Andy V. Babwah, PhD

Dr. Andy Babwah is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and studies mechanisms underlying the attainment and maintenance of fertility. Dr. Babwah is committed to the training of highly qualified personnel through research mentorship and teaching, particularly in the area of continuing medical education.

The Babwah laboratory studies the regulation of female fertility through a better understanding of pubertal development and early pregnancy events.

Dr. Babwah's studies have led to an in-depth understanding of how the kisspeptin receptor regulates fertility, centrally at the level of the hypothalamus and peripherally at the level of the uterus and placenta. Through his studies, he aims to better understand the pathogenesis of pubertal disorders, female infertility and early pregnancy loss and thereby advance the clinical treatment and care of women and children. He conducts his studies on novel genetically-modified mouse models of human infertility and biopsies from the reproductive tract of fertile and infertile women.

It is estimated that in the US alone, 10% or over 6 million women of reproductive age suffer from infertility. Infertility is caused by many defects that may arise before or after the onset of puberty. To better understand the regulation of fertility, the Babwah laboratory has focused its attention on the uterus. Here they study the roles of several estradiol- and/or progesterone-regulated factors in regulating the preimplantation and early post-implantation periods of pregnancy in both mice and women. Their studies specifically test how these factors regulate the acquisition of uterine receptivity, embryo implantation, decidualization, decidual function and early placentation. Among their findings, they have identified critical roles for G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in regulating progesterone receptor signaling and demonstrated that a lack of GPCR signaling blocks the acquisition of uterine receptivity. Their work has also focused on understanding the negative impact of gonadotropin-dependent ovarian stimulation, an important aspect of in vitro fertilization, on embryo implantation.

Dr. Babwah is committed to the training of highly qualified personnel through research mentorship and teaching, particularly in the area of continuing medical education. He currently holds appointments in the Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, The Child Health Institute of New Jersey, and several Rutgers Graduate School Programs (Endocrinology and Animal Biosciences, Molecular Biosciences and The Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology).