# Trajectory of ovarian morphology during the adolescent reproductive transition.

> **NIH NIH R21** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $193,130

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY. Perturbations in reproductive maturation during female adolescence may have lasting
consequences on future health and disease. Establishment of regular menstrual cycles is a key component of
reproductive maturation and a recognized vital sign for health and well-being. Menstrual cyclicity can be
unpredictable in the early gynecological years. Therefore, diagnosis and intervention of reproductive
disturbances are commonly delayed for several years post-menarche. Limited data on the adolescent
reproductive transition has hampered the ability to identify early markers that might predict underlying
reproductive disorders. Ovarian morphology may represent a viable and convenient biomarker given its known
ability to inform the diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of reproductive disorders in women in a relatively non-
invasive manner. The improved image quality and analysis tools afforded by new transabdominal ultrasound
(TAUS) technology may now enable the reliable and comprehensive characterization of ovarian characteristics
across adolescence. A demonstration of distinct trajectories in ovarian morphology during the transition to
regular menses versus sustained cycle irregularity may serve as a basis for identifying girls at risk for future
reproductive disorders and its associated comorbidities. This project aims to establish the feasibility of a
prospective longitudinal TAUS assessment of ovarian morphology in adolescents during the first 2 years post-
menarche. Our approach involves the use of both two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) TAUS to contrast the
trajectory of ovarian morphology in adolescents with regular and irregular menstrual cycles for 1 year. The
main hypotheses to be tested are that ovarian morphology changes in association with the establishment of
regular menstrual cycles and that there are distinct aspects of ovarian morphology that predict the likelihood of
regular menses compared to persistent cycle irregularity. This proposal is consistent with prioritized areas of
research outlined by the Fertility and Infertility Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD) as it strives to develop innovative tools to non-invasively evaluate normal and abnormal
morphologic characteristics of the adolescent reproductive transition. The findings of this research will
immediately refine the utility of ultrasound in the clinical evaluation of ovarian morphology by identifying
aspects of ovarian morphology that can be reliably assessed in adolescents using either 2D or 3D TAUS.
Further, this project will serve as the basis for a larger longitudinal cohort study aimed at fully characterizing
the progression of ovarian morphology during normal and abnormal reproductive development which is critical
for identifying early sonographic biomarkers for future reproductive disturbance and disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9886257
- **Project number:** 5R21HD095372-02
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Marla E Lujan
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $193,130
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-05 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9886257

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9886257, Trajectory of ovarian morphology during the adolescent reproductive transition. (5R21HD095372-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9886257. Licensed CC0.

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