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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) affects 1 in 10 women, roughly five million nationwide, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to infertility, PCOS increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders—and there is no cure.

The name suggests it originates in the ovaries, but Aleisha Moore, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Kent State’s Brain Health Research Institute (BHRI), believes the origin will be found in the brain.

“It’s a multimodal disease, and there are many things that lead to it,” Moore said. “But what we’ve found is that changes in the brain are likely one of the major contributors.”

The National Institutes of Health certainly thinks Moore is onto something; the agency recently awarded her its most prestigious research training grant, a K99/R00 “Pathway to Independence Award”—a first for Kent State.

Read the full article in the 2019 Kent State Research Review Magazine at www.kent.edu/research/kent-state-research-review-2019/news/fertile-ground.