W. Bruce Currie - Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow Professor
Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising
PhD from Macquarie University (Australia)
Graduate fields: Animal Science, Physiology
Area(s) of interest: animal physiology, reproduction, endocrinology
Teaching:
- Domestic Animal Biology - AS 1100
- Independent Studies 4970
Email: wbc1@cornell.edu
Research:
In recent years, research has concentrated on problems of early pregnancy that underlie reproductive inefficiencies in farm animals. Most work has involved changes in oocytes between the germinal vesicle stage and the fully matured MII oocyte. A key advantage for much of our work is the availability of hundreds to thousands of bovine oocytes each week from the ovaries of slaughtered cattle. This permits large-scale studies involving in vitro maturation. A recent focus of the research is examining the mechanisms that permit recruitment of specific transcripts from the maternal pool of mRNA and the basis for meiotic arrest and then the resumption of meiosis in the GV-stage oocyte. We are also attempting to map the transcriptome of these oocytes.
A recent collaborative effort is aiding in studies with bovine adiponectin, an adipocytokine of emerging interest . In addition, I have been collaborating with scientists and trainees at the Institute of Animal Science (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science) in Beijing, PRC.