| Faculty
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| Jack D. Shepard, Ph.D. Associate Professor Pre-Vet Advisor Department of Biological Sciences Towson University Towson, MD 21252 USA
Office: Smith 259 Phone: 410-704-2394 Fax: 410-704-2405
email: jshepard@towson.edu
Education:
Postdoctoral: National Institutes of Health Ph.D. University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center B.S. University of Oklahoma
Courses Taught:
BIOL 213 Human Anatomy & Physiology I BIOL 214 Human Anatomy & Physiology II BIOL 470 Advanced Physiology
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Research Interests:
My research program is directed toward determining the biological and behavioral effects of stress. While responses to acute stress are primarily adaptive, chronic stress can lead to both somatic and psychiatric illness. A key feature of stress-related disease is increased reactivity to stress including excess secretion of stress hormones such as the glucocorticoids and corticotropin releasing factor. My research interests are centered around three areas of investigation: 1.) behavioral responses to stress and glucocorticoid excess 2.) neuroendocrine regulation during acute stress 3.) functional plasticity in the stress axis in response to chronic stress or exposure to psychostimulant drugs.
I welcome the participation of both undergraduate and graduate students in my research program.
Recent Publications:
Shepard, J.D., Chambers, C.O., Busch, C., Mount, A., & Schulkin, J. Chronically elevated corticosterone in the dorsolateral bed nuclei of stria terminalis increases anxiety-like behavior. Behavioural Brain Research 2009; 203:146-149.
Chen, J., Young, S., Subburaju, S., Shepard, J.D., Atkinson, H., Lightman, S., & Aguilera, G. Vasopressin does not mediate hypersensitivity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis during chronic stress. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 2008; 1148:349-359.
Shepard, J.D. & Myers, D.A. Strain differences in anxiety-like behavior: Association with corticotropin-releasing factor. Behavioural Brain Research 2008; 186:239-245.
Shepard, J.D., Schulkin, J., & Myers, D.A. Chronically elevated corticosterone in the amygdala increases corticotropin releasing factor mRNA in the dorsolateral bed nucleus of stria terminalis following duress. Behavioural Brain Research 2006; 174:193-196.
Shepard, J.D., Chuang, D., Shaham, Y., & Morales, M. Effect of methamphetamine self-administration on tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporter levels in mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine pathways of the rat. Psychopharmacology 2006; 185(4): 505-513.
Shepard, J.D., Liu, Y., Kalintchenko, N., Sassone-Corsi, P., Aguilera, G. Role of glucocorticoids and cAMP-mediated repression on corticotropin releasing hormone transcription during stress. Journal of Neuroscience 2005; 25(16): 4073-4081.
Shepard, J.D. Bossert, J.M., Liu, S.Y., & Shaham, Y. The anxiogenic drug yohimbine reinstates methamphetamine seeking in a rat model of drug relapse. Biological Psychiatry 2004; 55(11): 1082-1089.
Lu, L., Shepard, J.D. Hall, S.F., & Shaham, Y. Effect of environmental stressors on opiate and psychostimulant reinforcement, reinstatement and discrimination in rats: a review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2003; 27:457-491.
Shepard, J.D., Barron, K.W., & Myers, D.A. Stereotaxic localization of corticosterone to the amygdala enhances hypothalamopituitary adrenal responses to behavioral stress. Brain Research 2003; 963 (1-2): 203-213. Graduate Students:Joseph Norris (Graduate, Thesis Committee Member; 2007-08) Megan Lyman (Thesis Committee Chair; Fall 2005-present) Jacob Skovira (Thesis Committee Member; Fall 2005-present) John O’Donnell (Graduate, Thesis Committee; 2009-present)
Undergraduate Students: Maudlyn Etekochay (Fall 2005, Spring & Summer 2006) Dana Wassum (Spring & Summer 2006) Solmaz Masoudi (Fall 2006) Lelia Logue (Undergraduate, Fall 2006) Charles Chambers (Undergraduate, Spring 2007 through Summer 2008) Chris Busch (Undergraduate, Spring 2007 through Summer 2008) Alex Mount (Undergraduate, Spring 2007 through Spring 2008) Modibo Diallo (Undergraduate, Summer 2009) Joshua Croteau (Undergraduate, Spring 2009)
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