morphogenic structures within the testis and ovary around gonadal sex determination.
Cellular and Molecular mechanisms regulating ovulation in the cow. - The primary focus of this research project is to identify genes regulating vascular development of the dominant follicle and other paracrine growth factors involved in the process of ovulation in the cow.
Spermatogonial Germ Cell Transplantation for Development of Animal Models to Study Reproductive Processes - Use of mutagens in Germ Cell culture with Spermatogonial Germ Cell Transplantation to develop lines of Mice with mutations in reproductive function. Co-Investigator on this project is Dr. Jack Weber. - Development of germ cell transplant procedures for the porcine/bovine or ovine model to address questions related to testis function in domestic livestock.
