Division of Reproductive Biology Research

Chris Books
MSTP Graduate Student

Chris Brooks is a graduate student in the MSTP in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.  He graduated University of Pennsylvania in 2005 with a BA in Biochemistry and an MS in Chemistry.  Chris joined Dr. Bulun's lab in 2007 and is studying the importance of aromatase in both the brain and behavior.

Dong Chen, PhD
Research Assistant Professor

Dr. Chen received his Bachelor of Science degree in genetics from Fudan University, Shanghai, China in 1991.  Afterwards he did his graduate research in insulin signaling and glucose transport at the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Pessin at the University of Iowa and received a PhD in molecular biology in 1999.  Upon completion of his postdoctoral research in insulin action at the laboratory of Dr. Ronald Kahn of the Joslin Diabetes Center and the Harvard Medical School in Boston in November 2004, he joined Dr. Serdar Bulun’s laboratory as a research assistant professor.  Using primary human breast adipose fibroblasts (BAFs) and humanized aromatase transgenic mice, Dr. Chen has been investigating the molecular mechanisms by which increased aromatase expression occurs in breast cancer tissues.  He identified p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1) as essential mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂)-induced aromatase expression in BAFs (Cancer Research 2007 Sept; 67 (18): 8914-8922).  Recently, he has identified JunD and JunB as key transcription factors mediating PGE₂ stimulation of aromatase expression in BAFs downstream of JNK1 (Molecular Endocrinology 2011, in press). 

John Coon V, MS
Senior Research Technologist

John Coon V is the lab manager and senior research technologist for the Bulun lab.  He graduated with Honors in biochemistry from Knox College and received his Masters of Science degree in biotechnology from Penn State University.  After graduating from Penn State, Mr. Coon joined GlaxoSmithKline as a research scientist, helping to develop novel antibiotics.  Upon returning to Chicago, he joined the Bulun lab in the early spring of 2009.  Mr. Coon has worked in many areas of research, but particularly enjoys the varied and challenging research of the Bulun lab.

Matthew is a postdoctoral fellow in the Northwestern University Program in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hormone Action.  He joined the lab in 2010 after completing his PhD in cell and molecular biology at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in research focusing on the regulation of steroidogenesis. His current research interests are in defining how steroids control the retinoic acid signaling pathways that are unique to the development of the endometrium, and how disregulation of these pathways affects the progression and maintenance of endometriosis.

Toshiyuki Kainuma, MD, PhD.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Toshiyuki Kakinuma received his MD degree in 1996 and PhD degree in 2004 from Nippon Medical Scool, Japan. He worked as a gynecologist in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Nihon University Hospital, Japan.  His project is to investigate the role of epigenetic abnormalities that are characteristic of endometriosis.

Diana Mosivais
IGP Graduate Student

Diana Monsivais is a PhD candidate conducting her thesis work in the Bulun laboratory. She is a student in the Integrated Graduate Program, which is part of the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.  Her thesis work aims to define the role of Estrogen Receptor β in the development and progression of endometriosis by identifying and characterizing its transcriptional targets.  Her research interests also involve the characterization of other hormone-regulated nuclear receptors in endometriosis.  Before joining Northwestern, Diana received a Master’s Degree in Molecular and Cell Biology at Chicago State University, where she was the recipient of the Northwestern University-CSU Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship.  She conducted her undergraduate work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology.

Irene Moy, MD
Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellow

Dr. Moy is currently the second year reproductive endocrinology and infertility fellow at Northwestern.  She received a BS in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  After graduating from college, Dr. Moy conducted research at the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lungs, and Blood Institute prior to starting her medical school training at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine.  Dr. Moy is an honorary member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Society and completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at Northwestern.  After completing her residency, Dr. Moy received a research fellowship from the Lynn Sage Breast Center. Her research has focused on identifying and characterizing novel molecular markers of endocrine treatment response in patients with breast cancer.  Dr. Moy's work has led to collaborations investigating cell-cell contact, focal adhesion, migration, and possible metastatic properties of potential genetic markers of aromatase inhibitor responsiveness.  Her work has been presented at various scientific meetings including the American Society of Reproductive Medicine,  the Endocrine Society, and the Society of Gynecologic Investigation.  Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Avon Foundation, and Friends of Prentice.

