Curriculum Vitae
Ken P. Roberts, Ph.D.

Professional Positions
Education
Teaching
Professional Societies
Administrative
Academic Committees
Grant Support
Publications
Seminars and Presentations
Research Projects

PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS:

1993-present: Assistant Professor, Department of Urologic Surgery, University of Minnesota Medical School

1999-present: Director of the Program in Human Anatomy Education, University of Minnesota Medical School

1993-1999: Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroanatomy, University of Minnesota Medical School (Department dissolved in 1999)

1993-present: Director of Basic Research, Department of Urologic Surgery, University of Minnesota Medical School

1997-1998: Director, Genetics Testing Laboratory, Reproductive Health Associates, St. Paul, MN

1998-present: Director, Genetics Testing Laboratory, Reproductive Medicine Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

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EDUCATION:

1989-1993: Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Reproductive Biology, Dept of Population Dynamics, The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

1983-1989: Washington State University, Pullman, WA, Dept of Biochemistry, Ph.D. Biochemistry

1980-1983: Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA. B.S. Chemistry/Biology

1977-1979: Grays Harbor College, Aberdeen, WA. A.A.

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TEACHING:

1999-present: Course director of first year medical school Gross Anatomy, University of Minnesota Medical School.

1996-present: Member of Graduate Faculty in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics

1993-present: Director of Basic Science Seminar course for staff, residents and medical students in the Dept of Urologic Surgery, University of Minnesota Medical School.

1993-present: Instructor, Medical School Gross Anatomy (INMD 6150), University of Minnesota Medical School

1999-present: Instructor, Special Topics in Human Gross Anatomy (INMD 7600), University of Minnesota Medical School

1999-present: Instructor, Human Anatomy (INMD 3001), University of Minnesota Medical School

1998-present: Instructor, Biomedical Applications of Heat Transfer in Humans (Bioeng 5371), University of Minnesota (offered every other year)

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PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

The Society for the Study of Reproduction (1994-present)
American Society for Andrology (1994-present)
Member, Nominations Committee (2000)
Chair, Industrial Relations Committee (1995-1999)
Member, Student Affairs Committee (1997-1999)
Member, Program Committee for 1997 Annual Meeting
Head, CME Accreditation
Society for Basic Urologic Research (1994-present)
American Urological Association (1997-present)

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ADMINISTRATIVE:

1999-present: Director of the Program in Human Anatomy Education, University of Minnesota Medical School

1993-present: Director of Basic Research, Dept of Urologic Surgery, University of Minnesota Medical School

1993-present: Biosafety and radiation safety officer for research laboratories in Dept of Urologic Surgery

1997-1998: Director, Genetics Testing Laboratory, Reproductive Health Associates, St. Paul, MN

1998-present: Director, Genetics Testing Laboratory, Reproductive Medicine Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

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ACADEMIC COMMITTEES:

1999-present: Cirriculum Committee, University of Minnesota Medical School
1999-present: Scholastic Standing Committee, University of Minnesota Dental School
1999-present: Physiology Industrial Advisory Board, University of Minnesota

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GRANT SUPPORT:

Funded

1999-present: Principal Investigator, University of Minnesota Faculty Development Grant, Advances in gamete cryopreservation and assisted reproduction

1999-present: Principal Investigator, Environmental Protection Agency
Role of Sperm Protein SP22 in Male Fertility

1998-present: Co-Investigator, National Institutes of Health
Structure and function of epididymis and vas deferens

Pending

2000: Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health
Cryopreservation of Mouse Sperm

2000: Co-Investigator, National Science Foundation
Collaborative Research: Molecularly powered micromanipulator with force feedback

Past

1996-1998: Candela Laser Corp. Grant
1995-1996: Grant-in-Aid-of-Research Recipient
1994-1996: Minnesota Medical Foundation Grant
1991-1993: NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship
1990-1991: NIH Postdoctoral Training Grant Recipient
1989-1990: Mellon Foundation Fellowship Recipient

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PUBLICATIONS:

Michael D. Griswold, Ken Roberts and Paul Bishop. 1986 Purification and Characterization of a Sulfated Glycoprotein Secreted by Sertoli Cells. Biochemistry 25:7265-7270.

