Amander Clark

Amander Clark PhD is the Director of the UCLA Center for Reproductive Science, Health and Education and Professor of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology. Professor Clark is an award-winning scientist and internationally recognized expert on topics in stem cell biology and reproductive science research.Results from the Clark Lab provide the basis for engineering models of the ovary in order to understand ovarian development in utero as well as ovarian disease and dysfunction which affect millions of women and girls around the world. Dr Clark has authored more than 100 scientific articles in her career, and her work has earned more than 17,000 citations. Professor Clark is regularly invited to appear as a subject matter expert for media outlets including the New York Times, the Economist, the New Yorker and Public Radio. She also serves on the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine Board of Health Sciences Policy. In 2023 Professor Clark began her elected role as President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, a global non-profit that promotes excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

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The Spatial Origins of Sex

In mammals, biological sex is regulated by genes that coordinate the programming of gonadal progenitors to differentiate into either embryonic ovaries or embryonic testes during the first trimester of pregnancy. Problems with this process can lead to differences (disorders) in sex development resulting in an atypical combination of chromosomal, gonadal or phenotypic sex affecting 2000-4,000 births annually.  It is estimated that only 13% of patients receive an accurate clinical genetic diagnosis, with a recommendation that increasing the number of candidate genes would be beneficial to improving diagnosis sucess.  We used spatial transcriptomics to examine gonadal progenitors at the time of sex determination in order to uncover new regulators of biological sex determination.