Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology  

The Bakker Lab uses transgenic mouse models for mechanistic studies to the sexual differentiation of the brain as well as for studying the neural circuits underlying reproduction, including behavior. They also apply neuroimaging techniques (functional and structural MRI) and postmortem analyses of patients with disorders of sexual differentiation (DSD) or suffering from gender dysphoria (GD) to translate and validate findings obtained in animal models.

The Cornil Lab uses a variety of animal models (from fish to rodents) to identify the mechanisms involved in the sexual differentiation and the activation of the brain and behavior with a special interest in the metabolism of sex steroids in the brain, the relative contribution of nuclear- vs membrane-initiated actions of sex steroids and their role neural plasticity both during ontogeny and adulthood.

The Parent Lab uses rodent models in order to decipher the hypothalamic control of puberty. They study the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on neurogenesis in the hippocampus and on the hypothalamic control of puberty in rodent models. They also aim at identifying early placental epigenetic markers of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in humans and rodents.