Jennifer Wood, PhD NGN Investigator


Assistant Professor

ISU/UNL Coop Veterinary Education Program
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
A224 Animal Science Complex
Lincoln, NE 68583-0908

Phone: 402.472.6437  |  Email: jwood5@unl.edu

External Website:
http://animalscience.unl.edu/anscjenniferwood

Reproductive capacity and net energy balance, which is determined by energy intake (nutrition) and energy expenditure (metabolism), are intimately linked. The focus of the Wood lab is to understand how metabolic hormones, which are a reflection of energy balance, regulate oocyte quality and early embryonic development. We are currently studying how insulin/IGF-1 mediated signal transduction regulates key factors that contribute to oocyte quality including communication between the oocyte and supporting granulosa cells, accumulation of developmentally important mRNAs and proteins in the growing oocyte, and remodeling (i.e. DNA methylation and histone modifications) of oocyte chromatin structure. We are also interested in possible mechanisms of insulin/IGF-1 induced epigenetic changes in the oocyte or early embryo that may have a deleterious effect on development.