(Updated  ) 

Once again, professors attending the annual meeting of the SBN have volunteered their time to meet with trainees (undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows) for lunch. Trainees have the opportunity to discuss various research interests and career development issues (or baroque music and Monty Python movies) with professors during these lunches. This is a great way to get some outside advice on your research project, to network with professors who might be looking for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows or future colleagues, or simply to have an interesting conversation so come prepared. 
If you are interested in meeting with a professor, here is what you need to do:

1. Consult the following schedule and list of faculty to determine which professors you would like to meet and the day they are available.
2. On arriving at the SBN meetings, look for the sign-up sheets at the Registration Desk. Sign up to meet with the professor of your choice. You may sign up to meet with different professors on different days, but not more than one professor per day. The groups will be small 3-4 students per professor so come prepared with several choices.
3. On the day you are scheduled to meet, go to the Kingsgate Conference Center where you can purchase the buffet luncheon (approximately $9-10). Once you have your lunch, proceed to the tables that have been reserved for the Meet the Professor Lunches. Each table will be marked with the name of the faculty member.

Organized by the Education Committee

Thursday (June 26)	Saturday (June 28)
Anne Etgen Cort Pedersen Elaine Hull Greg Ball Janice Jurasaka Jeff Blaustein Larry Katz Louise Freeman Marc Breedlove  Rae Silver Randy Krohmer Ruth Wood Theresa Lee	Christina Williams Juli Wade Andy Bass Paul Heideman Lori Flanagan-Cato Mary Kritzer Matt Grober Tracy Bale Catherine Woolley John Godwin Kim Wallen Kim Huhman

 

Tracy Bale
Bale@salk.edu

Discussion Topic: My research focuses on the physiological and neurobiological effects of stress. I am interested in the role stress-responsivity plays in the development of depression. Specifically, I am interested in examining how the CRF system functions in the onset of anxiety and depressive-like behaviors. My research also examines the effects of stress on organismal homeostasis, studying the effects of stress on feeding behaviors and metabolism.

Selected Publications:

1. Neurobiology of Depression, Nestler et al., 2002, Neuron 34:13
2. CRF receptors 1 and 2 in anxiety and depression, Reul and Holsboer, 2002, Current Opinion in Pharmacology, 2:23 
3. Mice deficient for both corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRFR1) and CRFR2 have an impaired stress response and display sexually dichotomous anxiety-like behavior, Bale et al., 2002, Journal of Neuroscience, 22:193

Greg Ball
gball@jhu.edu

Discussion Topic: A combined discussion of advice about career development with the specifics of the trainee’s scientific work. I prefer to keep it informal and don't really want to assign any readings in advance of the lunch.

Andrew Bass
ahb3@cornell.edu

Discussion Topic: The goal of my research program is to show how phenotypic variation in vertebrate brain organization establishes adaptive behavioral phenotypes. It is in this context that I have used sound-producing/ vocalizing teleost fish as a model to establish the operating principles of vertebrate auditory systems. We focus on one species, the plainfin midshipman, in part, because we discovered both intra and intersexual dimorphisms in their vocal signaling behavior and the neural mechanisms controlling these behaviors. This discovery led, in turn, to others that defined a "song" control circuit in fish that has now been integrated with studies that define both peripheral and central mechanisms of audition. 

Selected Publications:
Bass, A. H. and J. R. McKibben (2003) Neural mechanisms and behaviors for acoustic communication in teleost fish. Progress in Neurobiology 69: 1-26.

Jeff Blaustein 
blaustein@cns.umass.edu

Discussion Topic: Ligand independent activation of steroid hormone receptors in the brain. This refers to the idea that steroid hormone receptors acting as transcriptional regulators, can be activated by neurotransmitter/second messenger pathways, as well as by binding of hormone. This mechanism provides a means by which the social environment acting through neurotransmitters can activate steroid hormone receptors, resulting in changes in behavior. The social environment can apparently co-opt the same cellular mechanisms ordinarily used by hormones, but in this case, in the absence of hormones.

