Division of Reproductive Sciences

MISSION: Engage in innovative research that leads to impactful discoveries in all aspects of human reproduction, while fostering a team-centric mentoring environment.

VISION: Be a leading research hub that accelerates knowledge to improve human reproductive health.

The Reproductive Sciences Division is led by Danny J. Schust, MD, Edwin Crowell Hamblen Distinguished Professor of Reproductive Biology and Family Planning and vice chair for research in the Department Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment. Dr. Schust was appointed interim division chief in July of 2026.

Dr. Schust is a physician scientist who is internationally recognized for his contributions to the study of human reproductive immunology, reproductive infectious diseases, reproductive exposures and disorders of abnormal placentation, such as early pregnancy loss and preeclampsia.

Dr. Schust has maintained federal support for his research for several decades and has trained over 40 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, residents and clinical fellows in his lab. He has a passion for fostering the development of clinician and non-clinician scientists and has served as an MD/PhD Program Director, an OB/Gyn residency director and is presently the director of the Duke Fellowship Program in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.

Among many other accomplishments, he also serves as program director of the Reproductive Scientist Development Program, a 40 year old, NIH-funded, K12 training program for physicians who are planning careers as physician-scientists studying women’s health. Other Ob/Gyn faculty with primary appointments in the Division of Reproductive Sciences include Liping Feng MD; Friederike Jayes, DVM, PhD; and Margeaux Marbrey, PhD.