Tsai Photo
Professor
Integrative Physiology
Pei-San.Tsai@colorado.edu
303-735-1877

Office: Ramaley N384
Fax: 303-492-0811

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 Laboratory.

Education

  • 1983-1987, B.S., Zoology, Texas A&M University
  • 1987-1989, M.S., Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1989-1993, Ph.D., Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1993-1995, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of OB/GYN and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco.
  • 1995-1996, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles

Professional Experience

  • 1996-1999, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs
  • 1999-2003, Assistant Professor, Department of EPO Biology, University of Colorado Boulder
  • 2003-2006, Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder
  • 2006-2012, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder
  • 2012-present, Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder
  • 2014-2017, Chair, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder
  • 2021-2023, Associate Chair, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder

Honors and Awards

  • 1990, Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, University of California at Berkeley
  • 1993, NIH Postdoctoral National Research Service Award
  • 1997, NSF CAREER Award
  • 2005-2009, Editorial Board, Biology of Reproduction
  • 2008, The Endocrine Society Research Award
  • 2010, Provost's Faculty Achievement Award
  • 2011-present, Associate Editor, Frontiers in Endocrinology
  • 2013, Excellence in Leadership Program Fellow

Recent Publications

  • Fodor I, Zrinyi Z, Horváth R, Urbán P, Herczeg R, Büki G, Koene JM, Tsai P-S, Pirger Z. Identification, presence, and possible multifunctional regulatory role of invertebrate gonadotropin-releasing hormone/corazonin molecule in the great pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis). General and Comparative Endocrinology 299: 113621, 2020.
  • Dela Cruz C, Horton CA, Sanders KN, Andersen ND, Tsai P-S. Conditional Fgfr1 deletion in GnRH neurons leads to minor disruptions in the reproductive axis of male and female mice. Frontiers in Endocrinology 11: 588459, 2021
  • Laphyai P, Kruangkum T, Chotwiwatthanakun C, Semchuchot W, Thaijongrak P, Sobhon P, Tsai P-S, Vanichviriyakit R. Suppression of a novel vitellogenesis-inhibiting hormone significantly increases ovarian vitellogenesis in the black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon. Frontiers in Endocrinology 12: 760538, 2021
  • Chung WC, Tsai P-S. The initiation and maintenance of gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuron identity in congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Frontiers in Endocrinology 14: 1166132, 2023
  • Tsai P-S, Sanders KN, Dai X, Plachetzki D. Authentication of a lophotrochozoan adipokinetic hormone receptor in a gastropod, Aplysia californica. General and Comparative Endocrinology 345:114393, 2024