Suzanne Hugly, Ken Roberts and Michael D. Griswold. 1988 Transferrin and Sulfated Glycoprotein-2 Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Levels in the Testis and Isolated Sertoli Cells of Hypophysectomized Rats. Endocrinology 122:1390-1396

Ken Roberts and Michael D. Griswold. 1989 Testosterone Induction of Cellular Proteins in Cultured Sertoli Cells from Hypophysectomized Rats and Rats of Different Ages. Endocrinology 125:1174-1179

Michael D. Griswold, Alice F. Karl, G. Lynn Law, Kenneth P. Roberts, Jon E. Siiteri, Barbara J. Stallard, James Tsuruta and Steven R. Sylvester. 1989 Sertoli Cell Secreted Proteins in Normal and Synchronized Testes. Development and Function of the Reproductive Organs. Serono Symposia Review No. 21, pp207-218

Kenneth P. Roberts and Michael D. Griswold. 1990 Ethylene Dimethanesulphonate Inhibits the Function of Sertoli Cells in Culture at Sub-Lethal Doses. Endocrinology 126:1618-1622

Kenneth P. Roberts and Michael D. Griswold. 1990 Characterization of Rat Transferrin Receptor cDNA: The Regulation of Transferrin Receptor mRNA in the Testis and in Sertoli Cells in Culture. Molecular Endocrinology 4:531-542

Kenneth P. Roberts, Caleb Awoniyi, Rosie Santulli and Barry Zirkin. 1991 Regulation of Sertoli Cell Transferrin and Sulfated Glycoprotein-2 Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Levels During the Restoration of Spermatogenesis in the Adult Hypophysectomized Rat. Endocrinology 129:3417 -3423

K.P. Roberts and B.R. Zirkin. 1991 Androgen Regulation of Spermatogenesis in the Rat. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 637:90-107

Carol C. Linder, Leslie L. Hechert, Ken P. Roberts, Kwan Hee Kim and Michael D. Griswold. 1991 Expression of Receptors During the Cycle of the Seminiferous Epithelium. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 637:313-322

Kenneth P. Roberts, Rosie Santulli, Jan Seiden and Barry Zirkin. 1992 The Effect of Testosterone Withdrawal and Subsequent Germ Cell Depletion on Transferrin and Sulfated Glycoprotein-2 mRNA Levels in the Adult Rat Testis. Biology of Reproduction 47:92-96

Kenneth P. Roberts and Barry R. Zirkin. 1993 Androgen Binding Protein Inhibition of Androgen-Dependent Transcription Explains the High Minimal Testosterone Concentration Required to Maintain Spermatogenesis in the Rat. Endocrine Journal 1:41-47

Kenneth P. Roberts. 1995 What are the Components of the Male Reproductive System? (Pryor JP, Trasler, JM, Robaire B, eds) Handbook of Andrology, Allen Press: Lawrence, pp 1-4

Kenneth P. Roberts, Partha P. Banerjee, John W. M. Tindall and Barry R. Zirkin. 1995 Immortalization and Characterization of a Sertoli Cell Line from the Adult Rat. Biology of Reproduction. 53:1446-1453

Walter Tribely, Ken Roberts and Michael D. Griswold. 1995 Androgen Regulation of Sertoli Cell Function. Proceedings of the Second International Androgen Workshop (S Bhasin, HL Gabelnick, JM Spieler, RS Swerdloff, C Wang, C Kelly eds.) pp 11-15

Kevin L. Billups, James A. Shirley, Michael A. Palladino, John W.M. Tindall and Kenneth P. Roberts 1995 Evidence for E-selectin Compliment Regulatory Domain mRNA Splice Varients in the Rat. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 126:580-587

John C. Bischof, David Smith, Parasuram V. Pazhayannur, J. Carlos Manivel, John C. Hulbert and Kenneth P. Roberts. 1997 Cryosurgery of Dunning AT-1 Rat Prostate Tumor: Thermal, Biophysical and Viability Response at the Cellular and Tissue Level. Cryobiology 34:42-69.

Richard J. Long, Kenneth P. Roberts, Michael J. Wilson, Cesar J. Ercole and Jon L. Pryor. 1997 Prostate Cancer: A Clincal and Basic Science Review. Journal of Andrology 18:15-20.