Selected references available at: http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~blaustei/

Marc Breedlove
breedsm@msu.edu

Discussion Topic: Flexible

Anne Etgen 
etgen@aecom.yu.edu

Discussion Topic: Dr. Etgen is interested in discussion “training topics” with undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. Her preferred topic to discuss over lunch is "Getting Your Own Fellowship--Why and How to Do It"

Lori Flanagan-Cato
flanagan@psych.upenn.edu

Discussion Topic: Flexible 

Selected References:

1. Daniels, D., R.R. Miselis, and L.M. Flanagan-Cato. Central neuronal circuit innervating the lordosis-producing muscles defined by transneuronal transport of pseudorabies virus. J. Neuroscience 19: 823-2833, 1999.
2. Calizo, L.H. and L.M. Flanagan-Cato. Estrogen selectively induces dendritic spines in the arbor of hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus neurons. J. Neuroscience 20: 1589-1596, 2000.

Louise Freeman
lfreeman@mbc.edu

Discussion Topic: Neuroendocrinology research at a small liberal arts college.

Matt Grober
mgrober@gsu.edu

Discussion Topic: The neuroendocrine regulation and evolution of sexual plasticity in vertebrates.

Selected References: 

1. Perry, A.N. and M.S. Grober (2003) A Model for Social Control of Sex Change: Interactions of behavior, neuropeptides, glucocorticoids and sex steroids. Hormones and Behavior 43: 31-38.
2. Grober, M.S., A.A. George, K.K. Watkins, L.A. Carneiro & R.F. Oliveira (2002) Forebrain AVT and courtship in a fish with male alternative reproductive tactics. Brain Research Bulletin 57:423-425.
3. Oliveira, R.F., N. Carvalho, J. Miranda, E. J. Gonçdves, M.S. Grober & R. S. Santos (2002) The relationship between the presence of satellite males and nest-holders' mating success in the Azorean rock-pool blenny Parablennius sanguinolentus parvicornis. Ethology 108: 223-235.
4. Bass, A.H. and M.S. Grober (2001) Social and neural modulation of sexual plasticity in teleost fish. Brain Behavior and Evolution 57: 293-300. 
5. Oliveira, R.F., A.V.M. Canario and M.S. Grober (2001) Male sexual polymorphism, alternative reproductive tactics, and androgens in combtooth blennies (Pisces: Blenniidae). Hormones and Behavior 40: 266-275.

John Godwin
John_Godwin@ncsu.edu

Discussion Topic: Vasotocin and social status.

Paul Heideman
pdheid@facstaff.wm.edu

Discussion Topics : 

1. Job hunting & careers at undergraduate-oriented Liberal Arts Colleges/Universities that combine research and teaching
2. Evolutionary physiology and variability in brain function

1. Bittner, G. D. and B. X. Friedman. 2000. Evolution of brain structures and adaptive behaviors in humans and other animals: Role of polymorphic genetic variations. The Neuroscientist 6: 241-251. 
2. Weibel, E. R., C. R. Taylor, and L. Bolis, eds. 1998. Principles of animal design: The optimization and symmorphosis debate. New York: Cambridge University Press. (Especially the Introduction and: Garland, T. J. 1998. Conceptual and methodological issues in testing the predictions of symmorphosis. In Principles of Animal Design, ed. E. R. Weibel, C. R.
3. Taylor, and L. Bolis:40-47. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Huhman, Kim psyklh@langate.gsu.edu 

Hull, Elaine
emhull@acsu.buffalo.edu 

Discussion Topic: My research program investigates the neuroendocrine control of male rat sexual behavior. We have shown that dopamine is released in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) as soon as a male rat encounters a receptive female; release is further increased during copulation. Stimulation of dopamine receptors in the MPOA influences genital reflexes and sexual motivation. Testosterone promotes both basal and female-elicited dopamine release in the MPOA, in part, by up-regulating nitric oxide synthase. In addition, glutamate increases dopamine release via activation of nitric oxide. We have also shown that serotonin is released in the anterior lateral hypothalamus at the time of ejaculation and contributes to the postejaculatory sexual quiescence, in part by decreasing mesolimbic dopamine release.

