Kathleen M. Munley

I received an Honorable Mention for the Division of Comparative Endocrinology’s Aubrey Gorbman Award for Best Student Oral Presentation at SICB 2022, the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology’s annual meeting! In my presentation, I discussed some of my recent findings on how melatonin regulates seasonal and sex-specific changes in steroidogenic enzyme activity and aggression…

My manuscript on the role of adrenal melatonin type 1 (MT1) receptors in regulating seasonal plasticity in social behavior was recently published in Hormones and Behavior! In this study, I showed that overexpressing MT1 receptors in the adrenal glands and exposure to short-day (SD) photoperiods caused similar changes in social behavior, including increased aggression and decreased investigation…

Last week, I gave a virtual invited talk at the Annual Seasonality Symposium 2021, a meeting sponsored by the British Society for Neuroendocrinology and the Journal of Neuroendocrinology! In my presentation, I discussed some of my recent findings on how seasonal changes in melatonin secretion and adrenal melatonin type 1 (MT1) receptor expression alter steroid synthesis…

This morning, I gave a virtual seminar for the Arctic Seasonal Timekeeping Initiative (ASTI) seminar program at the University of Norway! In my talk, I discussed some of my recent work on the role of adrenal melatonin type 1 (MT1) receptor expression in regulating seasonal changes in social behavior in male Siberian hamsters. Click here…

Last week, I gave a virtual poster presentation at SBN 2021, the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology’s annual meeting! In my presentation, I discussed my recent findings on how adrenal and neural 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) activity varies in a seasonal and sex-specific manner in Siberian hamsters. It was so great to catch up with friends and…

My manuscript describing the results of my graduate work at LSU was recently published in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology – Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology! In this study, I used a comparative approach to assess how acute hypoosmotic exposure affects levels of polyamines and related amino acids [glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (Gaba)] in the…

I received a Dissertation Research Fellowship from the IU College of Arts and Sciences! This fellowship is awarded annually to advanced graduate students in the College and gives them the opportunity to focus full-time on their dissertation research and writing. These funds will support me during the final year of my graduate program, in which…

My manuscript on how melatonin regulates seasonal variation in neurosteroids and aggressive behavior was recently published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology! For this study, I developed a protocol to measure the concentrations of five steroid hormones in circulation and in brain regions associated with aggressive behavior using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). I found that…

This week, I gave an oral presentation at SICB 2021, the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology’s annual meeting! In my talk, I discussed some of my recent findings on the role of adrenal melatonin 1a receptor (Mel1aR) signaling in modulating territorial aggression in male Siberian hamsters. These results are part of an exciting collaboration…

My collaborator Dr. Nikki Rendon’s manuscript on the role of melatonin in regulating steroid metabolism and aggressive behavior in female hamsters was recently published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology! This manuscript was the culmination of a collaboration between Nikki, Dr. Chris Petersen, and myself. In this study, we showed that females given a SD-like melatonin signal,…