Thomas Garcia, PhD, HCLD (ABB)

Assistant Professor

(713) 798-3745

Email

thomas.garcia@bcm.edu

Positions

Assistant Professor: Department of Pathology & Immunology
Baylor College of Medicine

Assistant Professor: Scott Department of Urology
Baylor College of Medicine

Clinical Laboratory Director: Advanced Reproductive And Urologic Procedures Laboratory
Scott Department of Urology
Baylor College of Medicine

Clinical Laboratory Director: Special Procedures Laboratory
Scott Department of Urology
Baylor College of Medicine

Clinical Laboratory Director: Sperm Bank
Scott Department of Urology
Baylor College of Medicine

Education

BS from Florida State University: 08/2003 - Tallahassee, Florida, United States

PhD from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: 05/2009 - Urbana, Illinois, United States

Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: 08/2012 - Houston, Texas, United States

Certifications

High-complexity Clinical Laboratory Director (HCLD): American Board of Bioanalysis (ABB)

Professional Interests

Identifying new genetic causes of male infertility
Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying sperm development, maturation, and function
Investigating novel male reproductive tract-specific genes as contraceptive targets

Websites

GitHub

Bioinformatics & Genomics Tools: A suite of novel, open-source, command-line tools for advanced bioinformatics and genomic analysis. Developed by Dr. Garcia with support from the Male Contraceptive Initiative and Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD, these resources are designed to accelerate research into the genetic basis of reproduction and disease.

MRGDv2

Mammalian Reproductive Genetics Database (MRGDv2): A modernized data resource for exploring complex gene expression patterns in reproductive biology. Spearheaded by the Garcia lab and supported by the NICHD, this platform integrates legacy microarray data with nearly a thousand contemporary RNA-seq datasets, empowering researchers to identify novel targets for male contraception and study the genetics of fertility and disease.

