The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences maintains an active program of research that includes both clinical and basic science investigations relevant to women's health.  Our research is supported by extramural and intramural funding & derived from a combination of federal, private and pharmaceutical sources.  Nationally, our Department is ranked in the upper third of all U.S. Ob/Gyn departments in terms of federal extramural support.  This year (2007), the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences received a total of $2 million in extramural research support.

The research, while under the broad aegis of women's health, is quite diverse, and includes ongoing investigations into the:
 
- Mechanisms of altered contractility in pre-term labor
- Patterns of fetal growth in health and disease, including preeclampsia
- Hemodynamic and vascular adaptations that occur during pregnancy
- Screening and management of lower genital tract cancers
- Hormonal correlates of sexual function and dysfunction
- Pain relief during childbirth
- Immune function during pregnancy (maternal-fetal recognition and protection)
- Lipid disorders in and treatment of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCO)
- Mechanisms of cervical ripening and labor
- Effects of estrogen and SERM's on vascular function and stroke outcome
- Angiogenesis and ovarian cancer

Patient-oriented studies are conducted in the FAHC hospital environment, which includes the 16 bed UVM General Clinical Research Center one of approximately 80 centers nationwide, and an excellent resource for clinical investigations.  Basic science investigations are carried out in the Given Building, which is part of the Health Science Research Facility that houses the University of Vermont College of Medicine.  The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences occupies approximately 4,000 sq ft of space dedicated to laboratory investigation.

The Department is committed to supporting both clinical and basic research, and to the integration of research activity into our educational mission, which includes intern/residency training and fellowship programs in maternal fetal medicine and reproductive endocrinology.  In addition, our laboratories host medical students, graduate students, postdoctoral trainees and undergraduates seeking to obtain direct, hands-on student experience in biomedical research.  As described in associated links, there are ample opportunities for both student and patient participation in research activity, as well as external and internal funding mechanisms for providing research support.

The research interests of individual faculty and additional information, including recent publications, can be obtained in the faculty bios pages. Click on the Faculty and Staff link to access the Faculty Biographies. Below you will find a brief list of faculty members and their research interests.

OB/GYN FACULTY RESEARCH INTERESTS
Updated May 2007

Ira M. Bernstein, M.D.
(ira.bernstein@vtmednet.org) 
Dr. Bernstein's interest is in whole body physiology, specifically, understanding the etiologies and predisposing conditions that contribute to the development of fetal growth abnormalities and preeclampsia.  This has included examination of maternal blood volume, vascular tone, regional blood flow, intermediary metabolism and their determinants.   Dr. Bernstein is also interested in normal and abnormal growth characteristics as defined by ultrasound, including fetal body composition and fetal growth modeling.  

Elizabeth A Bonney, M.D.(elizabeth.bonney@uvm.edu)
Dr. Bonney's interests grow out of the age-old question:  Why isn't the fetus rejected by the maternal immune system?  Dr. Bonney uses newly developing mouse models to investigate pregnancy's influence on T cell regulation and immunologic memory.  Funding for these projects has come from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.  In addition, she is broadly interested in the developmental role(s) played by both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in normal pregnancy.  Dr. Bonney's clinical research efforts have focused on aspects of prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in women.

Lucia Y. Brown, M.D.
lucia.brown@uvm.edu
Dr. Lucia Brown's interest is in the  holoprosencephaly gene, Zic2 and its role in early nervous system development.  Current studies with Zic2 relate to its newly discovered role in preimplantation blastocyst as well as in embryonic stem cells.  Both transgenic and tissue culture models are currently being used to elucidate Zic2 function.  A second area of research relates to the global analysis of genomic methylation and the role of genomic methylation in the developing placenta.

Stephen A. Brown, M.D.
stephen.brown@uvm.edu
Dr. Stephen Brown's interests are with ongoing Human Genetics research in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and includes both basic science as well as clinical studies.  Dr. Brown's laboratory has a longstanding interest in the malformation known as holoprosencephaly and has discovered one of the genes involved in the pathogenesis of this condition.  At present, they are using animal and cell-culture models in order to understand how this gene functions during normal development of the vertebrate central nervous system.  Clinical research in Dr. Stephen Brown's lab is focused on the development of a novel system for non-invasive detection of fetal aneuploidy.

Eleanor Capeless, M.D.(eleanor.capeless@vtmednet.org)
Dr. Capeless' interest is in defining the utility of common obstetrical practices.  She is also working on various aspects of quality assurance and risk assessment in obstetrics.  Dr. Capeless was one of the developers of OBNET.  OBNET was designed from the ground up by perinatal physicians at the University of Vermont and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center as a web-based quality assurance and improvement tool for use by regional hospitals and for quality improvement projects throughout the region.  She is also one of the founding members of NNEPQIN (Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network).  This is a consortium of Vermont and New Hampshire hospitals with a quality focus.  Current projects include a Waterbirth Registry and a Cesarean Section Registry.

Peter Casson, M.D.
(peter.casson@vtmednet.org)
Dr. Casson's interests are in endocrine mechanisms underlying female infertility, assisted reproductive technologies, and the clinical aspects of androgen supplementation, particularly DHEA.

