Dr. Martin is a faculty member of the Reproductive Endocrine Unit, an Assistant Professor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Co-Director of the Reproductive Endocrine Associates, the Unit's Group Practice.

She has active teaching and clinical roles in the Unit, and her main clinical interest is in the area of menopause and hormone replacement therapy. Dr. Martin has lectured extensively at MGH, Harvard Medical School, and at national meetings and postgraduate courses on this topic.

Dr. Martin has also directed our group practice, the Reproductive Endocrine Associates, for the past 13 years. In addition to menopause, her other areas of clinical interest include menstrual cycle disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome, and infertility. Her teaching role includes assuming responsibility for much of the clinical training in reproductive endocrinology of the first year endocrinology fellows, post-doctoral fellows who choose to do their subspecialty training in our Unit, and rotating medical house officers. The success and uniqueness of the Reproductive Endocrine Unit's practice was recently highlighted by an invitation by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism to publish it as a model of an academic/clinical investigative practice. Dr. Martin was the senior author of this publication in recognition of her importance in its function as well as its didactic and scholarly activities.

Despite Dr. Martin's busy clinical and teaching roles, she continues to make major contributions to clinical investigation within our Unit. She has published the only large study comparing efficacy and safety of two types of therapies (including pulsatile GnRH, a therapy pioneered in the REU) for inducing ovulation in women with infertility. More recently, Kathryn was the senior author on two important papers that defined the biochemical abnormalities and natural history of women with hypothalamic amenorrhea (lack of periods due to weight loss, eating disorders, or heavy exercise).

In addition to her activities in the REU, she now spends the majority of her time as Deputy Editor of Endocrinology and Diabetes for the program, UpToDate in Medicine, an official educational program of the Endocrine Society. In this role, she is responsible for updating the program on an ongoing basis. This involves continuous reviewing of endocrinology and general medical journals for important clinical trials, meta-analyses, or important advances in physiology, pathophysiology, and clinical genetics.

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Selected Publications:

• Meysing AU, Kanasaki H, Bedecarrats GY, Acierno JS Jr, Conn PM, Martin KA, Seminara SB, Hall JE, Crowley WF Jr, Kaiser UB. GNRHR mutations in a woman with idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism highlight the differential sensitivity of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone to gonadotropin-releasing hormone. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Jul;89(7):3189-98.   

• Joffe H, Hall JE, Gruber S, Sarmiento IA, Cohen LS, Yurgelun-Todd D, Martin KA.  Estrogen therapy selectively enhances prefrontal cognitive processes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with functional magnetic resonance imaging in perimenopausal and recently postmenopausal women. Menopause. 2006;13:411-22.   

• Welt CK, Falorni A, Taylor AE, Martin KA, Hall JE. Selective theca cell dysfunction in autoimmune oophoritis results in multifollicular development, decreased estradiol and elevated inhibin B levels. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005; 90:3069-3076.

• Turgeon JL, McDonnell DP, Martin KA, Wise PM. Hormone therapy: physiological complexity belies therapeutic simplicity. Science 2004; 304 (5675): 1269-73.

• Meysing AU, Kanasaki H, Bedecarrats GY, Acierno JS Jr, Conn PM, Martin KA, Seminara SB, Hall JE, Crowley WF Jr, Kaiser UB. GNRHR mutations in a woman with idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism highlight the differential sensitivity of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone to gonadotropin-releasing hormone. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Jul;89(7):3189-98.

• Martin KA. Hormone Replacement Therapy. In: Endocrinology Rounds. From the Endocrine Division, Massachusetts General Hospital. June 2003; Volume 2, Issue 6. Snell Medical Communication, Inc.

• Manson JE, Martin KA. Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy:
Navigating the maze to rational use. N Engl J Med 2001; 345:34.

• Perkins RB, Hall JE, Martin KA. Aetiology, previous menstrual function and
patterns of neuro-endocrine disturbance as prognostic indicators in
hypothalamic amenorrhoea. Human Reproduction 2001; 16:2198.

• BoAbbas Y, Martin KA, Liberman RF, Cramer DW, Barbieri RL. Serum and
follicular hormone levels during in vitro fertilization after short or long course GnRH. Fertil Steril. 2001 Apr; 75(4):694-9.

• Hall JE, Lavoie HB, Marsh EE, Martin KA. Decrease in GnRH pulse frequency with aging in postmenopausal women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2000;85:1794-1800.

• Seminara SB, Hall JE, Taylor AE, Crowley Jr WF, Martin KA. The
Reproductive Endocrine Associates of Massachusetts General Hospital:
fifteen years of integrated practice and investigation. J Clin Endocrinol
Metab. 84:1912-1918, 1999.

• Perkins RB, Hall JE, Martin KA. Neuroendocrine Abnormalities in
Hypothalamic Amenorrhea: Spectrum, Stability, and Response to
Neurotransmitter Modulation. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999; 84:1905-1911.

• Martin KA, Welt CK, Smith JA, Crowley WF Jr., Hall JE. Is GnRH Reduced at
the Midcycle Surge in the Human?: Evidence From a GnRH-Deficient Model.
Neuroendocrinology 1998; 67:363-369.