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Principal Investigator

Rosie Brown staff photo Dr Rosie Brown

Email rosemary.brown@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 3 479 8207
Fax 64 3 479 7323
Department of Physiology website

Research interests

I am interested in how the changing hormones of pregnancy and lactation act on neural circuitry in the maternal brain to influence behaviour. In particular, I focus on maternal behaviour, a complex set of behaviours displayed by a mother that promote the survival and wellbeing of her offspring. Our work aims to understand how hormones normally act to direct a mother's behaviour and how these processes may become disrupted.
At the Centre for Neuroendocrinology, I use transgenic mouse models to address the impact of specific neuroendocrine disruptions on maternal behaviour using behavioural assays. We investigate hormonal actions on neural circuitry underlying parental behaviour using a range of molecular, immunohistochemical and imaging approaches.
I am also interested in how changes in the ability of hormones to access the brain in different physiological or pathological states might underlie changes in hormone function.

Clinical conditions

  • Postpartum depression
  • Postpartum anxiety
  • Maternal obesity

Rosie Brown Laboratory staff and students

Isaiah Cheong_webIsaiah Cheong, Assistant Research Fellow
Neuroendocrine regulation of maternal behaviour
Email isaiah.cheong@otago.ac.nz


Jenny Clarkson_webJenny Clarkson, Research Fellow
Neural circuits required for maternal adaptation to pregnancy
Email jenny.clarkson@otago.ac.nz


Jamie McQuillan_webJamie McQuillan, Research Fellow
Email jamie.mcquillan@otago.ac.nz


Nikkita MurrayNikkita Murray, PhD student
Email murni023@student.otago.ac.nz


Emmet Power profile imageEmmet Power, Research Fellow
Email emmet.power@otago.ac.nz


Michael Perkinson_webMichael Perkinson, Postdoctoral Fellow
Email michael.perkinson@otago.ac.nz


Sachi Prasad, Honours student


Vivienne Saunders, PgDipSci student


Research Funders

Publications

Hackwell, E., Ladyman, S. R., Clarkson, J., McQuillan, H. J., Boehm, U., Herbison, A. E., Brown, R. S. E., & Grattan, D. R. (2025). Prolactin-mediates a lactation-induced suppression of arcuate kisspeptin neuronal activity necessary for lactational infertility in mice. eLIFE, 13, RP94570. doi: 10.7554/eLife.94570.3 Journal - Research Article

Ladyman, S. R., Georgescu, T. R., Stewart, A. M., Khant Aung, Z., Cheong, I., Grattan, D. R., & Brown, R. S. E. (2025). Prolactin modulation of thermoregulatory circuits provides resilience to thermal challenge of pregnancy. Cell Reports, 44(4), 115567. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115567 Journal - Research Article

Georgescu, T., Stewart, A. M., Sawyer, I. L., Gillett, M. L., Ladyman, S. R., Brown, R. S. E., & Grattan, D. R. (2024, August-September). Investigating the role of prolactin in pregnancy-associated thermoregulatory changes. Verbal presentation at the 18th New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

McQuillan, H. J., Perkinson, M. R., Cheong, I., Grattan, D. R., & Brown, R. S. E. (2024, August-September). Transitioning from hostility to caring: Defining a dopamine related neural signature of paternal behaviour in mice. Verbal presentation at the 18th New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Pal, T., McQuillan, H. J., Wragg, L., & Brown, R. S. E. (2024). Hormonal actions in the medial preoptic area governing parental behaviour: Novel insights from new tools. Endocrinology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqae152 Journal - Research Article

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