Research Interests:
Dr. Gracia's research addresses important clinical issues in the domain of reproductive aging and is providing new clinical information. She is participating in an ongoing, population-based cohort study of late reproductive-age women, has published several papers from this cohort in quality, peer-reviewed journals, and contributed an invited book chapter on perimenopausal issues. Dr. Gracia's research has examined the relationship between hormonal changes and libido, compared current menopausal classification systems, and explored the relationship between reproductive hormones, obesity and race during the menopausal transition, and examined the role of Inhibin B in the rise of menopausal symptoms. This work has also been presented at several national meetings. Her most recent presentation entitled “The relationship between Inhibin B, race and obesity during the menopausal transition” was selected as a prize candidate paper at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Given Dr. Gracia’s interest in ovarian aging and infertility she has developed a research program in ovarian failure caused by cancer treatments. She is is conducting several studies investigating fertility in cancer survivors in collaboration with the oncology division at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Abramson Cancer Center. Dr. Gracia is also developing a program for crypreserving ovarian tissue prior to cancer therapy. She has been awarded funding for these studies.

In addition, Dr. Gracia has recently contributed to a submitted manuscript entitled “Association of anti-mullerian hormone levels with obesity in late reproductive-age women”. DShe has won recognition for her research from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which has awarded her two grants to further develop these studies. Additionally, she helped secure funding to perform a randomized trial of ovulation induction in women with decreased ovarian reserve, a study that combines her research and clinical skills.

Recent Representative Publications:
Gracia CR, Sammel MD, Freeman E, Liu L, Hollander L, Nelson DB. Predictors of decreased libido in women during the late reproductive years. Menopause. 2004;11:144-50.

Kovalevsky G, Gracia CR, Berlin J, Sammel MD, Barnhart KT. Evaluation of the association between hereditary thrombophilias and recurrent pregnancy loss: a meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 2004 Mar 8;164(5):558-63.

Freeman EW, Sammel MD, Liu L, Gracia CR, Nelson CB, Hollander L. Hormones and menopausal status as predictors of depression in women in the transition to menopause. Archives of General Psychiatry 2004;61:62-70.

Nelson DB, Sammel MD, Freeman EW, Liu L, Langan E, Gracia CR. Predicting participation in prospective cohort studies. Menopause. 2004 Sep-Oct;11(5):543-8.

Freeman EW, Sammel MD, Gracia CR, Kapoor S, Lin H, Liu L, Nelson DB. Follicular phase hormone levels and menstrual bleeding status in the approach to menopause. Fertil Steril. 2005 Feb;83(2):383-92.

Gracia CR, Sammel MD, Freeman EW, Lin H, Langan E, Kapoor S. Defining Menopausal Status: creation of a new definition to identify the early changes of the menopausal transition. Menopause. 2005;12(2):128-135.

Nelson DB, Sammel MD, Freeman EW, Gracia CR, Liu L, Langan E. Tubal ligation does not affect hormonal changes during the early menopausal transition. Contraception. 2005 Feb;71(2):104-10.

Freeman EW, Sammel MD, Lin H, Gracia CR, Kapoor S, Ferdousi T. The role of anxiety and hormonal changes in menopausal hot flashes. Menopause. 2005 May/June;12(3):258-266.

Gracia CR, Freeman EW, Sammel MD, Hui L, Nelson DB. The relationship between obesity and race on inhibin b during the menopausal transition. Menopause. 2005 September/October;12(5):559-566.

Gracia CR, Sammel MD, Coutifaris C, Guzick DS, Barnhart KT. Environmental exposures and male infertility. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2005 Oct 15;162(8):729-33.

Gracia CR, Sammel MD, Chittams J, Hummel AC, Shaunik A, Barnhart KT. Risk factors for spontaneous abortion in early symptomatic first-trimester pregnancies. Obstet Gynecol. 2005 Nov;106(5):993-9.

Gracia, C. R., Freeman, E. W., Sammel, M. D., Lin, H., and Mogul, M. . Hormones and sexuality during transition to menopause. Obstet Gynecol. 2007 109, 831-40.

Freeman, E. W., Gracia, C. R., Sammel, M. D., Lin, H., Lim, L. C., and Strauss, J. F., 3rd.. Association of anti-mullerian hormone levels with obesity in late reproductive-age women. Fertil Steril. 2007 87, 101-6.