Selected Publications

Kent K, Nozawa K, Parkes R, Dean L, Daniel F, Leng M, Jain A, Malovannaya A, Matzuk MM, and Garcia TX. " Large-scale CRISPR/Cas9 deletions within the WFDC gene cluster uncover gene functionality and critical roles in mammalian reproduction " Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2024 Dec 12; 121 (51)
Pubmed PMID: 39665756.
Sutton CM, Umezu K, Mashiko D, Ikawa M, Larina IV, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM. " Rescue of male infertility by human PRSS55 in transgenic mice establishes a contraceptive research model " Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 5; 15 (1) : 28657.
Pubmed PMID: 40764777.
Kent K, Nozawa K, Jain A, Malovannaya A, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM. " Ovochymase 2 is a key regulatory factor modulating proteolytic pathways and sperm maturation in the mammalian epididymis " Biol Reprod. 2025 Mar 28; (ioaf069)
Pubmed PMID: 40155198.
Garcia TX, Matzuk MM. " Novel Genes of the Male Reproductive System: Potential Roles in Male Reproduction and as Non-hormonal Male Contraceptive Targets " Mol Reprod Dev. 2024 Oct ; 91 (10)
Pubmed PMID: 39422082.
Parkes R and Garcia TX. " Bringing proteomics to bear on male fertility: key lessons " Expert Rev Proteomics. 2024 Apr ; 21 (4) : 181-203.
Pubmed PMID: 38536015.
Kent K, Nozawa K, Sutton C, Daniel F, Ikawa M, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM. " CUB domains are not required for OVCH2 function in sperm maturation in the mouse epididymis " Andrology. 2024 Mar ; 12 (3) : 682-697.
Pubmed PMID: 37551853.
Suzuki A, Yabuta N, Shimada K, Mashiko D, Tokuhiro K, Oyama Y, Miyata H, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM, Ikawa M. " Individual disruption of 12 testis-enriched genes via the CRISPR/Cas9 system does not affect the fertility of male mice " J Reprod Immunol. 2024 Jun ; 163
Pubmed PMID: 38697008.
Tan Z and Garcia TX. " SLO3 in the fast lane: The latest male contraceptive target with a promising small-molecule inhibitor " PNAS. 2023 Feb 15; 120 (8) : e2221758120.
Sutton C, Nozawa K, Kent K, Saltzman A, Leng M, Nagarajan S, Malovannaya A, Ikawa M, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM. " Molecular dissection and testing of PRSS37 function through LC-MS/MS and the generation of a PRSS37 humanized mouse model " Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 14; 13 (1) : 11374.
Pubmed PMID: 37452050.
Nozawa K, Garcia TX, Kent K, Leng M, Jain A, Malovannaya A, Yuan F, Yu Z, Ikawa M, Matzuk MM. " Testis-specific serine kinase 3 is required for sperm morphogenesis and male fertility " Andrology. 2023 Jul ; 11 (5) : 826-839.
Pubmed PMID: 36306217.
Nozawa K, Fujihara Y, Devlin DJ, Deras RE, Kent K, Larina IV, Umezu K, Yu Z, Sutton CM, Ye Q, Dean LK, Emori C, Ikawa M, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM. " The testis-specific E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF133 is required for fecundity in mice " BMC Biol. 2022 Jul 13; 20 (1) : 161.
Pubmed PMID: 35831855.
Oyama Y, Miyata H, Shimada K, Fujihara Y, Tokuhiro K, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM, Ikawa M. " CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing reveals 12 testis-enriched genes dispensable for male fertility in mice " Asian J Androl. 2021 Jul 16;
Pubmed PMID: 34290169.
Robertson MJ, Kent K, Tharp N, Nozawa K, Dean L, Mathew M, Grimm SL, Yu Z, Légaré C, Fujihara Y, Ikawa M, Sullivan R, Coarfa C, Matzuk MM, Garcia TX. " Large-scale discovery of male reproductive tract-specific genes through analysis of RNA-seq datasets " BMC Biol. 2020 Aug 19; 18 (1) : 103.
Pubmed PMID: 32814578.
Kent K, Johnston M, Strump N, and Garcia TX. " Toward Development of the Male Pill: A Decade of Potential Non-hormonal Contraceptive Targets " Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Feb 26;
Holcomb RJ, Oura S, Nozawa K, Kent K, Yu Z, Robertson MJ, Coarfa C, Matzuk MM, Ikawa M, Garcia TX. " The testis-specific serine proteases PRSS44, PRSS46, and PRSS54 are dispensable for male mouse fertility " Biol Reprod. 2020 Feb 12; 102 (1) : 84-91.
Pubmed PMID: 31403672.
