Our research is directed towards an understanding of the events that lead to fertilization in animals and man. These encompass: the nature of sperm maturation and storage in the epididymis and of sperm capacitation in the female tract; the determinants of sperm activation and transport to the site of fertilization in the upper oviduct; events involved in maturation of oocyte fertilizability; and sperm penetration of the egg coats. Because the adaptive or evolutionary significance of several important aspects of mammalian reproductive function is still quite unclear in the male (e.g. accessory gland and scrotal development; regulated sperm storage), and in the female (sperm capacitation, the cumulus oophorus, the unique mode of sperm/egg fusion), the research often involves comparative analysis using non-eutherian and eutherian animal models that display special features.

The questions currently being pursued include: a) the bearing of gamete design on sperm penetration mechanisms; b) hormonal and pharmacological determinants of regulated sperm transport within the Fallopian tube to the site of fertilization in the ampulla; c) the functional and evolutionary implications of male accessory gland secretions in the Tupaiidae; d) Fallopian tube function and fertilization in primitive mammals--the Insectivora; and e) the significance of sperm numbers.