Blanche Capel is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology at Duke University, contributing significantly to Biology as a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1989. Beginning her career at Duke in 1993 as an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, she progressed to Associate Professor with Tenure in 2000, Professor in 2005, and was appointed James B. Duke Distinguished Professor in 2010. She holds additional affiliations as a Member of the Duke Cancer Institute since 1993 and Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center since 2021. Capel serves as President of the Society for the Study of Reproduction and oversees the Capel Lab, which has trained dozens of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students who have gone on to prominent positions in academia and industry.

Capel's research centers on the developmental biology of the gonads, with a focus on sex determination pathways in vertebrates. She investigates how the bipotential gonad primordium initiates testis development via the Y-linked Sry gene, the differentiation of Sertoli cells, and the biology of germ cells, including their communication with somatic cells during fetal and adult stages. Her studies extend to metabolic processes like glycogen and lactate metabolism in fetal Sertoli cells that support the germ line, as well as environmental influences such as temperature on germ cell number and sex determination in species like red-eared slider turtles. Recent findings include the role of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha in fetal testis differentiation and iron deficiency causing sex reversal in mice. Key publications encompass foundational papers such as "Expression of a candidate sex-determining gene during mouse testis differentiation" (Nature, 1990) and "Male-to-female sex reversal in mice lacking fibroblast growth factor 9" (Cell, 2001), alongside recent contributions like "Iron deficiency in pregnant mice causes XY embryos to develop with female characteristics" (Nature, 2025), "Glycogen and lactate metabolism in mouse fetal Sertoli cells sustain the germ line" (Cell Reports, 2026), and "KDM6B is a conserved activator at the top of the male sex determination pathway" (Development, 2025). Capel has maintained long-term NIH funding, notably "Opposing Pathways in Mammalian Sex Determination" since 1998. She mentors in prestigious programs including Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH, 2002-2027) and Training Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology (2001-2027).

Professional Email: blanche.capel@duke.edu