In addition to her research in breast cancer, Dr. Moy is pursuing a Masters in Clinical Investigations.  Most recently, Dr. Moy published the first American randomized-control trial looking into the effects of acupuncture on in-vitro fertilization outcomes in the journal Fertility and Sterility.  Dr. Moy is currently involved in various clinical studies focusing on maternal and fetal outcomes in patients who conceived via assisted reproductive technologies as well as the psychological aspects of in-vitro fertilization.

Antonia Navarro
IGP Graduate Student

Antonia is a graduate student in the Integrated Graduate Program (IGP) in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS from NEIU. After graduating from college, she went to the Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at The University of Chicago. Antonia has always been fascinated by how the endocrine system works, and concerned about women’s health. That is why she decided to joined Dr. Bulun Lab in 2009, and she is investigating the fascinating role of epigenetics in the etiology of human uterine leiomyomas. In particular, she is looking at DNA methylation; and she hopes to categorize biomarkers of this disease and to demonstrate what biological pathways are epigenetically regulated in uterine leiomyomas.

Masanori Ono, MD, PhD
Visiting Scholar

Dr Ono is a visiting research scientist from Japan.  He received his undergraduate degree from Keio University. Dr. Ono also received his medical degree and his PhD from the Keio University School of Medicine.  Dr. Ono joined the Bulun lab as a postdoctoral fellow, and has been working on the purification of myometrial stem cells.  Dr. Ono is hoping to use these cells in understanding the growth mechanisms of human leiomyoma.

Mary Ellen Pavone, MD, MSCI
Assistant Professor

Dr. Pavone is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is currently a WRHR scholar in Dr. Serdar Bulun's lab.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Philosophy from Boston University.  She was accepted into the Modular Medical Integrated Program (early acceptance into medical school) while an undergraduate, and went onto completing her medical school education at Boston University.  Dr. Pavone then went to Johns Hopkins for Ob GYN residency and completed her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Northwestern.  She received several awards for her research, including "Outstanding Paper" award from the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society (2009), and an ASRM "In-training Award" (2009).  She has presented her research at multiple national meetings including ASRM, SGI, Endocrine Society and PCRS. Dr. Pavone is studying the retinoid acid signaling cascade in endometrium and endometriosis.

Kerry Pearson
Research Technologist

Emily J Su, MD, MS
Assistant Professor

Dr. Su is a junior faculty member within the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Division of Reproductive Biology Research.  She completed both her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and her fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Northwestern University.  During her fellowship, she began working in Dr. Bulun's laboratory and also received a master's degree in clinical investigation.  She then was awarded the 2007-2010 American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Foundation (AAOGF)/Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) career development award, which allowed her to pursue research on the fetoplacental vasculature in both complicated and normal pregnancies.  In 2010, she received a National Institutes of Health Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Award (K08), which has allowed her to continue to focus on her research.  She is also clinically active and continues to see patients in the outpatient and inpatient settings.  

Ping Yin, MD, PhD
Senior Research Associate

Dr. Yin joined Northwestern as a senior research associate in November 2004. She is investigating mechanisms underlying the formation of uterine leiomyoma and exploring therapeutic strategies for its treatment.

Hong Zhao, MD, PhD
Research Assistant Professor

Dr. Hong Zhao received her MD and PhD degree from China.   After several years working in the Netherlands and the NIH, she moved to Chicago and began working for  Northwestern University. Her research focus is in breast cancer research.  Now she is working on humanized aromatase mice and tissue-specific aromatase knockout mice. She is interesting in function of aromatase on muscle, adipose tissue, breast and brain.