Selected References:

1. Powell, W., Dominguez, J.M., & Hull, E.M. (2003) An NMDA antagonist blocks the experience-induced enhancement of male sexual behavior. Behavioral Neuroscience, 117:69-75. 
2. Dominguez, J., Riolo, J.V., Xu, Z. & Hull, E.M. (2001) Regulation by the medial amygdala of copulation and medial preoptic dopamine release. Journal of Neuroscience, 21:349-355. 
3. Hull, E. M., Lorrain, D. S., Du, J., Matuszewich, L., Lumley, L. A., Putnam, S. K., & Moses, J. (1999) Hormone-Neurotransmitter interactions in the control of sexual behavior. Behavioral Brain Research, Special issue on Neurobiology of Sexual Behavior, 105:105-116. 

Janice Juraska 
jjuraska@s.psych.uiuc.edu

Discussion Topic: My research is on sex differences in the neuroanatomy of cognitive brain areas and behavioral correlates in the rat. I could discuss this work directly - we see interesting effects of peripuberal hormones and during aging. I also could discuss some of the implications that I see you work in humans where cellular underpinning of cognitive sex differences are so difficult to study.

Selected References:

1. Nuñez J. L., J Sodhi and J. M. Juraska Ovarian hormones after postnatal day 20 reduce neuron number in the rat primary visual cortex. J. Neurobiology, 52: 312-321, 2002. 
2. Markham, J. A., J. C. Pych and J. M. Juraska Ovarian hormone replacement to aged ovariectomized female rats benefits acquisition of the Morris water maze. Hormones and Behavior, 42:284-293, 2002. 
3. Juraska, J. M. Neural plasticity and the development of sex differences. Annual Review of Sex Research, IX: 20-38, 1998. (or if not readily available, an older review will work: Juraska, J. M. Sex differences in "cognitive" regions of the rat brain. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 16: 105-119, 1991). 

Larry Katz
katz@aesop.rutgers.edu

Discussion Topic: My lab studies reproductive behavior in ruminants, including cattle, sheep, goats and deer. Our studies have included examinations of stimuli that enhance reproductive performance in males; that explore the endocrinology of female attractivity, proceptivity and receptivity; and maternal discrimination of offspring. I am also quite happy to talk about a range of other topics that may be on the minds of our trainees facing career choices in or out of academia. 

Selected References:

1. Billings, H.J. and L.S. Katz. 1997. Progesterone facilitation and inhibition of estradiol-induced sexual behavior in the female goat. Hormones and Behavior 31:47-53.
2. Maina, D. and L.S. Katz. 1999. Scent of a ewe: transmission of a social cue by conspecifics affects sexual performance in Ovis aries. Biology of Reproduction 60: 1373-1377.
3. Booth, K.K. and L.S. Katz. 2000. The role of the vomeronasal organ in neonatal offspring recognition in sheep. Biology of Reproduction 63:953-958. 

Mary Kritzer
mkritzer@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Discussion Topic: I would most likely be discussing our work on gonadal hormone impact on the cerebral cortex. 

Selected References:

1. Kritzer, M.F., P.J. McLaughlin, T. Smirlis, and J.K. Robinson Gonadectomy impairs T-Maze acquisition in adult male rats. Hormones and Behavior (2001) 39: 167-174.
2. Kritzer, M.F. Regional, laminar, and cellular distribution of immunoreactivity for ERa and ERb in the cerebral cortex of hormonally intact, adult male and female rats. Cerebral Cortex. (2002)12: 116-128.
3. Creutz, L.M. and M.F. Kritzer Estrogen receptor beta immunoreactivity in the midbrain of adult rats: Regional, subregional and cellular localization in the A10, A9 and A8 dopamine cell groups. J. Comp. Neurol. (2002) 446:

288-300.
4. Kritzer, M.F. (2003) Long-term gonadecotomy affects the density of tyrosine hydroxylase- but not dopamine-b-hydroxylase-, choline acetyltransferase- or serotonin-immunoreactive axons in the medial prefrontal cortices of adult male rats., Cerebral Cortex, 13: 282-296.

