Email

spangas@bcm.edu

Positions

Professor

Pathology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX

Roger Rossen Endowed Professorship of Reproductive Pathology

Baylor College of Medicine

Education

Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Baylor College Of Medicine

01/2007 - Houston, Texas United States

Reproductive Biology

PhD from Northwestern University

04/2002 - Evanston, Illinois United States

Neurobiology and Physiology

MS from Northwestern University

06/1995 - Evanston, Illinois United States

Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology

BA from Kent State University

06/1990 - Kent, Ohio United States

Anthropology and Sociology

Professional Interests

• Reproductive Biology
• Reproductive Cancers

Professional Statement

Twenty percent of women’s health problems worldwide are attributed to reproductive and sexual health issues. Disruptions in normal reproductive function cause health problems that extend beyond infertility, and include increases in cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and cognitive disorders. Furthermore, ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy in women. In part, this is due to a lack of diagnostics needed for early detection. Therefore, the origin, diagnosis, and treatment of gynecological diseases are critical health issues that need to be addressed.
Our research laboratory focuses on understanding how the ovary normally develops and functions, and how defects in these processes result in reproductive disorders and cancer development. We use a multifaceted approach, generating data from patient samples, immortalized cancer cell lines, and genetically modified mice. Since the laboratory has started in 2007, our research has contributed a number of key mouse models for genes that cause infertility, ovarian dysfunction, and ovarian cancer. These models are paramount in the search for novel therapeutics and diagnostics for patients with reproductive diseases.

Websites

Selected Publications

• Rodriguez A, Briley SM, Patton BK, Tripurani SK, Rajapakshe K, Coarfa C, Rajkovic A, Andrieux A, Dejean A, Pangas SA "Loss of the E2 SUMO-conjugating enzyme Ube2i in oocytes during ovarian folliculogenesis causes infertility in mice." Development. 2019 Dec 2;146(23) Pubmed PMID: 31704792
• Richards JS, Pangas SA "The ovary: basic biology and clinical implications.." J. Clin. Invest.. 2010 Apr 1;120(4):963-72. Pubmed PMID: 20364094
• Middlebrook BS, Eldin K, Li X, Shivasankaran S, Pangas SA "Smad1-Smad5 ovarian conditional knockout mice develop a disease profile similar to the juvenile form of human granulosa cell tumors.." Endocrinology. 2009 Dec;150(12):5208-17. Pubmed PMID: 19819941
• Myers M, Middlebrook BS, Matzuk MM, Pangas SA "Loss of inhibin alpha uncouples oocyte-granulosa cell dynamics and disrupts postnatal folliculogenesis.." Dev. Biol.. 2009 Oct 15;334(2):458-67. Pubmed PMID: 19666016