Northwestern has received $5.65 million to establish a Centerfor Reproductive Research from the National Institute of ChildHealth and Human Development.
The center will help fund multidisciplinary research projectsalready in progress at NU to help solve female infertility problemsand increase understanding of reproductive systems.
“We’re making women’s health a research priority with thisresearch grant,” said Teresa Woodruff, director of the center.
The grant was awarded as part of a competition the NICHDsponsored for interdisciplinary research centers. The NICHD focuseson the reproductive health of men and women and is part of theNational Institutes of Health, the federal government’s majormedical research agency.
Woodruff said NU was chosen over seven other competitors becauseof the university’s innovative interdisciplinary projects in thefield of reproduction.
“We were the top center,” she said. “The reason is the highdegree of interdisciplinary study and the unique use of structuralbiology, reproductive biology and reproductive medicine.”
The grant’s focus on interdisciplinary approaches has uniteddifferent sciences that have never worked together, said KellyMayo, director of NU’s Center of Reproductive Sciences. The grantwill bring the fields of reproductive endocrinology, which focusesthe production of hormones, and structural biology together inorder to advance the field of women’s reproduction.
“Bringing different groups like this together helps advanceresearch beyond what any one group could do alone — that’s theadvantage,” Mayo said.
The grant allowed the center to work with other centersaddressing problems in the field of reproduction, he added.
“Beyond the fact that the (NICHD) is funding the research here,the grant gives us access to 14 centers that are also engaged inreproductive research,” Mayo said. “That means we can tap into corefacilities and technologies all across the country in addition tothe ones here at Northwestern.”
The center currently is involved in three different projectsaddressing various problems women encounter with infertility.
The first project, Woodruff said, could create technology tohelp women with cancer facing chemotherapy.
“Women who undergo chemotherapy lose their ovarian function,”Woodruff said. “The real hope of this technology is that womencould go to a bank to deposit their follicles before undergoingchemotherapy. “We can use this technology to develop and increasetheir fertility potential.”
The center also studies how specific genes are activated in theovaries and investigates the structure of hormones important forreproductive functions.
Understanding women’s reproduction will have benefits beyondinfertility, Woodruff said.
“By understanding the reproductive function of women, we will beable to impact their overall health,” she said.
As for the future, Woodruff said she hopes the center willattract new talent to continue investigating reproduction.
“We hope to attract top-notch, post-doctoral fellows toNorthwestern and train undergraduates as the the next generation ofreproductive scientists,” she said. “This will be the first step tohaving a visible and prestigious center at Northwestern.”
