Andrology-Open Access
Open Access

Christopher J. Payne

Biography

Dr. Christopher Payne received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Oregon Health and Science University, USA in 2003. He continued his training with postdoctoral fellowships at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington and Jackson Laboratory, USA from 2004 through 2009. Since 2009 he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University School of Medicine and Human Molecular Genetics Program at Children’s Memorial Research Center in Chicago. His laboratory seeks to understand how the testis microenvironment supports the maintenance of male germline stem cells with an emphasis on epigenetics. In 1999 Dr. Payne received a Distinguished Service Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for his contributions to the Frontiers in Reproduction summer training course held annually at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA for international students and clinical fellows in reproductive biology.

Research Interest

Understanding the role of chromatin modifier proteins, histone modifications and microRNAs on the maintenance of self-renewing male germline stem cells and differentiating spermatogonia. Studying how epigenetic regulation influences the development of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) and addressing the resistance of some TGCTs to cisplatin treatment. Investigating the causes of idiopathic male infertility and the contribution of germline stem cell misregulation to abnormal or insufficient sperm production.