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

Human Medicine Building GR

A large, prospective study found that women with endometriosis may have a higher risk of stroke compared to women without the chronic inflammatory condition, according to new research published today in Stroke, the peer-reviewed flagship journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

Endometriosis (abnormal growth of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus) is estimated to affect approximately 10% of reproductive aged women in the U.S., according to study authors. Previous research found that women with endometriosis are at greater risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

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Zika blastocysts

Michigan State University researchers have found that the Zika virus can halt an embryo’s development in the earliest stages of pregnancy, signaling that the risks posed by the virus are greater than previously appreciated.

Jennifer Watts, who led the Zika research project as a doctoral student at MSU. Credit: Courtesy Jennifer Watts

This is objectively bad news, but the knowledge will help people better prepare for future Zika outbreaks, researchers said. For example, doctors can work with patients who are expecting or trying to conceive children to take more robust precautions to avoid Zika’s most severe outcomes, including miscarriage and birth defects.

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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.