The SCCPIR is a National network of centers aimed at improving human reproductive health through accelerated transfer of basic science findings into clinical practice. The SCCPIR is a research-based centers program, supported through the NICHD Reproductive Sciences Branch, designed to promote multidisciplinary interactions between basic and clinical scientists, with the ultimate goal of improving human reproductive health. Administered as a cooperative agreement, center investigators work with the NICHD staff in facilitating research collaborations and interactions within and between centers, as well as with private foundations and industry. The first SCCPIR request for applications was issued in 1996, and the first four awards were issued on April 1, 1998.

Centers supported by the SCCPIR are currently located at the following sites:

• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Baylor College of Medicine
• Harvard University
• Michigan State University
• Northwestern University
• Stanford University
• University of California, San Diego
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Virginia
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• Yale University

The breadth of research covered by the SCCPIR is commensurate with the broad research mission of the Reproductive Sciences Branch. Research on male reproduction is performed at the University of North Carolina, The University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University. Other centers, including the University of Virginia, the University of California, San Diego, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Yale University focus on diseases/disorders of the female reproduction system including polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis. Novel stem-cell based approaches for treatment of infertility is pursued at Stanford University while investigators at Michigan State University utilize non-human primates as models to study the physiology and pathophysiology of human fertility disorders.

In order to promote interactions amongst SCCPIR investigators from different centers, research focus groups were established in the areas of male reproduction, endometrial biology, ovarian physiology, and reproductive neuroendocrinology. Meetings of these focus groups provide an arena for investigators to present their unpublished research findings and to develop pilot collaborative projects.

The SCCPIR also supports National human tissue banks, now located at the University of California, San Francisco (endometrium) and the University of California, San Diego (ovary). The SCCPIR also supports a suite of online databases including the Ovarian Kaleidoscope Database, Mammalian Reproductive Genetics Database, the Endometrial Resource Database and the GnRH Wiki that are available for use by the world-wide scientific community. Finally, the University of Virginia is home to the National SCCPIR Ligand Assay and Analysis Core which provides assay services to all NIH-supported investigators.

For additional information on the SCCPIR, please contact Dr. Stuart Moss. You can also visit http://chalk.brc.bcm.edu/sccpir/ for more information.