Ei Terasawa, PhD, Awarded ICTR Translational Research Grant

Ei Terasawa, PhD, was recently awarded a 1-yr, $50,000 Basic & Clinical Translational Research Pilot award for her grant entitled, “Generation of GnRH neurons from stem cells”. This grant from the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) will explore methods for generating gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from humans. Investigators will test the hypothesis that generation of GnRH neurons from olfactory epithelial cells derived from ESCs/iPSCs requires neurocrest cell signaling. The generation of GnRH neurons would not only help to better understand the basic physiology of human GnRH neurons, but would also provide a potential treatment tool for patients with Idiopathic Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism (IHH).