monkeyOur program provides training for  Doctoral candidates.

Research training is available in the laboratories of participating Faculty Trainers who are based in both East Lansing and Grand Rapids. Our  Faculty are world-renowned for their research and offer opportunities in the latest cutting-edge research, using a variety of experimental model systems. There are 4 major areas of specialization:

  • Gonad and Gamete Biology
  • Early Embryo Development
  • Reproductive Tract Biology and Gynecological Pathologies
  • Environmental Factors in Reproduction

In addition, the program provides trainees with competencies in:

  • Hypothesis-driven Basic, Applied, Clinical, and Translational Research,
  • Use of a variety of model organisms in reproductive biology research
  • Cutting edge methodologies in developmental biology and embryology, molecular and cellular biology, reproductive physiology, genome editing, epigenetics, and bioinformatics/genomics biology
  • Skills for successful professional development, such as oral communication, grant writing, job interviewing skills, mentoring, laboratory management, alternate career awareness, intellectual property and entrepreneurship, and teaching.

Doctoral candidates will pursue degrees through one of the six Biomedical Sciences (BMS) programs (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Cell & Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Genetics, Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Physiology), through Interdisciplinary and Dual Degree Programs (MD/PhD, DO/PhD), College of Natural Sciences

Interdisciplinary Program, Quantitative Biology, Food Science/Environmental Toxicology), or through departmental/other programs (Animal Science, Biomedical Engineering, Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology (CMIB), Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Neuroscience). Applications to the BMS Program can be made directly at BioMolecular Science Website. Information about other graduate programs is also available online.

Applicants should emphasize their preference for training opportunities in the Reproductive and Developmental Sciences when applying to these programs.

Participating Department or Program

Biomolecular Sciences Gateway (BMS}

Biochemisty & Mol Biology

Cellular & Molecular Biology

Genetics & Genome Science

Microbiology & Molecular Genetics

Pharmacology & Toxicology

Physiology

Animal Science

Biomed Engineering

CMIB (Comparative medicine & Integrative Biology)

Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Neuroscience

ryan marquardt

Ryan Marquardt has been awarded an NIH F31 predoctoral fellowship by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) for the project titled: “The role of ARID1A in endometriosis-related infertility”. This project is sponsored by Dr. Jae-Wook Jeong and co-sponsored by Dr. Asgerally Fazleabas in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology. Ryan is a doctoral candidate in the Cell and Molecular Biology Program studying the molecular basis of endometrial dysfunction implicated in endometriosis and infertility.

Mammalian embryos are unlike those of any other organism as they must grow within the mother’s body. While other animal embryos grow outside the mother, their embryonic cells can get right to work accepting assignments, such as head, tail or vital organ. By contrast, mammalian embryos must first choose between forming the placenta or creating the baby.

Boston, MA – Women with higher urinary concentrations of a common type of flame retardant had reduced likelihood of clinical pregnancy and live birth than those with lower concentrations, according to researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Kaitlin Karl

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Kaitlin Karl, a Ph.D. student in the Michigan State University (MSU) Department of Animal Science, has received a fellowship from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue her work alongside faculty members Jim Ireland and Keith Latham on improving superovulation in cattle, which may benefit assisted reproductive technology (ART) in women.

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Ripla Arora is an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology within the College of Human Medicine and is the Chief of the Division of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology in the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering. Her research focuses on embryo uterine interactions at the time of implantation and uterine development.