The Laboratories for Reproductive Biology (LRB), www.med.unc.edu/lrb/faculty.htm, proposes to renew a multidisciplinary program for international research and training in reproductive biology leading to contraceptive development. In the new program we will build on successful collaborative relationships with the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo-Escola Paulista de Medicina, Brazil, and the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, China. These institutions have the potential to become leaders in reproductive biology within their respective countries. It is our goal to help them develop this potential and become stronger research and training programs that can effectively promote population research. Training/research expertise is provided in five interrelated areas: i) reproductive steroid hormone regulation of gene expression; 2) molecular mechanisms regulating spermatogenesis; 3) regulation of sperm maturation; 4) fertilization and embryo implantation; 5) innate immune systems of the male and female reproductive tracts. The U.S. training faculty consists of twelve members of the LRB at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one at Greenville Hospital System in Greenville, South Carolina, one adjunct member at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and two adjunct members at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, NC. International collaborators in reproductive biology consist of four faculty members at the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo-Escola Paulista de Medicine, Brazil, and five at the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, China. Program emphasis is on further development of research collaborations with faculty in the foreign institutions and will include joint training of pre-doctoral students leading to the Ph.D. degree at the foreign institution and training of postdoctoral scientists, followed by continued collaborative research upon return to the foreign site. Interactive research and training will be enhanced by regular exchange visits between U.S. and foreign faculty for seminars, workshops, in-depth discussions and planning of research and preparation of manuscripts. The program will produce investigators much needed to further our understanding of molecular mechanisms regulating reproductive functions and thereby provide the basis for developing better methods for fertility regulation and improvement of reproductive health. Ultimately the goal of our research is to help solve the major global problem of overpopulation and its multiple adverse effects on the health and well- being of humans. ? ? ?
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