A Graduate Research Assistant position is available for a Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Dr. Alvaro Garcia-Guerra in the Department of Animal Sciences at The Ohio State University. The successful candidate will work on an ongoing USDA-NIFA funded project directed at investigating pregnancy loss and the mechanisms implicated in maintenance or regression of the corpus luteum beyond classical maternal recognition of pregnancy in ruminants.

The goal of the OSU Repro Lab is to investigate the biology of ovarian follicle development and early pregnancy to enhance fertility. We also focus on the application of reproductive physiology to the development and implementation of reproductive technologies and management strategies to enhance reproductive success, efficiency and sustainability of beef and dairy production systems. The research group currently consists of 6 graduate students (4 MS and 2 PhD) and 2 undergraduate students.

Qualifications: The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, detail-oriented, enthusiastic with a strong interest in reproductive physiology. Requirements include a M.S. degree in Animal Science, Biological Science, or closely related field with a minimum graduate GPA of 3.0.  Applicants must also meet minimum departmental, college and university requirements for acceptance into the graduate program.

Starting date: Spring (January), 2022

Application: Please submit a CV or resume, transcripts, personal statement and names and contact information for three references to Dr. Alvaro Garcia-Guerra (garciaguerra.1@osu.edu)  

For additional information contact: Alvaro Garcia-Guerra, Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, 323 Plumb Hall, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210. Office: (614) 292-6583; Email: garciaguerra.1@osu.edu

We recently hosted Dr. Sofia Ortega and one of her graduate students, Katy Stoecklein, from the Division of Animal Sciences at University of Missouri for a collaborative project to determine the effect of a modified embryo culture media on fertility in beef cattle. Control and treated embryos were transferred into recipient beef cows and  day 15 conceptuses were recovered, evaluated and frozen for subsequent gene expression analysis. It was a pleasure to host our colleagues and provide members of the OSU repro lab (Ben Duran, Alex Incarnato and Shaun Wellert) with training  on the collection and evaluation of conceptuses from cattle. Looking forward to continue collaborating with the Ortega lab.