Massachusetts General Hospital

Biography

Dr. Cigdem ("Cori") Tanrikut completed a Fellowship in Male Reproductive Medicine and Microsurgery at the Cornell Institute for Reproductive Medicine. She is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Urology and Reproductive Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Tanrikut received her medical degree from the Georgetown University School of Medicine. She completed her Urology residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School before moving to New York to pursue fellowship training in male infertility. She returned to Massachusetts General Hospital to join the Department of Urology faculty and works closely with the team of physicians and nurses of the MGH Fertility Center.

Research

Dr. Tanrikut's research interests include varicocele effects on male hormone production and the impact of drugs and environmental exposures on sperm production. While at Cornell, she published several research articles with Drs. Marc Goldstein and Peter Schlegel and has produced numerous scholarly videos in conjunction with Dr. Philip Li. In her role as a post-graduate research fellow at the Population Council, Center for Biomedical Research in New York, she also collaborated closely with Dr. Matthew Hardy on basic science laboratory projects assessing Leydig cell function. Current projects include laboratory efforts to develop novel sperm freezing strategies and clinical studies to explore the relationship between obesity and male fertility.

Publications

View my most recent publications at PubMed

Selected articles:

Tanrikut C, Feldman AS, et al. Adverse effect of paroxetine on sperm. Fertil Steril 2010; 94:1021.

Tanrikut C, Goldstein M. Varicocele: size does matter. J Urol 2006; 176:1912.

Goldstein M, Tanrikut C. Microsurgical management of male infertility. Nat Clin Pract Urol 2006; 3:3

Depression Medications May Reduce Male Fertility

As many as half of all men taking the antidepressant medication paroxetine (trade names Seroxat, Paxil) may have increased sperm DNA fragmentation — a predictor of compromised fertility. The study also found that the changes are reversible with normal levels of sperm returning after discontinuation of the drug.