Professor Rebecca Campbell
Rebecca Campbell is a Professor and Principal Investigator in the Department of Physiology at the University of Otago and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Neuroendocrinology. She received her PhD from Oregon Health & Science University in 2002, joined the Centre for Neuroendocrinology as a Postdoctoral Fellow and then established her own independent research group in 2009. Her research focuses on defining and understanding the neuronal network regulating gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons, the final output neurons controlling fertility. Using a wide range of anatomical and functional neuroscience tools in transgenic mouse models, she has revealed morphological characteristics of the GnRH neurons and their afferent network relevant to their function in health and disease. Her current research focus is on understanding the neuroendocrine mechanisms that underpin polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common form of anovulatory infertility seen in the clinic. Using a pre-clinical model, her group has identified specific disruptions in the GnRH neuronal network that that likely play a role in the development and pathology of this common infertility disorder.