Raymond J. Rodgers, Ph.D.

The role of extracellular matrix in reproductive tissues is rapidly gaining interest. In this issue, Dr. Ray Rodgers was recruited to put together the first comprehensive review on the role of extracellular matrix in the ovary. I first met Ray during his 2-year postdoctoral fellowship in Dallas in the mid-1980s. We had several discussions about the ovary and this has led to continued collaboration between Dallas and Adelaide.

Ray completed his degrees at the University of Melbourne in Australia, graduating with a B.Agr.Sci. (1976), M.Agr.Sci. (1979), and Ph.D. in 1984, and 4 has years of teaching experience in veterinary physiology. During his Ph.D. candidature he trained with an eminent electron microscopist, Jeremy O'Shea, examining corpus luteum function, and identified the roles of the specific luteal cells types. In 1984, Ray began a postdoctoral fellowship with Evan Simpson and Mike Waterman at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. This was his introduction to the world of molecular biology-studying the regulation of steroidogenic enzymes in the ovary. On returning to Melbourne in 1986, he worked on the inhibin/activin area before moving to Adelaide in 1990, first to a Department of Medicine at Flinders University, and currently he is in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Adelaide. He has been supported continuously by research fellowships from the Australian Government and is currently a Principal Research Fellow with the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. His area of research has focused on the cellular biology of ovarian follicles and corpora lutea, and for the last 10 or so years, his group has been studying extracellular matrix in ovaries. He has authored more than 250 research articles and conference abstracts. He is a receiving editor of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology and member of the editorial board of Reproduction. He was the past president of the Endocrine Society of Australia, including the time it hosted the International Congress of Endocrinology in 2000. He is a past and present member of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia research panels.