Randy Krohmer
rwkrohmer@hotmail.com

Discussion Topic: careers at small colleges

Terri Lee
terrilee@screamers.imap.itd.umich.edu

Discussion Topic: My research examines the interaction of hormones (particularly steroid hormones, but also melatonin and others) with biological rhythms (circadian and seasonal). I have examined both the development of these interactions and the short-term effects in adults. I also study the interaction of light and non-light cues in the control of the circadian mechanism.
Selected References:
I would recommend reading Ch 12 on hormones and biological rhythms by Gorman and Lee, from the 2nd edition of Behavioral Endocrinology, edited by Becker, Breedlove, Crews and McCarthy.

Cort Pedersen
cpederse@med.unc.edu 

Discussion Topic: Maternal behavior, female sexual behavior, behavioral/emotional roles of oxytocin, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and the role of social attachment motivation systems in the evolution of human intelligence and behavior are all topics of great interest to me.

Selected Readings: To find out what I've been thinking about a lot recently they could read Pedersen and Boccia (2002) Oxytocin links mothering received, mothering bestowed and adult stress responses. Stress 5(4): 259-267. 

Rae Silver
qr@columbia.edu 

Discussion Topic: Circadian rhythms and the control of reproductive hormone secretion.

Selected References:

1. Kriegsfeld LJ, Silver R., Gore AC, and Crews D. 2002. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide contacts on gonadotrop8in-releasing hormone neurons increase following puberty in female rats. J Neuroendo 14:685-690.
2. Kriegsfeld LJ, S Korets R, Silver R. 2003. Expression of the circadian clock gene Period 1 in neuroendocrine cells: an investigation using mice with a Per1::GFP transgene. European J Neuroscie 17:1-9.

Jennifer Swann
jms5@lehigh.edu 

Discussion Topic: Sexual differentiation plays a critical role in most species including humans. The nature of our social interactions is determined by the sex of the person with whom we interact. A veritable mountain of research has shown that morphology, physiology and behavior are shaped by our sex chromosomes. But the underlying mechanisms are at best poorly understood. My long-term goals are to tackle this challenge by identifying the neural basis for sex differences in behavior. My animal model - the Syrian hamster - displays sex specific behaviors that are regulated by hormone actions at birth and in adulthood. These behaviors are triggered by pheromones from conspecifics that are detected by highly conserved pathways in the brain. By manipulating the hormonal and pheromonal environment we have been able to identify sex specific differences in neural groups that underlie sex differences in copulation, aggression and parenting using immunocytochemistry, insitu hybridization and behavioral analysis. 

Selected Publications:

1. Govek EK, Wang J, Swann JM. Sex differences in the magnocellular subdivision of the medial preoptic nucleus in Syrian hamsters. Neuroscience. 2003;116(2):593-8.
2. Swann JM. Gonadal steroids regulate behavioral responses to pheromones by actions on a subdivision of the medial preoptic Brain Res. 1997 Mar 7;750(1-2):189-94.
3. Fiber JM, Swann JM. Testosterone differentially influences sex-specific pheromone-stimulated Fos expression in limbic regions of Syrian hamsters Horm Behav. 1996 Dec;30(4):455-73.

Julie Wade
wadej@msu.edu 

Discussion Topic: The primary goal of my research program is understanding how structural and biochemical changes within the brain regulate behavior. One effective method for investigating this problem is the exploitation of naturally occurring differences in behaviors. The lab works with two model systems. Zebra finches have become a classic model for investigating sex differences in brain and behavior. Males sing to court females, whereas females do not normally sing, and in parallel the brain regions that control song are larger in males than in females. The lab is investigating the mechanisms involved in creating the behavioral and anatomical differences between the sexes, including the early organizational influences of gonadal steroid hormones, growth factors, and calcium binding proteins. Currently, we are focusing on investigations of differential gene expression in the developing male and female brain using cDNA microarrays that we have created. Like zebra finches, green anole lizards also display sexually dimorphic courtship behaviors. Males extend a bright red throat fan called a dewlap, while females do not display their very small dewlaps during courtship. During copulation, males use one of two, bilateral “hemipenes”; these structures and the muscles controlling them are absent in adult females. Morphology of the copulatory system is plastic in adulthood, whereas the courtship system is stable. Current studies address the mechanisms regulating this selective adult plasticity, as well as those controlling sexual differentiation of both systems.

