Rona S. Carroll Ph.D.
Co-Director , Black Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Carroll completed her Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Baum at Massachusetts Institute of Technology her research focused on sex differences in the regulation of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion from the pituitary gland in the ferret. The ferret was a very interesting species to study because the female is a reflex ovulator; i.e. she ovulates only in response to mating. She found that the ferret has a sexually dimorphic LH response, which probably reflects a sex difference in the processing of somatosensory inputs from the genetalia, and a resultant difference in the neural control of GnRH release. Thus, in the ferret, as in all spontaneously ovulating species (excluding primates) studied to date, the neuroendocrine mechanism controlling the production of an ovulatory surge in LH secretion is sexually differentiated.

During her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. William Chin at Harvard Medical School her research focused again on the regulation of the biosynthesis and secretion of the gonadotropins LH and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) by three gonadal peptides, inhibin, activin and follistatin.

After the completion of her Ph.D. she became the associate director of the Neurosurgical Oncology Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Peter Black. In addition, for the past three years has served as the administrator for the Brigham and Women's Hospital Brain Tumor Bank. The laboratory provides a unique environment for basic science researchers, medical students, international research fellows and neurosurgeons to take a multidisciplinary approach to understanding basic biology, and to developing new therapies to treat brain tumors. The current research focuses on the two types of tumors: gliomas and meningiomas. The studies performed seek to address a broad range of issues including basic questions of tumor behavior and biology, development of targeted treatments for specific types of tumors, and understanding how overall patient health or environmental exposures may contribute to brain tumor growth. By examining all of these questions in parallel, using a wide variety of experimental methods we hope to get a more comprehensive understanding of how brain tumors are initiated and how to control their growth. It is our belief that ultimately, by taking such a broad approach, we will find the necessary clues that are critical to designing better treatments for brain tumors.

Graduate Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.A., 1985
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D., 1987

Postdoctoral Training
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Medicine, 1987-1991

Research Interests
Dr. Carroll's research interests include experimental therapies of brain tumors (including local delivery), and molecular genetics of brain tumors.


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