Reproductive Medicine Group

Clinical Research

Carmen J. Williams, M.D., Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

Tel (919) 541-2158
Fax (919) 541-0696
williamsc5@niehs.nih.gov

Curriculum Vitae (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/clinical/rm/docs/williams-cv.pdf)   (109K) P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop E4-05
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
Delivery Instructions

Research Summary

The Reproductive Medicine Group examines the molecular basis of early reproductive events including gamete maturation and function, fertilization, and implantation. For many of these studies, the mouse model system is used because it closely approximates early reproductive processes in the human. For some studies group members are able to use human tissues or gametes to learn directly about human reproduction and human diseases that affect health and fertility. The overall goal of this work is to improve understanding of the basic processes involved in regulating early reproduction and development, and thereby provide a rational scientific basis for improving both human reproductive health and contraceptive options. There is increasing interest in the idea that environmental toxins/endocrine disruptors significantly affect human fertility. The Reproductive Medicine Group will pursue how these agents affect early reproductive events in normal couples and in those with infertility.

Major areas of research:

• Effects of the environment on gamete and embryo quality and reproductive tract function
• Signal transduction mechanisms of egg activation and preimplantation embryo development

Current projects:

• Effects of neonatal genistein exposure on reproductive tract function in the mouse model
• EMP2 as a modulator of cell adhesion in the egg and preimplantation embryo
• PLCζ activity as a marker of human sperm function
• Modulators of chromatin organization at fertilization and early embryo development

Carmen J. Williams, M.D., Ph.D, leads the Reproductive Medicine Group within the Laboratory of Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology. She received an M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine in 1986, then completed a Residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at Pennsylvania Hospital in 1990 and a Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. After her clinical training she went on to complete a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and subsequent postdoctoral fellowship training at Penn. She became an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2000, where she served as an attending physician in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility while running an active basic research laboratory in the Center for Research on Reproduction & Women's Health. She moved to the NIEHS in September, 2007.

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