Jon L. Pryor, Marijo Kent-First, Ariege Muallem, Andrew Van Bergen, Wolfram E. Nolten, Lorraine Meisner and Kenneth P. Roberts 1997 Prospective analysis of Y chromosome microdeletions in 200 consecutive male infertility patients. New England Journal of Medicine 336:534-539.

Steven J. Skoog, Kenneth P. Roberts, Marc Goldstein and Jon L. Pryor. 1997 The adolescent varicocele: what's new with an old problem in young patients? Pediatrics 100:112-122.

William R. Kelce, Christy R. Lambright, L. Earl Gray, Jr. and Kenneth P. Roberts. 1997 Vinclozolin and p,p'-DDE Alter Androgen-Dependent Gene Expression: In Vivo Confirmation of an Androgen Receptor Mediated Mechanism. Journal of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 142:192-200.

Kenneth P. Roberts and Jon L. Pryor 1997 Anatomy and physiology of the male reproductive system. in Male Infertility and Sexual Dysfunction (Wayne J.G. Hellstrom, Ed.). pp 1-21.

Serena H. Chen, Vanna Zanagnolo, Sangchai Preutthipan, Kenneth P. Roberts, Sandra B. Goodman and Anunasalem M. Dharmarajan. 1997 The role of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in progesterone production and cell death in the rabbit corpus luteum. Endocrine 6:73-77.

Lori A. Pinke, David J. Swanlund, Kenneth P. Roberts, Hugh C. Hensley, James B. McCarthy, and Jon L. Pryor. 1997 Analysis of fibronectin on human sperm. Journal of Urology 158:936-941.

Kenneth P. Roberts, David Smith, Hakan Ozturk, Sayed A. Kazem, John C. Hulbert and John C. Bischof. 1997 Biochemical alterations and tissue viability in AT-1 prostate tumor tissue after in vitro cryodestruction. Cryo-Letters 18:241-20.

Kenneth P. Roberts, Marijo Kent-First, Jon L. Pryor. 1977 PCR detection of Y chromosome microdeletions in infertile men. Biotech Lab International 2:14-17.

Kenneth P. Roberts, Ramaswamy A. Iyer, Girija Prasad, Lee T. Liu, Robert E. Lind and Patrick E. Hanna 1998 Cyclic Hydroxamic Acid Inhibitors of Prostate Cancer Cell Growth: Selectivity and Structure Activity Relationships. The Prostate 34:92-99.

Kenneth P. Roberts. 1998 Y-chromosome deletions and male infertility: state of the art and clinical implications. Journal of Andrology 19:255-259.

Mary C. Mahony, David J. Swanlund, Michelle Billeter, Kenneth P. Roberts and Jon L. Pryor. 1998 Regional distribution of 5a-reductase type 1 and type 2 mRNA along the human epididymis. Fertility and Sterility 69:1116-1121.

Jon L. Pryor and Kenneth P. Roberts. 1998 Principles of sequence-tagged site selection in screening for Y deletions. Human Reproduction 13:1768

M. Kent-First, A. Muallem, J. Shultz, J. Pryor, K. Roberts, W. Nolton, L. Meisner, A. Chandley, G. Gouchy, L. Jorgensen, T. Havighurst and J. Grosch. 1999 Defining regions of the Y-chromosome responsible for male infertility and identification of a fourth AZF region (AZFd) by Y-chromosome microdeletion detection. Molecular Reproduction and Development 53:27-41.

Jon L Pryor and Kenneth P Roberts. 1999 Genetics of Male Infertility: Essentials for the Clinician. In; Impotence and Infertility, Atlas of Clinical Urology, Volume 1. Lue TF and Goldstein M, Eds. pp 15.1-15.17

Devireddy, R., Swanlund, D. J., Roberts, K. P. and Bischof, J. C., 1999, Sub-zero water permeability parameters of mouse spermatazoa in the presence of extracellular ice and cryoprotective agents. Biology of Reproduction, 61:764-775.

LuAnn M. Klemme, Kenneth P. Roberts, Laura B. Hoffman, Kathy M. Ensrud, Jon E. Siiteri and David W. Hamilton. 1999 Cloning and Characterization of the Rat Crisp-1 Gene. Gene, 240:279-88.

Devireddy, R., Swanlund, D. J., Roberts, K. P., Jon L. Pryor and Bischof, J. C., 2000, The effect of extracellular ice and cryoprotective agents on the water permeability of human sperm plasma membrane during freezing. Human Reproduction, 15:1125-1135.

