Growing egg and sperm-like cells in the lab to find causes of infertility
Official title: Project II
Funded at Magee-Women's Res Inst and Foundation · NIH-11194433 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project grows egg- and sperm-like cells from stem cells to find genetic and epigenetic reasons some people cannot make healthy gametes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Magee-Women's Res Inst and Foundation NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 1, 2019 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $279,650 |
| NIH project number | 5P50HD096723-07 |
| Project ID | NIH-11194433 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Best matches are people who have had genetic testing for infertility—particularly men diagnosed with non-obstructive azoospermia or anyone with variants of unknown significance in genes expressed in germ cells.
✕Less likely to help
People whose infertility is due to physical blockage, reversible lifestyle factors, or who lack suspected germ-cell genetic variants are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
If you take part, researchers will turn patient cells (like blood or skin) into induced pluripotent stem cells and then use a transcription factor method to make primordial germ cell–like cells in the lab. They will test genetic variants found in people with infertility—especially men with non-obstructive azoospermia—to see which changes interfere with germ cell development. The team combines mouse model data with human cell screening to increase speed and reduce false positives from computer-only predictions. The goal is a scalable platform that helps identify which variants actually cause infertility so clinicians can give clearer diagnoses.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to faster, more accurate genetic diagnoses for infertility and help guide future targeted treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Prior mouse experiments and early human cell studies show the basic approach can work, but large-scale, transcription factor–driven human screening of infertility variants is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Magee-Women's Res Inst and Foundation
Pittsburgh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schimenti, John C — Magee-Women's Res Inst and Foundation
- Study coordinator: Schimenti, John C
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.