Developmental Neuroendocrinology

Susan Wray received her B.A. from Middlebury College and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. She joined Dr. Harold Gainer’s laboratory at the NICHD, NIH for her postdoctoral research, and in 1995 established her own section, Cellular and Developmental Neurobiology, at the NINDS, NIH. Her research focuses on the development and regulation of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons, identifying their origin in the nasal placode and subsequent migration into the forebrain. Her work has bridged developmental issues including cell lineage, neuronal migration and craniofacial development with physiological issues such as functional GnRH neuronal subpopulations, the mechanisms regulating pulsatile secretion of GnRH, and causes of reproductive dysfunction.Seth Blackshaw received his B.A. and M.S. in Biochemistry in 1991 and his PhD in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1997, working with Solomon Snyder.  He pursued postdoctoral research with Connie Cepko at Harvard Medical School, and in 2004 rejoined the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he is now a Professor of Neuroscience.  His research has focused on the regulation of cell fate specification and neuronal regeneration in the retina and hypothalamus, hypothalamic regulation of innate behaviors, and the development of new tools for functional genomics and proteomics.

• Part I. Molecular Specification of Hypothalamic/Pituitary Cells.-  Development of the Neuroendocrine Hypothalamus.- Sonic hedgehog in Hypothalamus Development.- Development of the Hypothalamus in Xenopus laevis.- Gene Regulatory Programs in the Development of Hypothalamic Arcuate Nucleus Neurons.- Winding the Clock: Development of Hypothalamic Structures Controlling Biological Timing and Sleep.- Pituitary Development and Organogenesis: Transcription Factors in Development and Disease.- Part II. Developmental Modulators and Epigenetic Factors.- Hypothalamic Development: Role of GABA.- Epigenetic and Transcriptional Regulation of the Reproductive Hypothalamus.- Epigenetic Regulation of the GnRH and Kiss1 Genes: Developmental Perspectives.- Imprinted Genes and Hypothalamic Function.- Rhythmic Epigenetics in Neuroendocrine and Immune Systems.- Part III. Development of Neuroendocrine Circuits.- Development of Limbic System Stress-Threat Circuitry.- Organization and Postnatal Development of Visceral Sensory Inputs to the Neuroendocrine Hypothalamus.- Astrocytes and Development of Neuroendocrine Circuits.- Origins of Sex Differentiation of Brain and Behavior.- Development and Modulation of Female Reproductive Function by Circadian Signals.