Kelle H. Moley, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, has been named vice chair for basic science research and director of the Division of Basic Science Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Medicine.
George A. Macones, M.D., the Mitchell and Elaine Yanow Professor and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Medicine and chief of obstetrics-gynecology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, made the announcement.
“Dr. Moley is one of the finest reproductive biologists in the world and is well-positioned to lead this critical effort in the department,” Macones said. “The University community will benefit from Dr. Moley’s leadership and vision in her new position.”
Moley will be responsible for developing a strategic plan and direction for the new division and enhancing the current program in reproductive science.
Moley, who also is associate professor of cell biology and physiology, is one of a handful of people in the world studying the effects of maternal type 1 and type 2 diabetes on the implantation and development of mice embryos. Her work has established that short-term exposure to high concentrations of glucose or insulin during the first 72 hours after fertilization is enough to alter the embryos and result in the increase in congenital malformations and miscarriages, as seen in women with diabetes and other metabolic disorders.
She also is known for cloning and characterizing two novel glucose transporters, GLUT8 and GLUT9, the latter of which she discovered in collaboration with her husband, Jeffrey Moley, M.D., professor of surgery. Her work on these proteins demonstrates altered location and expression of these transporters in response to insulin exposure and diabetes, respectively.
Her research has impacted the understanding of reproductive performance and glucose utilization in diabetic animal models and how this may be applicable to the pathophysiology of diabetes in humans.
Moley is director of the Fellowship Program in Reproductive Endocrinology and the Clinical Mentorship Program for the University’s Markey Pathway, a graduate program that provides students with a deeper understanding of the nature of disease. She also is co-principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health grant to train future reproductive biologists.
She joined the University faculty in 1992 as an instructor in obstetrics and gynecology and as a postdoctoral fellow in cell biology and physiology after a residency and fellowship at the School of Medicine.