Speaker Profile
Ralph Guenter Meyer

Ralph Guenter Meyer PhD

Psychology
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

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Dr. Meyer is an assistant professor in physiology, Department of Animal Biology. He received his Dipl.Biol. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Kaiserslautern (UKL), Germany, in 1994 and his PhD from UKL/German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, in 1998. Dr. Meyer is interested in the environmental, genetic and epigenetic basis of nonobstructive male infertility. Current research in his lab is focused on functions of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) metabolism mediated by specific poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARP enzymes) in DNA repair and chromatin remodeling events that take place in germ cell development. Using genetic mouse models of a disrupted PAR pathway, an exciting new mechanism of PAR, PARP and poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) dependent spermatid nuclear reorganization that is known to be essential for male gametogenesis was recently discovered in Dr. Meyer’s lab. Long term goals include the development of pharmacological strategies for both, treatment of male infertility to preserve and restore fertility in humans, but also for nonsurgical sterilization of cats and dogs to humanely curb feral pet overpopulation.
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