Abbott Research Team

Congratulations to Phoebe Hayes, University of Wisconsin–Madison undergraduate student, who earned an Honors Summer Research Apprenticeship Grant from the College of Letters and Science to work in the lab of David Abbott, PhD, of the Division of Reproductive Sciences. Hayes will work with the lab’s ovary team to characterize and validate the androgenic capacity of rhesus mac... more

A new article published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society by David Abbott, PhD, professor in the Division of Reproductive Sciences, uses a cross-sectional, cohort study to compare hormonal concentrations and body fat distribution between normal-weight women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and age and BMI-matched controls. In “Interplay of Cortisol, Testosterone, ... more

Congratulations to Samantha Williams, M1 student in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, who received a 2023 Shapiro Summer Research Program Award! Samantha was previously an undergraduate student in the lab of Professor David Abbott, PhD, and will be co-mentored by Abbott alongside Dan Ulrich, PhD, professor in the UW SMPH Department of Neuroscience.Samantha’s proje... more

Beverly Hutcherson, graduate student in the Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology program, received the Student National Medical Association Excellence in Pre-Medical Education Award at the 2023 Annual Medical Education Conference in Hartford, CT! Hutcherson is an MS student in the Abbott Lab, as well as Diversity and Inclusion Manager in the UW SMPH Dean's Office.Hutche... more

David Abbott, PhD, professor in the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, co-authored a new publication in Fertility and Sterility!“Randomized clinical trial: effect of low-dose flutamide on abdominal adipogenic function in normal-weight women with polycystic ovary syndrome” shares results from a human clinical trial that demonstrates that a low dose of the androgen r... more

A new study by the Abbott research group, led by Professor David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, was just published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society!“Aromatase Inhibition Eliminates Sexual Receptivity Without Enhancing Weight Gain in Ovariectomized Marmoset Monkeys” shows that estrogen from extra-ovarian sources, likely the brain, play... more

Congratulations to Sindhu Shankar, undergraduate researcher in the Abbott Research Group, who earned a Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship! Shankar plans to study adipose dysregulation with the fellowship support, under mentorship of David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences.The Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship pro... more

Jacob Blanchar, sophomore undergrad in the Levine-Abbott lab’s Ovary team, was awarded a Sophomore Honors Summer Apprenticeship by the Letters &Science Faculty Honors Committee!Blanchar, who is part of the lab of David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, will look at aspects of diminished thermogenesis in brown fat from experimentally manipulated... more

Beverly Hutcherson, graduate student in the Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology program, won Best Poster Presentation at the Wilbert C. Jordan Research Forum during the Student National Medical Association Annual Medical Education Conference in April!Hutcherson’s translational science poster “PCOS research informs biological understanding of developmental origins contr... more

A new article by David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Science was published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society! Abbott is senior author on the article; co-authors include Marissa Kraynak, Molly Willging, Alex Kuehlmann, Amita Kapoor, Matthew Flowers, Ricki Colman, and Jon Levine.In “Aromatase Inhibition Eliminates Sexual Receptivity Without Enhan... more

Huge congratulations to Dave Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences! Abbott is senior author on an invited paper in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences’ Special Issue on PCOS.“Experimentally Induced Hyperinsulinemia Fails to Induce Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-like Traits in Female Rhesus Macaques” demonstrates that while compensatory elevat... more

A new article by David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, examines historical evidence that polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may have originated as an evolutionary adaptation for reproduction during food scarcity.“Polycystic ovary syndrome as a plausible evolutionary outcome of metabolic adaptation” is a review article published in the Reproduct... more

Undergraduate students mentored by David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, shared their research projects at the UW-Madison Biology 152 Research Symposium on December 14, 2021!Mihika Sathe brought a poster on excess fetal testosterone exposure in male rhesus monkeys and how it induces pancreatic morphological damage in adulthood leading to type... more

On December 2, 2021, three presenters offered different updates on PCOS during the UW Ob-Gyn Grand Rounds Badger Bytes research presentation. David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, Laura Cooney, MD, of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, and Leeann Bui, UW SMPH medical student, each presented updates on polycystic ovary... more

Our sincere congratulations to David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences! Abbott’s article “Adipose Insulin Resistance in Normal-Weight Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Women” was one of the top-cited articles in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2019-2020. The article was one of the top 10 percent, as assessed by rate of citation,... more

In April, we learned that David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, was one of just five educators on campus to receive the UW-Madison Award for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities from the UW-Madison Office of the Provost. Now, a new post on the UW SMPH Building Communities blog offers more perspective on Abbo... more

Our congratulations to UW-Madison undergraduate student Lukas Henjum, who won a 2021-2022 Hilldale Research Fellowship for the project “Estrogen Receptor Alpha Neurons in the Arcuate Nucleus Mediate Female Neural Inhibition of Neuroendocrine Puberty”! Henjum is mentored by David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences. With Abbott’s support and mento... more

David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, co-authored an article published in the journal Fertility and Sterility. “Accelerated subcutaneous abdominal stem cell adipogenesis predicts insulin sensitivity in normal-weight women with polycystic ovary syndrome” sought to examine “whether subcutaneous abdominal adipose stem cell differentiation into ... more

David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, was part of a study published in Science that generated whole-genome sequence data for more than 800 rhesus macaques. The study, “Sequence diversity analyses of an improved rhesus macaque genome enhance its biomedical utility”, provides a high-quality genome for one of the most widely used nonhuman prima... more

In collaboration with ob-gyn groups from Norway, David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, published an article in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism!“Sustained Maternal Hyperandrogenism During PCOS Pregnancy Reduced by Metformin in Non-obese Women Carrying a Male Fetus” looks at the ability of metformin, a well-known PCOS therape... more

David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, published an Invited Reflection in Fertility Sterility!“Midgestation origins of androgenic and estrogenic pathophysiology in three major women’s health disorders” is a response to an article in the same issue that sought to demonstrate associations between some physiological measurements and the incidence... more

Congratulations to David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences! Abbott’s paper “Androgen Receptors in Multiple Organ Systems Provide Molecular Gateways to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?”, published in the journal Endocrinology, earned a front page feature on the journal’s website in August. In the article, Abbott and co-authors offer commentary on a pa... more

David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, published the article “Animal Models to Understand the Etiology and Pathophysiology of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome” in the journal Endocrine Reviews!In the article, Abbott and co-authors discuss the need for further research to help predict polycystic ovary syndrome, and how animal models can help: “More t... more

David Abbott, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences, co-edited a recent issue of the journal Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research focused on polycystic ovary syndrome! Abbott also co-authored the leading editorial in the issue: “Polycystic ovary syndrome inspires clinical consensus and scientific innovation.”The issue includes articles on cli... more