Assistant Professor
University of Maryland
My work focuses primarily on hormonal and molecular mechanisms regulating the steroidogenic activity of ovarian cells. My academic training and research experience provided me with a molecular and reproductive biology background. During my PhD studies, I identified a cascade of events occurring in the porcine corpus luteum during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy. Moreover, I was also involved in in vivo studies undertaken to establish novel methods for reducing embryo mortality in pigs. My further postdoctoral fellow position and Instructor appointment at the University of Nebraska Medical Center allowed me to get experience in signaling and metabolic pathways regulating the function of the bovine luteal cells. I was involved in projects aiming to determine the effects of luteotrophic and luteolytic factors on metabolic events in the luteal cells and explain how these metabolic events regulate progesterone production. Currently, I work as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland (College Park). My research program is focused on identifying gonadotropin-stimulated metabolic pathways during differentiation of granulosa cells and determining the role of these pathways and metabolic intermediates in the steroidogenic activity of ovarian cells.