I am interested in how the brain controls reproduction (i.e., reproductive neuroendocrinology). Specifically, I study how neuropeptides in specific brain regions stimulate or inhibit reproductive control centers in the forebrain, and how these processes ultimately affect an animal's reproductive physiology and fertility. I am also interested in how these neural regulatory circuits are themselves influenced by developmental factors, hormones, neural signals, and environmental factors (food, stress, photoperiod, etc.) both in adulthood as well as during critical periods of development such as puberty and sexual differentiation. The long-term goal is to apply what we learn about the neuroendocrine control of reproduction to improving and advancing medical and therapeutic treatments of human infertility, precocious or delayed puberty, and other reproductive disorders
