Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Wayne State University School of Medicine is widely recognized as one of the country's leading academic Obstetrics and Gynecology departments. For the past ten years, the department has consistently ranked nationally among the top seven in NIH funding and held the number 1 position in 2003. The department has five clinical divisions- Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Reproductive Genetics, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Gynecology, and Gynecologic Oncology- each of which offers a substantial patient population base that provides for a wide range of research opportunities. Clinical research is complemented by intensive basic and animal biomedical/biobehavioral research activities that are conducted primarily at the C.S Mott Center for Human Growth and Development, a basic science facility dedicated exclusively for departmental research. The Mott Center houses its own animal facility and also contains Wayne State University's Genomic Facility. 

Research in the department focuses on one or more aspects of human growth and development, with overarching themes of reproductive sciences and perinatal health. The departmental research portfolio encompasses life-long reproductive health, from sperm, oocyte, and embryos, through birth, to menopause. As a sampling, genomic systems in sperm, molecular mechanisms of embryo implantations, and human placental physiology represent some current areas of research concentration. Major funding for departmental research endeavors has been consistently obtained from several institutes and initiatives within the NIH including: NICHD, NIA, NIAAA, NIDA, NHLBI, the Women's Health Initiative, Reproductive Medicine Network grants, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Network grants, and the Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Center. In addition, the department has been home to the NIH's Intramural Perinatology Research Branch (PRB) of the NICHD since 1992.

Department of Physiology

The Graduate Program in the Department of Physiology has a long and respected history of producing quality students at both the Masters and Doctoral levels. The Department has achieved this solid record of accomplishment in graduate education by maintaining strong teaching and research programs. One of the most outstanding features of its teaching emphasis is the faculty's involvement in a diverse array of instructional and educational activities. The Department has and continues to make significant teaching contributions, not only to graduate students, but also to medical and undergraduate students as well, an effort that has resulted in one of the highest student contact hours per faculty among departments in the School of Medicine. Furthermore, the scholarly productivity of the graduate teaching faculty remains high, placing the Department of Physiology near the top of funded investigators/faculty size in the School of Medicine.

The Department of Physiology maintains four major areas of focus in its teaching and research emphasis. These include (1) cardiovascular physiology, (2) cellular and molecular physiology, (3) endocrinology and (4) reproductive sciences through its collaborative arrangement with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Current areas of research concentration in the Department include: the molecular biology of blood, the pathophysiology of hemorrhagic diseases, cardiovascular physiology, cellular physiology, renal physiology, neurobiology and neurochemistry, electrophysiology, molecular endocrinology, reproductive physiology, metabolism, blood protein derivatives, muscle physiology, biomathematics, neuroendocrinology and the biophysics of macromolecules.

The integrated program of the Reproductive Sciences Concentration encompasses the scientists of the Physiology Department with the Ob/Gyn Department's extensive reproductive basic research program.  The Concentration also affords graduate students the opportunity for exposure to the scholarly investigators of the Perinatology Research Branch (PRB) of NICHD and the faculty from WSU's Genomic Facility and the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics.

Visit the departmental websites at the  Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Physiology for more information.