Donna Santillan, PhD
Division Director
Our department was one of the first OB/Gyn departments to have physician scientists and basic scientists on faculty. This tradition, which is now more than a half century old, continues today in the Division of Reproductive Science Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology which was formally established in 2009.
Since then, the division has enjoyed extensive growth and development in many areas of reproductive research. For example, our faculty have been funded by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, the National Cancer Institute, March of Dimes, and the American Heart Association. Further, to enhance our capability to perform translational research, the Women’s Health Tissue Repository was established. This robust bio-repository includes the Maternal Fetal Tissue Bank, the Paternal Contributions to Children’s Health Biobank, the Well Woman Bank, the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Biobank, and the Gynecologic Malignancies Biobank. Together, these biobanks collect samples from all stages of women’s lives and have deep clinical annotations. There is more than 2000 sq ft of core laboratory space, centrally located adjacent to the UI Hospitals and Clinics where undergraduate students, graduate students, medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty carry out research and benefit from shared equipment and knowledge. In addition, our department collaborates extensively with other Centers on campus including the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Hypertension Research.
Our division currently consists of 5 full time research faculty members and numerous faculty members with joint appointments in other divisions in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and in other departments within the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Division faculty have been very productive. Members have recently received grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, National PKU Alliance, and the American Cancer Society. In addition, they have, authored many peer-reviewed scientific publications and have presented at numerous regional, national and international meetings.