Sun J, Lu Y, Nozawa K, Xu Z, Morohoshi A, Castaneda JM, Noda T, Miyata H, Abbasi F, Shawki HH, Takahashi S, Devlin DJ, Yu Z, Matzuk RM, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM, Ikawa M. " CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing in mice uncovers 13 testis- or epididymis-enriched genes individually dispensable for male reproduction " Biol Reprod. 2020 Aug 4; 103 (2) : 183-194.
Pubmed PMID: 32588039.
Park S, Shimada K, Fujihara Y, Xu Z, Shimada K, Larasati T, Pratiwi P, Matzuk RM, Devlin DJ, Yu Z, Garcia TX, Matzuk MM, Ikawa M. " CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome-edited mice reveal 10 testis-enriched genes are dispensable for male fecundity " Biol Reprod. 2020 Aug 4; 103 (2) : 195-204.
Pubmed PMID: 32561905.
Parekh PA, Garcia TX, Waheeb R, Jain V, Gandhi P, Meistrich ML, Shetty G, Hofmann MC. " Undifferentiated spermatogonia regulate Cyp26b1 expression through NOTCH signaling and drive germ cell differentiation " FASEB J. 2019 Apr 16; fj201802361R.
Pubmed PMID: 30991836.
Lu Y, Oura S, Matsumura T, Oji A, Sakurai N, Fujihara Y, Shimada K, Miyata H, Tobita T, Noda T, Castaneda JM, Kiyozumi D, Zhang Q, Larasati T, Young SAM, Kodani M, Robertson MJ, Coarfa C, Isotani A, Aitken RJ, Okabe M, Matzuk MM, Garcia TX, Ikawa M. " CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing reveals 30 testis-enriched genes dispensable for male fertility in mice " Biol Reprod. 2019 Aug 1; 101 (2) : 501-511.
Pubmed PMID: 31201419.
Parekh P, Garcia TX, Hofmann MC. " Regulation of GDNF expression in Sertoli cells " Reproduction. 2019 Jan 1; pii: REP-18-0239.R2.
Pubmed PMID: 30620720.
Garcia TX, Parekh P, Kow S, Hofmann MC. " The NOTCH ligand JAG1 regulates GDNF expression in Sertoli cells " Stem Cells Dev. 2017 Apr 15; 26 (8) : 585-598.
Pubmed PMID: 28051360.
Garcia TX, Farmaha JK, Kow S, Hofmann MC. " RBPJ in mouse Sertoli cells is required for proper regulation of the testis stem cell niche " Development. 2014 Dec ; 141 (23) : 4468-78.
Pubmed PMID: 25406395.
Garcia TX, Costa GMJ, França LR, Hofmann MC. " Sub-acute intravenous administration of silver nanoparticles in male mice alters Leydig cell function and testosterone levels " Reprod Toxicol. 2014 Jun ; 45 : 59-70.
Pubmed PMID: 24447867.
Garcia TX, Hofmann MC. " NOTCH signaling in Sertoli cells regulates gonocyte fate " Cell Cycle. 2013 Aug 15; 12 (16) : 2538-45.
Pubmed PMID: 23907117.
Garcia TX, DeFalco T, Capel B, Hofmann MC. " Constitutive activation of NOTCH1 signaling in Sertoli cells causes gonocyte exit from quiescence " Dev Biol. 2013 May 1; 377 (1) : 188-201.
Pubmed PMID: 23391689.
Garcia T, Hofmann MC. " Isolation of undifferentiated and early differentiating Type A spermatogonia from Pou5f1-GFP reporter mice " Methods Mol Biol. 2012 ; 825 : 31-44.
Pubmed PMID: 22144234.
Lin Z, Witschas K, Garcia T, Chen RS, Hansen JP, Sellers ZM, Kuzmenkina E, Herzig S, Best PM. " A critical GxxxA motif in the gamma6 calcium channel subunit mediates its inhibitory effect on Cav3.1 calcium current " J Physiol. 2008 Nov 15; 586 (22) : 5349-66.
Pubmed PMID: 18818244.

Memberships

Society for the Study of Reproduction: Member

American Society for Human Genetics: Member

American Urological Association: Member

American Association of Bioanalysts: Member

Funding

Search for new genes involved in male infertility through novel approaches #R01 HD106056: (02/22/2022 - 11/30/2026); Grant funding from National Institutes of Health

Third-generation sequencing of infertile men to confirm male contraceptive target feasibility: (02/01/2022 - 01/31/2024); Grant funding from Male Contraceptive Initiative

Mammalian Reproductive Genetics Database V2: (05/01/2021 - 04/30/2022); Grant funding from Male Contraceptive Initiative

Functional genomics and proteomics to reveal reproductive-tract specific proteins #R01 HD095341: (04/01/2018 - 03/31/2021); Grant funding from National Institutes of Health

Intellectual Property

Peptides and Regulation of Calcium Channels: Method Patent #US 8,299,211 B2 (Approved); This method and composition patent discloses methods and compositions involving short peptides capable of regulating calcium channel function, particularly for applications in modulating calcium current in mammalian cells. The patent includes embodiments of peptides, nucleic acids encoding these peptides, and pharmaceutical compositions for therapeutic use.; Co Inventors: Philip M. Best, Ren-Shiang Chen, Zuojun Lin, Thomas Garcia