Dr. Francesca Duncan

Dr. Duncan has spent her research career focusing on female reproductive health. She graduated from Haverford College with a BS in Biology and Biochemistry (2000) and earned her doctorate in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania (2006) under the mentorship of Dr. Carmen Williams. She then did her first postdoctoral fellowship (2006-2009) at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Richard Schultz followed by a five year span (2009-2014) in Dr. Teresa Woodruff’s laboratory at Northwestern where she transitioned from a post-doctoral fellow to an Assistant Research Professor. She then established an independent research program as an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology (2014-2016) before being recruited back to Northwestern in her current position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Executive Director of the Center for Reproductive Science. Research in the Duncan laboratory uses mammalian model systems (mouse, bovine, and human) to test the overarching hypothesis that deterioration of gamete-intrinsic cellular pathways together with changes in the ovarian microenvironment contribute to the reproductive age-associated decline in egg quantity and quality. The laboratory’s work is at the interface of reproductive aging and systemic aging; physiologic and iatrogenic reproductive aging; gamete, follicle, and ovarian biology; and reproductive science and medicine. Insights from this research will help design targeted interventions to ameliorate reproductive aging, laying the foundation to simultaneously improve women’s fertile-span and health-span across generations. Research in her lab is funded by NIH R01 and R21 awards. Dr. Duncan has >50 manuscripts in the peer-reviewed literature and has been featured in the press. Beyond the bench, Dr. Duncan enjoys teaching and is an active faculty member in the Frontiers in Reproduction program and Associate Director of the Northwestern Predoctoral Training Program in Reproductive Science, Medicine, and Technology. She is the recipient of several honors and awards, including a 2017 Fulbright fellowship and the 2019 Society for the Study of Reproduction Virendra B. Mahesh New Investigator award.