Ober, C., Verp, M.S., Roberts, K.P. and Pryor, J.L., 2000 Genetics of Infertility and Pregnancy Loss. In; The Genetic Basis of Common Diseases, King, R.A., Rotter, J.I. and Motulsky, A.G., Eds. in press.

Kenneth P. Roberts, Laura B. Hoffman, Kathy M. Ensrud and David W. Hamilton. 2000 Expression of Crisp-1 mRNA Splice Variants in the Rat Epididymis, and Comparative Analysis of the Rat and Mouse Crisp-1 Gene Regulatory Regions. Journal of Andrology accepted

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SEMINARS & PRESENTATIONS

The effect of androgen binding protein on androgen-dependent transcription in P4 cells. Society for the Study of Reproduction Annual Meeting, 1992, Raleigh, NC

Androgen Regulation of Spermatogenesis. Invited seminar, 1993, The Population Council, Rockefeller University, New York, NY.

Spermatogenesis: Mitosis, meiosis and testicular maturation. Implications in the adolescent with a varicocele. The Society for Pediatric Urology 44th Annual Meeting, 1994, San Francisco, CA

Androgen Regulation of Spermatogenesis. Invited seminar, 1994, Dept. of Urology Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Endocrine control of spermatogenesis: basic science and clinical implications, 1995, Biomedical Engineering Center, University of Minnesota

Spermatogenesis: Basic Science and Clinical Implications. Minnesota Urological Society Annual Meeting, 1995, Rochester, MN

Study of Sertoli Cell Specific Gene Expression in a Transformed Cell Line. Mini-Symposia, Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, 1995; Davis, CA

Y Chromosome Microdeletions in Infertile Men. American Urologic Association Sponsored Meeting, 1997; Houston, TX

Y Chromosome Deletions, Male Infertility and ICSI. Andrology in the 90's, 1999, Stellenbosh, South Africa.

Cryopreservation and In Vitro Fertilization with Mouse Sperm. Concerned University Laboratory Animal Professionals, Invited seminar, 1999, University of Minnesota

Why the Y? CFAS Organon Symposium, Invited seminar, 1999, Univeristy of Toronto

Role of microdeletions of the Y chromosome in male infertility. CFAS Organon Symposium, Invited seminar, 1999, Univeristy of Toronto

Cryopreservation and in vitro fertilization with transgenic mouse sperm. World Congress of Cryobiology, 1999, Marseille, France

Cryopreservation of equine sperm: Determination of water transport properties. Cryobiology, 2000, Boston, MA

Genetics of Spermatozoa. American Society of Reproductive Medicine, 2000, San Diego, CA

Genetics of the Spermatozoon. American Society of Reproductive Medicine, 2000, San Diego, CA

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RESEARCH PROJECTS:

Role of epididymal sperm maturation protein Crisp-1 in sperm function. Sperm gain the ability to fertilize an egg as they transit the epididymis. During epididymal transit, sperm acquire proteins on their plasma membranes from the epididymal fluid, which is a secretory product of the epididymal epithelium. One such protein is the Crisp-1 gene product. The purpose of this work is to determine the role of Crisp-1 in sperm-egg fusion and in the acrosome reaction. Experiments are also designed to determine how the two isoforms of the Crisp-1 protein (Proteins D and E) become attached to the sperm plasma membrane. This work has implications for clinical conditions of sperm dysfunction leading to male infertility.

Human and mouse sperm cryopreservation. Cryopreservation of gametes is of critical importance in treating clinical infertility and for preserving genetic lines of important animal species. Cryopreservation of cells is dependent on several factors, two of the most important of which are the permeability of the plasma membrane to cells and the tolerance of the cells to cryoprotectants. The purpose of this project is to optimize sperm cryopreservation protocols by first determining the water permeability parameters of human and mouse sperm and optimizing cryoprotectant solutions for these cells.

Effects of heat shock proteins on cell survival during cryosurgery. Heat shock proteins protect cells against stress by stabilizing protein secondary structure. The purpose of these studies is to determine if induction of heat shock proteins induces a protective effect in cells that increases cell survival during cryopreservation. This work has application in preservation of adjacent tissues during cryosurgery and for understanding the mechanisms of survival in the surgical margin during cryosurgery.

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