The neuroendocrine control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is central to human sexual maturation and fertility. To better understand and intervene in human reproductive processes, program members utilize rhesus monkeys as a model system. For this work, the Center for Research in Reproductive Physiology maintains a colony of 350 rhesus monkeys. Studies of these animals are conducted in tandem with investigation of human pathophysiology, and contemporary molecular and cell imaging techniques are applied to physiological paradigms to study sex steroid regulation of gene expression in prostate, signal transduction pathways, stress, puberty, spermatogenesis, ovarian functions, aging and endocrine disruptors.

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