Facts & fiction presentation on origins of hormones at next UNK Science Cafe

KEARNEY, Neb. (KSNB) - The Scientific Research Honor Society and Sigma Xi are hosting a presentation that will cover the facts and even some of the outrageous fiction surrounding the origins and earliest studies of endocrinology.

The study of hormones as we know it came into being at the turn of the 20th century. With their discovery, these “internal secretions” brought both advances in treating numerous medical conditions as well as outrageous claims.

This seminar will provide a brief history of the field of endocrinology, including its successes and missteps, and takes place on Monday, February 6 at 5:30 p.m. at The Loft, Cunningham’s Journal, 15 West 23rd Street, Kearney.

The presenter, Nick Hobbs is an associate professor in the UNK Department of Biology. He received his bachelor’s degree in organismal biology from the University of Kansas in 2004 and completed his doctorate in 2012 at the University of Memphis, where he studied how food availability and food quality affected sexual behaviors in meadow voles.

He then went on to a postdoctoral position in the Breedlove/Jordan Lab in the neuroscience program at Michigan State University, where he studied how androgens, such as testosterone, affect the brain and behavior of mice lacking the androgen receptor.

His lab is currently investigating the role of androgens in mediating the effects of food availability on olfactory and anxiety-like behaviors in mice.