Franklin Hamra, PhD

Assistant Professor
Pharmacology
Graduate Program: Cell Regulation
Genetics and Development

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

Office Phone: 214-645-6279
Office Fax: 214-645-6131

kent.hamra@utsouthwestern.edu

Education

Graduate SchoolUniversity of Missouri-Saint Louis, Pharmacology (1995)
UndergraduateSouthern Illinois University-Carbondale, Zoology (1989)

Research Interests

Advancing Genetics in the Laboratory Rat
Genetic Basis of Spermatogenesis
Mechanisms of Spermatogonial Development
Mutagenesis in the Rat using Sperm Stem Cells
Targeting Spermatozoan Development for Fertility Management

Publications

Featured
Production of transgenic rats by lentiviral transduction of male germ-line stem cells.

Hamra, F.K., Gatlin, J., Chapman, K.M., Grellhesl, D.M., Garcia, J.V., Hammer, R.E. and Garbers, D.L. , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA , November 2002; (99(23)):14931-14936

Featured
Uroguanylin: structure and activity of a second endogenous peptide that stimulates intestinal guanylate cyclase.

Hamra, F.K., Forte, L.R., Eber, S.L., Pidhorodeckyj, N.V., Krause, W.J., Freeman, R.H., Chin, D.T., Tompkins, J.A., Fok, K.F., Smith, C.E. and Currie, M.G. , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA , November 1993; (90(22)):10464-10468

Featured
Self renewal, expansion, and transfection of rat spermatogonial stem cells in culture.

Hamra, F.K., Chapman, K.M., Nguyen, D.M., Williams-Stephens, A.A., Hammer, R.E. and Garbers, D.L. , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA , 2005; (102):17430-17435

Featured
Defining the spermatogonial stem cell.

Hamra, F.K., Schultz, N., Chapman, K.M., Grellhesl, D.M., Cronkhite, J.T., Hammer, R.E. and Garbers, D.L. , Dev. Biol. , 2004; (269(2)):393-410

Featured
A multitude of genes expressed solely in meiotic or post-meiotic spermatogenic cells offer a myriad of contraceptive targets.

Schultz, N., Hamra, F.K. and Garbers, D.L. , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA , 2003; (100):12201-12206

Sohlh2 Deficient Mice are Male Sterile Due to Degeneration of Differentiating Type-A Spermatogonia.

Hao J., Yamamoto M., Chapman K.M., Richardson T.E., Denard B.S., Hammer R.E., Zhao G.Q. and Hamra F.K. , Stem Cells , June 2008; (26(6)):1587-97

Sterile Testis Complementation with Spermatogonial Lines Restores Fertility to DAZL-Deficient Rats and Maximizes Donor Germline Transmission.

Richardson T.E., Chapman K.M., Dann C.T., Hammer R.E. and Hamra F.K. , PLoS ONE , July 2009; (4(7)):e6308

Identification of Neuregulin as a factor required for formation of aligned spermatogonia.

Hamra, F.K., Chapman, K.M., Nguyen, D.M. and Garbers, D.L. , J. Biol. Chem. , January 2007; (282):721-730

Generating Knockout Rats by Transposon Mutagenesis in Spermatogonial Stem Cells.

Izsvak Z, Frohlich J, Grabundzija I, Shirley JR, Powell HM, Chapman KM, Ivics Z, Hamra FK , Nature Methods , 2010; ([In Press])

Isolating highly pure rat spermatogonial stem cells in culture.

Hamra, F.K., Chapman, K.M., Wu, Z. and Garbers, D.L. , Methods in Molecular Biology , 2008; (450):163-178

Honors/Awards

Superior Graduate Student Award

Department of Pharmacology, University of Missouri, Columbia (1995)

Research Award, Biosynthetic Chemistry Group

Monsanto Company, St. Louis, MO (1990)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

2008- Present: Society for the Study of Reproduction