Pei-San Tsai Pei-San Tsai, Ph.D. Department of Integrative Physiology University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309-0354 phone: 303-735-1877 fax: 303-492-0811 e-mail: pei-san.tsai@colorado.edu

Research Interests

• Reproductive endocrinology of vertebrates and invertebrates.


• Specific research foci include the development of a population of neuroendocrine neurons critical for vertebrate reproduction, functional and structural evolution of reproductive neurohormones, and how sex steroids regulate hypothalamic, pituitary, and gonadal functions.


• Reproductive Endocrinology.

Education

• 1983-1987, B.S., Zoology, Texas A&M Univeristy, College Station, TX


• 1987-1989, M.S., Zoology, University of California at Berkeley


• 1989-1993, Ph.D., Zoology, University of California at Berkeley


• 1993-1995, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of OB/GYN and Reproductive Sciences, University of California at San Francisco.


• 1995-1996, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physiology, University of California at Los Angeles

Professional Experience

• 1996-1999, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT


• 1999-2003, Assistant Professor, Department of EPO Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO


• 2003-2006, Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO


• 2006-present, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Honors and Awards

• 1990-1991, Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, University of California at Berkeley


• 1991, Best Student Paper Award, American Society of Zoologists


• 1997-2003, Career Award, National Science Foundation

Recent Publications

• Chung WC, Moyle SS, Tsai P-S. Fibroblast growth factor 8 signaling through FGF receptor 1 is required for the emergence of gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons. Endocrinology 149:4997-5003, 2008.


• Falardeau J, Chung WC, Beekeen A, Plummer L, Sidis Y, Raivio T, Dwyer A, Na S, Hall J, Huot C, Alois N, Quinton R, Cole LW, Hughes V, Mohammadi M, Tsai P-S, Pitteloud N. Decreased FGF8 signaling causes GnRH deficiency in human and mice. Journal of Clinical Investigation 118:2822-2831, 2008.


• Tsai P-S, Zhang L. The emergence and loss of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in protostomes: Orthology, phylogeny, structure, and function. Biology of Reproduction 79:798-805, 2008.


• Zhang L, Kessler AE, Tsai P-S. Characterization of steroidal regulation of gonadtoropin beta subunits in the male leopard frog, Rana pipiens. General and Comparative Endocrinology 150:66-74, 2007.


• Zhang L, Tello JA, Zhang W, Tsai P-S. Molecular cloning, expression pattern, and immunocytochemical localization of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone-like molecule in the gastropod mollusk, Aplysia californica. General and Comparative Endocrinology 156:201-209, 2008.