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

  • 2006-2012, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

  • 2012-present, Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Honors and Awards

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

  • 1993-1995, NIH Postdoctoral National Research Service Award

  • 1997-2003, Career Award, National Science Foundation

  • 2005-2009, Editorial Board, Biology of Reproduction

  • 2009-present, NIH Integrative and Clinical Endocrinology and Reproduction Study Section

  • 2010, Provost's Faculty Achievement Award

  • 2011-present, Associate Editor, Frontiers in Endocrinology

Recent Publications

  • Brooks LR, Le CDV, Chung WC, Tsai P-S. Maternal behavior in transgenic mice with reduced fibroblast growth factor receptor function in gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons. Behavioral and Brain Functions 8: 47, 2012.

  • Rochester JR, Chung WC, Hayes TB, Tsai P-S. Opposite-sex housing reactivates the declining GnRH system in aged transgenic mice with FGF signaling deficiency. American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology & Metabolism 303: E1428-E1439, 2012.

  • Sun B, Kavanaugh SI, Tsai P-S. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone in protostomes:  Insights from functional studies on Aplysia californicaGeneral and Comparative Endocrinology 176: 321-326, 2012.

  • Sun B, Tsai P-S. A gonadotropin-releasing hormone-like molecule modulates the activity of diverse central neurons in a gastropod mollusk, Aplysia californica. Frontiers in Endocrinology 2: 36, 1-8, 2011.

  • Tata BK, Chung WC, Brooks LR, Kavanaugh SI, Tsai P-S. Fibroblast growth factor signaling deficiencies impact female reproduction and kisspeptin neurons. Biology of Reproduction 86: 119, 1-7, 2012.