The focus of our research is on discovering how the maternal environment during pregnancy affects the formation of the fetal brain. With conditions such as obesity and diabetes on the rise in Western society, it is critical that we fully understand the health implications of these disorders for future generations.
At the Centre for Neuroendocrinology we seek to:
Discover epigenetic changes in the brains of the offspring of obese or diabetic mothers
Establish specifically how these changes bring about altered development of axon tracts in the offspring hypothalamus
Yugo Watanabe, Postdoctoral Fellow The origins of PCOS by prenatal androgen exposure Email yugo.watanabe@otago.ac.nz
Matt Higgins, PhD student The mechanisms underpinning leptin signaling in maturation of arcuate nucleus body weight homeostasis neural circuitry Email: matt.higgins@postgrad.otago.ac.nz
Lorryn Fisher, Research Technician Changes in neural circuitry and gene expression in the offspring of obese dams Email lorryn.fisher@otago.ac.nz
Visit Our people for an alphabetical list of all Centre for Neuroendocrinology staff.
Kamstra, K., van der Burg, C., Quertermous, H. M., Muncaster, S., Todd, E. V., Jasoni, C. L., … Gemmell, N. J. (2023). Neuroanatomy of a sex changing fish: The New Zealand spotty wrasse (Notolabrus celidotus) brain atlas. New Zealand Journal of Zoology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/03014223.2023.2216939
Journal - Research Article
Watanabe, Y., Fisher, L., Campbell, R. E., & Jasoni, C. L. (2023). Defining potential targets of prenatal androgen excess: Expression analysis of androgen receptor on hypothalamic neurons in the fetal female mouse brain. Journal of Neuroendocrinology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/jne.13302
Journal - Research Article
Decourt, C., Watanabe, Y., Evans, M. C., Inglis, M. A., Fisher, L. C., Jasoni, C. L., Campbell, R. E., & Anderson, G. M. (2023). Deletion of androgen receptors from kisspeptin neurons prevents PCOS features in a letrozole mouse model. Endocrinology, bqad077. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqad077
Journal - Research Article
Campbell, R. E., Sati, A., Coyle, C., Prescott, M., Jasoni, C. L., & Desroziers, E. (2022, August). How androgen excess shapes the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-like brain. Verbal presentation at the Metabolic & Cardiovascular Disease Satellite Meeting: Queenstown Research Week, Queenstown, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Higgins, M., Glendining, K., & Jasoni, C. (2022, August-September). The distribution of leptin receptor expressing cells in the developing mouse hypothalamus. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)
Yugo Watanabe, Postdoctoral Fellow
Matt Higgins, PhD student