Welcome!
UNH established the Center for Comparative and Molecular Endocrinology in July 2008. The foci of the center include, but are not limited to, Environmental Endocrinology, Reproductive Biology and the Evolution and Regulation of Physiological Phenomena. The center seeks to expand the capacity and synergism of "systems endocrinology and physiology" research that links to other areas of UNH and regional medical schools.
Our Mission
The mission of the Center for Molecular and Comparative Endocrinology will focus on the molecular components shared by endocrine systems, especially in their dynamic interactions. We seek to understand the structure of the system such as gene regulatory and biochemical networks; to understand the dynamics of the system both quantitative and qualitative analysis; and to understand the control methods of the system. Currently studies of the Center converge on environmental endocrinology, reproductive biology and fisheries biology. However, as other, more suitable subjects are identified, the center will expect to follow those leads. Research in the center will emphasize approaches to studying reproductive biology and neuroendocrinology that utilize new methodologies becoming available through the disciplines of hormonal genomics and proteomics, and presenting themselves through a knowledge of comparative organisms, particularly fish, and phylogenetically related species. The investigators of the center may expect to examine the roles that modifications in interactive cellular networks, as for instance: DNA and RNA products, their modified forms, and their products (hormones, receptors, and signaling molecules), have on biological and reproductive functions viewed from the perspectives of molecular, cellular, and systems biology. For example, examining the characteristics of hormone and receptor gene sequences from an increasing number of organisms will enable researchers to determine the evolutionary origin of diverse human genes important for ligand signaling.