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​Our Grantees

Two scientists in protective gear and yellow gloves observe test tubes with colored liquids in a laboratory setting, focusing closely on their experiments.
Two older men stand side by side in an office. Both wear glasses and short-sleeved shirts; one in blue, the other in plaid. Shelves of books and a framed portrait are visible in the background.
​Lonny Levin, PHD and Jochen Buck, MD, PHD Professors

$650,000 / Awarded 2023

$290,875 / 2 years

Awarded 2022

Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, NY

About

Drs. Lonny Levin and Jochen Buck are professors at Weill Cornell Medicine and are working on inhibitors of soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) as on-demand male contraceptives. Their deep expertise in sAC keeps them attuned to the effects of inhibitors on sperm functions such as motility.

Our Grant

MCI is supporting work that develops novel inhibitors of sAC as on-demand male contraceptives as well as translational research that assesses the pharmacodynamics of inhibitors on human sperm. These steps are crucial to understanding how the drug stays associated to sperm after ejaculation and its potential contraceptive efficacy.

Two older men stand side by side in an office. Both wear glasses and short-sleeved shirts; one in blue, the other in plaid. Shelves of books and a framed portrait are visible in the background.
​Lonny Levin, PHD and Jochen Buck, MD, PHD Professors

$650,000 / Awarded 2023

$290,875 / 2 years

Awarded 2022

Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, NY

About

Drs. Lonny Levin and Jochen Buck are professors at Weill Cornell Medicine and are working on inhibitors of soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) as on-demand male contraceptives. Their deep expertise in sAC keeps them attuned to the effects of inhibitors on sperm functions such as motility.

Our Grant

MCI is supporting work that develops novel inhibitors of sAC as on-demand male contraceptives as well as translational research that assesses the pharmacodynamics of inhibitors on human sperm. These steps are crucial to understanding how the drug stays associated to sperm after ejaculation and its potential contraceptive efficacy.

Levin-Buck Lab: Revolutionizing Male Contraception with On-Demand sAC Inhibitors
New Non-hormonal Contraceptive Targets

Publications

Sanchez NDRR, Ritagliati C, Kopf GS, Kretschmer S, Buck J, Levin LR. The uniqueness of on-demand male contraception. Mol Aspects Med. 2024 Jun;97:101281. doi: 10.1016/j.mam.2024.101281. Epub 2024 May 27. PMID: 38805792; PMCID: PMC11167369.

On-demand male contraception via acute inhibition of soluble adenylyl cyclase.  Balbach, M., Rossetti, T., Ferreira, J. et al. On-demand male contraception via acute inhibition of soluble adenylyl cyclase. Nat Commun 14, 637 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36119-6

Balbach M, Fushimi M, Huggins DJ, Steegborn C, Meinke PT, Levin LR, Buck J. 2020. Optimization of lead compounds into on-demand, nonhormonal contraceptives: leveraging a public-private drug discovery institute collaboration†.. Biol Reprod. 103(2):176-182.

Balbach M, Ghanem L, Rossetti T, Kaur N, Ritagliati C, Ferreira J, Krapf D, Puga Molina LC, Santi CM, Hansen JN, Wachten D, Fushimi M, Meinke PT, Buck J, Levin LR. Soluble adenylyl cyclase inhibition prevents human sperm functions essential for fertilization. Mol Hum Reprod. 2021 Sep 1;27(9):gaab054. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gaab054. PMID: 34463764; PMCID: PMC8473925.

Fushimi M, Buck H, Balbach M, Gorovyy A, Ferreira J, Rossetti T, Kaur N, Levin LR, Buck J, Quast J, van den Heuvel J, Steegborn C, Finkin-Groner E, Kargman S, Michino M, Foley MA, Miller M, Liverton NJ, Huggins DJ, Meinke PT. Discovery of TDI-10229: A Potent and Orally Bioavailable Inhibitor of Soluble Adenylyl Cyclase (sAC, ADCY10). ACS Med Chem Lett. 2021 Jul 14;12(8):1283-1287. doi: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00273. PMID: 34413957; PMCID: PMC8366019.

Lonny Levin & Jochen Buck In the News

Meet MCI's Grantees & Fellows!

Our grantees and fellows represent some of the finest minds in the male contraception research community from around the world.

At Male Contraceptive Initiative, we prioritize funding research that aligns with our mission of driving male contraception closer to clinical trials. We strategically allocate our resources to support a diverse range of projects, focusing on non-hormonal and reversible methods that have the potential to meet the needs of a broader population. Our goal is to catalyze progress in this field and bring innovative male birth control options to market.

Discover the innovative research being conducted by our grantees and fellows by clicking on the buttons below:

MCI'S GRANTEES
MCI'S FELLOWS

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