Diane Duffy PhD

Dr. Diane M. Duffy's training and expertise are in the broad area of reproductive endocrinology, with a focus on ovarian function in non-human primates and women. Her postdoctoral research included an examination of the primate corpus luteum, steroidogenesis, and the ability of recombinant human gonadotropins to regulate ovarian function in macaques. This body of work included support for the concept that luteal progesterone serves as a local survival factor and autoregulates the function of the corpus luteum (Duffy, Hess, and Stouffer, 1994. PMID: 7989460).

Dr. Duffy's independent research has focused on paracrine control of ovulation and demonstrated critical roles for the prostaglandin PGE2 as an essential intrafollicular regulator of follicle rupture and oocyte release (Duffy and Stouffer, 2001. PMID: 11470860; Duffy and Stouffer, 2002. PMID: 12407033). Her studies include isolation and characterization of novel populations of microvascular endothelial cells from ovulatory follicles of both monkeys and women (Trau, Davis, and Duffy, 2015. PMID:25376231; Trau, Brannstrom, Curry, and Duffy, 2016. PMID: 26740577). These cells, paired with in vivo neutralization or inhibition of paracrine regulators in macaques, facilitate analysis of the role of vascular growth regulators in ovulatory angiogenesis (Kim, Harris, and Duffy, 2014. PMID: 24506073; Bender, Trau, and Duffy, 2018. PMID: 29095972; Bender, Campbell, Aytoda, Mathieson, and Duffy, 2019. PMID: 31787928). Identification of key receptors for PGE2, VEGFA, and other growth regulators provides targets for the development of selective contraceptives or approaches to promote fertility in anovulatory women.