Stanford researchers this month launched a National Institutes of Health Specialized Center for Reproductive Research with a five-year grant for $3.75 million from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.

Stanford's new program is one of 12 NIH P-50 centers for research in reproduction. It will focus on the function of the gonads and the endometrium in human reproduction. The program will also serve as a basic research arm for Stanford's Center for Research on Women's Health and Reproductive Medicine, said Linda Giudice, who directs both centers and is the principal investigator for the new center. She is an associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics and chief of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility.

The Center for Reproductive Research - more specifically called the Center for Gonadal and Endometrial Function in Human Reproduction - is expected to provide training and research opportunities. It is also expected to facilitate transfer of basic resarch findings to the bedside through the Center for Research on Women's Health and Reproductive Medicine.

Faculty members in the division of reproductive biology who will play a key role in the Center for Reproductive Research include Aaron Hsueh, professor and the director of the division; Marco Conti, associate professor; and Anita Payne, senior research scientist.

The center's co-principal investigator is Mary Lake Polan, chair of gynecology and obstetrics. In addition to Giudice and Polan, faculty members in the reproductive endocrinology division who will work closely with reproductive biology include Emmet Lamb, professor emeritus (recalled), and Amin Milki, assistant professor.

Also playing an important role in the center will be senior research scientist Barry Behr, who directs the in vitro fertilization/advanced reproductive technology lab.

The Center for Reproductive Research will not require construction of any new buildings or immediate allocation of new research spaces, Giudice said.