University of Pittsburgh Department of Cell Biology
    • Gerald P. Schatten, Ph.D.

    Gerald P. Schatten, Ph.D.

    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
    Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
    Tel: 412-641-2400
    Fax: 412-641-2410
    Address: MWRI
    gps15@pitt.edu

    CBP Research Group(s):
    CBMP Graduate Program Groups:
    Reproductive Biology
    PubMed pub. listing
    External Lab Website

  • Research

    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.

  • Publications

    1. Dettmer A, Houser L, Capuano S, Schatten G, Hewitson, L. Growth and Developmental Outcomes of Three High-Risk Infant Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta). Am J Primatol. 2007; 69: 503-18.
    2. Hermann BP, Sukhwani M, Lin CC, Sheng Y, Tomko J, Rodriguez M, Shuttleworth JJ, McFarland D, Hobbs RM, Pandolfi PP, Schatten GP, Orwig KE. Characterization, Cryopreservation and Ablation of Spermatogonial Stem Cells In Adult Rhesus Macaques. Stem Cells. 2007; PMID: 17585169.
    3. Navara CS, Mich-Basso JD, Redinger CJ, Ben-Yehudah A, Jacoby E, Kovkarova-Naumovski E, Sukhwani M, Orwig K, Kaminski N, Castro CA, Simerly CR, Schatten G. Pedigreed Primate Embryonic Stem Cells, Express Homogeneous Familial Gene Profiles. Stem Cells. 2007; PMID:17641389.
    4. Moreno RD, Palomino J, Schatten G. Assembly of spermatid acrosome depends on microtubule organization during mammalian spermiogenesis. Dev Biol. 2006; 293(1):218-27.
    5. Rawe VY, Payne C, Schatten G. Profilin and actin-related proteins regulate microfilament dynamics during early mammalian embryogenesis. Hum Reprod. 2006; 21(5):1143-53.
    6. Sackett G, Ruppenthal G, Hewitson L, Simerly C, Schatten G. Neonatal behavior and infant cognitive development in rhesus macaques produced by assisted reproductive technologies. Dev Psychobiol. 2006;48(3):243-65.
    7. St John JC, Maral A, Bowles E, Oliveira JF, Lloyd R, Freitas M, Gray HL, Navara CS, Oliveira G, Schatten GP, Spikings E, Ramalho-Santos J. The analysis of mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA in human embryonic stem cells. Methods Mol Biol. 2006;331:347-74.
    8. Constantinescu D, Gray HL, Sammak PJ, Schatten GP, Csoka AB. Lamin A/C Expression is a Marker of Mouse and Human Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation. Stem Cells. 2005 Sep 22;
    9. St John JC, Ramalho-Santos J, Gray HL, Petrosko P, Rawe VY, Navara CS, Simerly CR, Schatten GP. The expression of mitochondrial DNA transcription factors during early cardiomyocyte in vitro differentiation from human embryonic stem cells. Cloning Stem Cells. 2005;7(3):141-53.

     

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