Hormonal Programming Group - Glenda E Gillies
Group members
- Prof Glenda Gillies - Principal Investigator
- Dr Simon McArthur - Visitng researcher
- Dr Kanwar Virdee - Post-doctoral RA (Cambridge, collaboration with Dr Jeff Dalley)
- Mr Enrico Cristante - Graduate RA & PhD student (collaboration with Dr Egle Solito)
Important contributions are also made by undergraduate students (MBBS/BSc research projects, summer vacation students) and graduate students (MSc, MRes and Erasmus students), who are welcome in our laboratories.
Sex is important for neuroscience
Our goal is to understand the nature and origins of brain sex dimorphisms, which pervade many aspects of brain function, including those that are not directly associated with reproductive success.
This knowledge will shed light on sex differences that are manifest in major psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions. It will also highlight important new opportunities for developing urgently needed improvements to sex-specific treatments for debilitating conditions that affect men and women in different ways.
The role of sex and stress hormones in brain development, function and disease
Our research centres on the ability of sex and stress hormones to sculpt brain structure and function, and to modify disease susceptibility. In all mammalian species studied, including humans, gonadal sex steroid hormones are largely responsible for ‘hard-wiring’ brain sex differences during mid-late gestation and the neonatal period, and for differentially activating this dimorphic circuitry after puberty.
The brain is also higly sensitive to glucocorticoids (GCs), the adrenal steroids released in response to stress and infection: raised levels can interfere with sexual differentiation of the brain, and may oppose the actions of sex hormones in the adult brain.
Current research
Projects fall into three categories:
