$150,000 / 2 years
Awarded October 2018
Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University
Parkville, Victoria, Australia
About
Dr. Sab Ventura is a Senior Lecturer at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Parkville, Australia, in Melbourne.
$150,000 / 2 years
Awarded October 2018
Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University
Parkville, Victoria, Australia
About
Dr. Sab Ventura is a Senior Lecturer at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Parkville, Australia, in Melbourne.
Our Grant
Sab’s research group focuses on the three interrelated receptor proteins that are the predominant mediators of smooth muscle contractility in male genitourinary tissues. Through an MCI Seed Grant, they are working on developing inhibitors of a target that causes the vas deferens to contract. By preventing this contraction, sperm are unable to move from their normal storage site in the cauda epididymis through the genitourinary tissue to the base of the urethra, where they are normally ejaculated from the body.
This novel approach to contraception leaves sperm development and sexual health unimpacted, and the nature of the target indicates that the male contraceptive can be potentially orally administered and would be readily reversible.
Blog Posts
A Conversation with MCI Grantee Dr. Sab Ventura
Media
Sab Ventura on the Australian Broadcasting Corp, Jun 2020
MCI Grantee Sab Ventura on The Byron Cooke Show, Nov 2020
Eise NT, Simpson JS, Thompson PE, Ventura S. Aqueous extracts of Urtica dioica (stinging nettle) leaf contain a P2-purinoceptor antagonist-Implications for male fertility. PLoS One. 2022 Jul 28;17(7):e0271735. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271735. PMID: 35900970; PMCID: PMC9333203.
Mitch Mathiew, Belinda Dennis, Felix Bennetts, Eunice Su, Nghi Nguyen, Antony Botteon, Jonathan Baell, and Sabatino Ventura. “Synthesis of 2-phenyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinoxaline derivatives and screening for P2X1-purinoreceptor antagonist activity in isolated preparations of rat vas deferens, for translation into a male contraceptive.” Biology of Reproduction (July 10, 2020): ioaa117. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioaa117
White, Carl W., Yan-Ting Choong, Jennifer L. Short, Betty Exintaris, Daniel T. Malone, Andrew M. Allen, Richard J. Evans, and Sabatino Ventura. “Male Contraception via Simultaneous Knockout of α1A-Adrenoceptors and P2X1-Purinoceptors in Mice.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110, no. 51 (December 17, 2013): 20825–30. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318624110.