Juan Ferreira, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Celia Santi, MD, PhD, has been awarded a Male Contraceptive Initiative (MCI) Fellowship Grant for his project, “High-Throughput Assay to Screen for Candidate Contraceptives Targeting Sperm Function.” Dr. Ferreira began his two-year MCI Fellowship in September 2025.
The research conducted through Dr. Ferreira’s MCI-funded project builds on his previous Lalor Foundation fellowships and his work developing a novel assay to evaluate sperm fertilization capacity in infertile patients. This assay, called WHICH-A.R.T., is a patented, native-cell platform that leverages key physiological changes in sperm that occur during maturation before the cells can fertilize the oocyte (e.g., membrane potential and intracellular Ca²⁺). WHICH-A.R.T. is designed to help fertility specialists triage between conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) by detecting sperm fertilization capacity at the molecular level.
Now, with support from the MCI fellowship, Dr. Ferreira will translate the molecular mechanisms underpinning WHICH-A.R.T.—including sperm membrane-potential hyperpolarization and intracellular Ca²⁺ dynamics—into high-throughput screening assays to identify non-hormonal male contraceptive candidates that disrupt sperm function and fertilization. Dr. Ferreira’s reproductive sciences research aims to help infertile patients by reducing unnecessary procedures and the economic, emotional, and time-consuming burdens associated with repetitive unsuccessful treatments.
“Through the MCI award, I look forward to further optimizing our assay and expanding not only my research and scientific findings, but also providing the field with a much-needed, reliable high-throughput screening platform to identify candidate drugs for non-hormonal male contraception,” states Dr. Ferreira. “It’s also an incredible opportunity to strengthen the foundation of my career as I work toward becoming an independent investigator.”