Email: [email protected]

  Research Area:

Biological mechanisms underlying age-related loss of fertility in females

  Research Summary:

Women, like females of many mammalian species, undergo profound reduction of fertility by middle age, while there are still oocytes in the ovary. Since oocyte donation from younger women corrects this problem, the oocyte is presumed to be a major locus of reproductive aging. My laboratory studies the mechanisms underlying age-related loss of oocyte viability. It employs a number of non-destructive techniques, including novel light microscopes and a self-referencing ion and an oxygen-sensitive electrode to study predictors of oocyte viability.