WSU receives elite designation to participate in clinical protocols for infertility

Wayne State University (WSU) is one of only eight centers in the country to be selected for participation in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cooperative Multicenter Reproductive Medicine Network. This designation allows faculty members and physicians at the WSU School of Medicine to participate in and contribute to large-scale clinical protocols related to fertility, gynecology and reproductive endocrinology.

“Our overall goal is to improve the reproductive health of men and women, thereby fostering the birth of healthy and wanted children,” said Michael Diamond, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at WSU and principal investigator on this project. “By combining the expertise of many experienced researchers and physicians, we can bring new therapies and treatments to patients in a much shorter period of time.”

The eight participating centers are already enrolling patients in their first study, which will try to determine if the condition of the uterine lining affects fertility. (See related story.) Each site participates in cooperative research and submits its own grant ideas to the network committee. Wayne State’s proposal involves investigation of specific genetic causes of male infertility. Funding of the proposal should be determined in 2001.

The other sites comprising the multicenter network are: University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, Baylor University, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Colorado, University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey and University of Alabama. Duke University is acting as the coordinating center.

WSU’s inclusion was based, in part, on its history of success and expertise in successful clinical research, particularly related to obstetrics and gynecology, and infertility. “Wayne State University is an integral and contributing member of the network, and we expect to serve as innovators of important research projects that will ultimately improve reproductive health for people who want to conceive children,” Dr. Diamond said.