Peter H Cherouny, M.D.
(peter.cherouny@vtmednet.org)
Dr. Cherouny's interests and current research are in Medical Quality Assurance and Improvement.  Past quality of care research includes the MedTeams project, which was a prospective randomized cluster-based designed trial evaluating teams-based care in the labor and delivery environment.  More recently, Dr. Cherouny was the Chair of the March of Dimes funded research project "Improving Prenatal Care in Vermont".  This study was a learning collaborative for Obstetric care providers that was designed to help Vermont obstetric practices identify and implement best practices in prenatal care.  Presently, Dr. Cherouny is the Chair and Obstetric expert for the Institute of Healtcare Improvement's Perinatal Impact Community Idealized Design of Perinatal Care project, a community of over 50 hospital groups working on the establishment of reliable systems for perinatal care for prevention of perinatal harm, or birth trauma.  

Marilyn J. Cipolla, Ph.D.
(marilyn.cipolla@uvm.edu)
Dr. Cipolla's research focuses on how both acute hypertension and ischemic injury affect the structure and function of the cerebral circulation.  Research interests include how pregnancy and hypertension in pregnancy affect the cerebral circulation in a way that may lead to eclampsia, ischemia and reperfusion effects on the vascular smooth muscle, the role of the actin cytoskeleton in mediating signal transduction and contractility.

Judith Gerber, Ph.D. (judith.gerber@vtmednet.org)
Dr. Gerber's current research involves an outcome study of IVF patients over the past two and one half years.  She has collected data on infertility-related stress utilizing the Fertility Problem Inventory with 250 couples.  Levels of social, sexual and relationship concern as well as Global stress scores for both men and women will be correlated with treatment outcome (number of ovum retrieved, conception and live birth).

Natalia Gokina, Ph.D.
(natalia.gokina@uvm.edu)
Dr. Gokina's primary research interest is in cardiovascular physiology, specifically, control of vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cell calcium and membrane potential during pregnancy, and in the signal transduction mechanisms underlying arterial reactivity.

David Jones, M.D.
(david.jones@vtmednet.org)
Dr. David Jones is interested in the application of ultrasound technologies to detect abnormalities in the developing fetus.  The interest is largely focused into attempts to identify chromosome abnormalities and birth defects in the first trimester, but also includes the use of Doppler ultrasound to monitor the well-being of the fetus later in gestation.

Julie LaCombe, M.D.
(julie.lacombe@vtmednet.org)
Dr. LaCombe's research involves understanding the etiology and treatment optimization of pelvic organ prolapse, a common and well known problem among aging women.  The goal of the project that she and her collaborators are investigating involves the development of an autologous three-dimensional smooth muscle scaffolding using a resorbable matrix and the subsequent evaluaton of the anatomical and functional characterists of the matrix using an in vivo model.

Marjorie C. Meyer, M.D.
(marjorie.meyer@vtmednet.org)
Dr. Meyer's interests are medical complications of pregnancy and substance abuse during pregnancy.  She has research projects in areas including pain during childbirth, medical therapy and outcomes of treatment of substance abuse during pregnancy, and nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

 Christine A. Murray, M.D.(christine.murray@vtmednet.org)
Dr.  Murray's area of interest involves looking at the hormonal and insulin response to surgical therapy of polycystic ovary syndrome.  She is also interested in investigating ultrasound changes after surgical therapy of polycystic ovary syndrome.

George J. Osol, Ph.D.
(george.osol@uvm.edu)
Dr. Osol is interested in the biology of small blood vessels, specifically:   (1) How pregnancy affects arterial and venous communication, reactivity and growth, (2) The effects of estrogen and estrogen-like compounds on endothelial function and (3) The fundamental cellular mechanisms by which vascular smooth muscle senses and responds to physical forces such as pressure and stretch.

Mark Phillippe, M.D.
(mark.phillippe@uvm.edu)
Dr. Phillippe's research interests are related to the understanding of the autocrine and paracrine mechanisms that control uterine contractile activity as it relates to the onset of parturition.  Specifically, Dr. Phillippe's NIH supported research is evaluating the signaling pathways leading to phasic myometrial contractions in the presence of intrauterine inflammation and/or hemorrhage.  In addition, Dr. Phillippe's laboratory is exploring the autocrine, paracrine and endocrine events that regulate the expression and activity of the transduction proteins involved in these myometrial signaling pathways.  This basic science research will allow Dr. Phillippe to help clarify some of the genetic and physiologic events leading to premature labor and preterm delivery.

Elisabeth K. Wegner, M.D.(elisabeth.wegner@vtmednet.org)
Dr. Wegner is interested in HPV related diseases (condyloma + dysplasia), specifically, pathophysiology over time, methods of detection, management and short and long term outcomes. 

Cheung Wong, M.D.
(cheung.wong@vtmednet.org)
Dr. Wong's research activities involve the study of angiogenesis in ovarian cancer.  Current studies are examining the role of HIF-1 and IL-6 in ovarian cancer, using human tumor tissues as well as cell culture techniques.  Dr. Wong is currently studying molecular markers in ovarian tissue (from patients who underwent prophylactic oophorectomy and from women with ovarian cancer).

Roger C. Young, M.D.
(roger.young@uvm.edu)
Dr. Young's research focuses on understanding the mechanisms used for generating contractions of the laboring uterus, with particular emphasis on the study of human tissue because of the differences between lower animals and humans with regard to anatomy and overall mechanism of the birth process. His interests range from subcellular calcium signaling, to group of cells, to tissue-level, to organ-level.  Currently, he is investigating the mechanisms used by the uterine tissue to spontaneously generate electrical discharges from a quiet background, and the relationship of calcium movement to those electrical signals.