Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology

Title: Director, Pittsburgh Development Center
Deputy Director, Magee-Womens Research Institute
Professor & Vice Chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, and Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Pittsburgh
Director of the Division of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Department: Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Email: gps15@pitt.edu
PubMed: Link
Dept / Lab Webpage: http://www.pdc.magee.edu/faculty/schatten.html


CBMP groups: Reproductive Biology

Research Interests

Dr. Schatten's research focuses on understanding human reproduction and development and making contributions to molecular medical therapies by determining stem cell potentials and accelerating gene therapy. Utilizing gametes, embryos and stem cells, Dr. Schatten and his research colleagues are aiming to answer questions regarding:

• Human Reproduction (gametogenesis, contraception, assisted reproduction, genetic basis of infertility, male and female meiotic cell cycle regulation, and reproductive aging)
• Human Development (Pre- and post-implantation development, body axis specification, somitogenesis, organogenesis, imprinting, extra-embryonic membrane allocation, pluripotency, dynamic noninvasive imaging of transgenic reporters)
• Cloned Transgenic Disease Models (breast and ovarian cancers; inborn errors of metabolism; arteriosclerosis; infectious diseases; cognitive and mental disorders; Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases; polycystic kidney disease; blindness, deafness and sensory disorders; storage diseases, cystic fibrosis)
• Stem Cell Potentials (diabetes; liver and kidney cells; wound healing; muscle and nerve)
• Genetic versus Epigenetic (or environmental causes for human diseases)

Dr. Schatten is a founding course director of Frontiers in Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research (FrHESC) - an intensive laboratory and lecture-based introduction to this emerging research field. He was also a founding course director of Frontiers in Reproduction at the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, another program of modern bioscience techniques for beginning investigators in reproductive sciences. He is the only American on the executive committee of UNESCO's International Cell Research Organization. Along with extensive funding from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Schatten is the recipient of a MERIT award and was recently honored by the Czech Academy of Sciences with the Purkinje Medal. His numerous authored and co-authored papers on fertilization, cell biology, development, infertility, and assisted reproductive technologies have appeared in premier journals such as Fertility and Sterility and Science. Dr. Schatten is also an eloquent advocate for research in reproduction, development, and stem cells and has testified to the US Senate and the President's Council on Bioethics.