Lab Members

Principal Investigator

Carol Elias, PhD

Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology

Director, Neuroscience Graduate Program

Director, Michigan Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center

MMPC-Live, NIDDK National Center

Michigan Neuroscience Institute Affiliate

Elizabeth W. Caswell Diabetes Institute

cfelias@umich.edu

Lab Members

Cristina Sáenz de Miera, PhD

Research Investigator

csaenzde@umich.edu

My main research interest is to explore the neuronal networks integrating internal or external environmental signals to the reproductive and metabolic functions. In my current position, I am focused on characterizing the role of different cell populations of the hypothalamic ventral premammillary nucleus (PMv) on the neuroendocrine control of reproduction. For this purpose, I am using genetically modified mouse models, reproductive and metabolic phenotyping, transcriptome analysis and novel genetic and molecular tools (including viral vectors and CRISPR/Cas9).

In my independent research project, funded by MNORC and NICHD, I am exploring how environmental factors during pregnancy affect the development of hypothalamic networks involved in the control of metabolism and reproduction.

ResearchGate

Behrokh Marzbanabbasabadi, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

behrokh@med.umich.edu

My research is focused on identifying the neural circuitry and molecular pathways that are involved in metabolic control of puberty and reproduction. Among the populations that have a role in this pathway, my main focus is on leptin receptor neurons, calcitonin receptor neurons and Kiss1 neurons in the ventral premammillary and the arcuate nuclei of the hypothalamus.

Antoinette Danku, BS

PhD candidate

adanku@umich.edu

One challenge in the field of reproduction is parsing out the mechanism behind abnormal migration of cells that produce Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) during development. This molecule drives fertility in humans but the mechanism behind its successful migration to the hypothalamus is not well understood. In pediatric incidences of Kallmann's syndrome (KS), a disease that causes infertility, patients often express coincident mutations in GnRH and Prokineticin Receptor 2 (PROKR2). In my research, I hope to describe the fertility implications of PROKR2 inhibition during development and report any consequential changes to GnRH migration.

Lab Alumni

Jonah Sta-Monica, BS

Research manager, University of Georgia, GA

Brenda Cisneros-Larios, PhD

Fellow, Public Policy, CA

Bethany Beekly, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow, University of Michigan

Emily Henson, MS

Laboratory manager, Wayne State university, MI

Susan Allen, MS (retired)

Chelsea Fortin, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

Ally Cara, PhD

Research Scientist, Wayne State University, MI

David Garcia-Galiano, PhD

Assistant Professor, University of Córdoba, Spain

Nicole Bellefontaine, PhD

Biotech Industry, Consultant

Xingfa Han, PhD

Assistant Professor, Sichuan Agricultural University, China

Beatriz de Carvalho Borges Del Grande, PhD

Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan.

Catherine Milford, BS

Biotech Industry

William Frankel, BS

Medical student at Baylor College

Erica Bove, MD

Boston IVF Clinic - The Albany Center

Zaid Mohsen, MS

Medical Student at Wayne State University

Seokmin Sim, PhD

Biotech Industry

Sanseray da Silveira Cruz Machado, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow, University of São Paulo

Dhirender Ratra, BS

Research Assistant, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Former Visiting Scholars

Ariane Zanesco, MS

Ph.D. Candidate at Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil

Cristiano Mendes, PhD

Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil

Wenicios Ferreira Chaves

Ph.D. Candidate at Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Limeira, Brazil

Mariana Rosolen Tavares, BS

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Jones Graceli, Ph.D.

Associate Professor at Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Espírito Santo, Brazil

Márcio Torsoni

Associate Professor at Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Limeira, Brazil

Hellen Veida P. Silva

Graduate Student, University of Alberta, Canada

Larissa Oliveira, PhD

University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

Honorary Lab Members

Chumi and Didi

Principal Investigators in the University of Garden Homes , Ann Arbor, MI

Report abuse