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Thomas E. Spencer (b. 1968) earned his B.S. and M.S. in Animal Science at Auburn University and Ph.D. in Reproductive Biology from Texas A&M University. He was a NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in Cell and Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine from 1995 to 1997. He was a Research Assistant Professor in the Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences and Technology from 1997 to 2001. He is currently an Associate Professor of Reproductive Biology and Physiological Genomics in Animal Science and Associate Director of the Center for Animal Biotechnology and Genomics.

Dr. Spencer has earned several honors including: NIH National Research Service Award (1996); SSR New Investigator Award (2004); Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award (2005); Texas A&M University Agriculture Program Vice Chancellor's Award in Excellence for Research (2005); Texas A&M University Agriculture Program Vice Chancellor's Award in Excellence for Team Research (2005); and elected as Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Reproductive Tract Biology for 2008.

He currently serves as an Associate Editor for Biology of Reproduction and a member of the Editorial Boards for the American Journal of Reproductive Immunology and Reproduction. 

Research Areas -- Reproductive and developmental biology

Major research areas are on the hormonal, cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating development and function of the uterus.  Model organisms include sheep, mice and pigs.  

Representative Publications

     Gray CA, Burghardt RC, Johnson GA, Bazer FW, Spencer TE. Evidence that an absence of endometrial gland secretions in uterine gland knockout (UGKO) ewes compromises conceptus survival and elongation. Reproduction 2002; 124:289-300.

     Carpenter KD, Gray CA, Noel S, Bazer FW, Gertler A, Spencer TE. Prolactin regulation of neonatal ovine uterine gland morphogenesis. Endocrinology 2003; 144:110-120.

     Gray CA, Adelson DL, Bazer FW, Burghardt RC, Meeusen EN, Spencer TE.  Discovery and characterization of an epithelial-specific galectin in the endometrium that forms crystals in trophectoderm.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004; 101:7982-7987.

     Hu J, Spencer TE.  Carbonic anhydrases regulate endometrial gland development in the neonatal uterus.  Biol Reprod 2005; 73:131-138.

     Dunlap KA, Palmarini M, Varela M, Burghardt RC, Hayashi K, Farmer JL, Spencer TE. Endogenous retroviruses regulate peri-implantation placental growth and differentiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2006; 103:14390-14395.

     Hayashi K, Spencer TE. WNT pathways in the neonatal ovine uterus: potential specification of endometrial gland morphogenesis by SFRP2. Biol Reprod 2006; 74:721-733.

     Satterfield MC, Bazer FW, Spencer TE. Progesterone regulation of pre-implantation conceptus growth and galectin 15 (LGALS15) in the ovine uterus. Biol Reprod 2006; 75:289-296.

     Hayashi K, Burghardt RC, Bazer FW, Spencer TE. WNTs in the ovine uterus: potential regulation of peri-implantation conceptus development. Endocrinology 2007; 148:3496-3506.