Selected References:

Lovern, M.B. and Wade, J. (2003) Yolk testosterone varies with sex in eggs of the lizard, Anolis carolinensis. J. Exp. Zool. 295A:206-210.

1. Ruiz, C.C. and Wade, J. (2002) Sexual dimorphisms in a copulatory neuromuscular system in the green anole lizard. J. Comp. Neurol. 443:289-297.
2. Wade, J. Buhlman, L. and Swender, D. (2002) Post-hatching hormonal modulation of a sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system controlling song in zebra finches. Brain Res. 929:191-201.
3. Wade, J. (2001) Zebra finch sexual differentiation: The aromatization hypothesis revisited. Microsc. Res. Tech. 54:354-363. 
4. Wade, J. (1999) Sexual dimorphisms in avian and reptilian courtship: Two systems that do not play by mammalian rules. Brain. Behav. Evol. 54:15-27

Kim Wallen
kim@emory.edu

Discussion Topic: I would enjoy talking with students about graduate school and where Behavioral Neuroendocrinology is going in the next 10 years.  My research investigates how hormones and the social environment affect the development and expression of sexual behavior in primates. Current studies investigate the role of the prenatal hormone environment on gender development in rhesus monkeys and the role of estrogens and androgens in adult female rhesus monkey sexual motivation.  However, whatever you would like to talk with is fine with me.

Selected References: (there will be an exam after the lunch ;-)

1. Wallen, K. (2001). "Sex and context: hormones and primate sexual motivation." Horm Behav 40(2): 339-57. 
2. Wallen, K. (1996). "Nature needs nurture: the interaction of hormonal and social influences on the development of behavioral sex differences in rhesus monkeys." Horm Behav 30(4): 364-78. 

Christina Williams
williams@psych.duke.edu 

Discussion Topic: I would like to meet with students who have a particular interest in how hormones modulate cognitive processes. I am especially interested in how estrogen functions as a modulator of memory but would be interested in talking more generally about how glucocorticoids or peptide hormones (e.g., oxytocin) may work on hippocampus, amygdala, or neocortex. I'd love to have lunch with a group of students who would like to talk about these topics from behavioral, systems, cellular and molecular levels.

Because I chair a Psychological and Brain Sciences department that is likely to be hiring in the area of behavioral neuroscience in the next couple of years, I would also be happy to talk about how to apply for and get an academic 
job!

Selected References: A few papers that might be useful, but please come have lunch even if you 
have not read these papers.

1. Williams, C.L. (2002). Hormones and cognition. In: Becker, J.B., Breedlove, S.M., & Crews, D. (Eds.) Behavioral Endocrinology, Boston, MA, MIT Press, pp. 527-577.
2. Sandstrom, N.J. & Williams, C.L. (2001). Memory retention is modulated by acute estradiol and progesterone replacement. Behavioral Neuroscience, 115, 384-393. 
3. Miranda, P, Williams, C.L. Einstein, G (1999). Aging rat hippocampal dentate granule cells respond to short term replacement of estradiol. The Journal of Neuroscience, 19, 3316-3325.

Ruth Wood
riw@usc.edu 

Discussion Topic: I study sex and drugs. Specifically, my laboratory investigates how androgens control brain function. Current research focuses on male sexual behavior and anabolic steroid abuse. At lunch, I wish to discuss: bicycling, baroque music, French cooking, current events, Monty Python movies, or science. It's your choice.

Selected References:
A list of publications to review in preparation for the luncheon: Time Magazine, The New Yorker. I just finished reading "Blue Latitudes" by Tony Horowitz. Or if you really want to, you could read:

1. Wood RI (2002). Oral testosterone self-administration in male hamsters: dose-response, voluntary exercise, and individual differences. Hormones and Behavior 41(3):247-258.
2. Chu L and Wood RI (2002). Testosterone, dopamine, and food choice in a cost-benefit test with male hamsters. Behavioural Brain Research 136:137-142.

Catherine Woolley
cwoolley@northwestern.edu 

Discussion Topics: Plasticity of adult neural circuitry; estrogen and cognitive function; estrogen and epilepsy; 
and anything else you would like to talk about!