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Donald W. Pfaff

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Donald W. Pfaff
Born(1939-12-09)December 9, 1939
Rochester, New York
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Spouses
Children3
Scientific career
FieldsNeuroscience
InstitutionsThe Rockefeller University
Notable studentsRobert Lustig

Donald Wells Pfaff is a professor and head of the Laboratory of Neuroscience and Behavior at The Rockefeller University in New York City.[1]

Early life

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Donald Pfaff was born in on December 9, 1939.[2] He graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude (1961), and received a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1965). After further training at MIT and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, he joined The Rockefeller University in 1966 as a post-doctoral fellow. He was appointed assistant professor in 1969, promoted to associate professor in 1971, and gained tenure in 1973. He has been professor and head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior since 1978.[3]

Research

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Early in his career, Pfaff developed techniques to discover both estrogen and androgen receptors in rat brains.[4][5] Within 15 years, it was clear that the limbic/hypothalamic system he discovered in rat brains was universal among vertebrate brains as well.[6]

His laboratory worked out the first nerve cell circuit for a mammalian behavior, discovered hormone-sensitive genes in the brain; and integrated these findings to show how specific gene expression in a small part of the brain can regulate behavior.[7] Pfaff also discovered that the nerve cells which control all reproductive processes—neurons that express the gene for the peptide called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)—are not born in the brain (as are most neurons), but in the nose, from which they migrate into the brain.[8][9]

Pfaff also formulated a concept of the fundamental brain processes, “generalized brain arousal” (GA), and studied the development of arousal-related neurons, their anatomy, and neurophysiology.[10]

Pfaff’s lab has published more than 900 research papers, and he has written or edited more than 25 books. Pfaff conceived and edited a comprehensive survey of neuroscience, Neuroscience in the 21st Century,[11] which was distributed electronically without cost, to colleges and medical schools in economically developing countries.[12] Among his books, Estrogens and Brain Function[13] united the fields of endocrinology and neuroscience. Drive[14] demonstrated the mechanisms for a simple reproductive behavior, and argued that the lessons learned informed our understanding of the physiological basis of libido. Brain Arousal and Information Theory[15] addressed the mechanisms that wake up the entire brain as well as their damping down by sleep, anesthesia or traumatic brain injury. The Altruistic Brain,[16] co-written with Dr. Sandra Sherman, argued that altruistic behavior can be considered as a natural neurophysiological phenomenon, and put forth an elegant theory of how such prosocial behaviors can be explained without reference to any unusual neural capacities. How the Vertebrate Brain Regulates Behavior; A Field Develops[17] offers Pfaff’s perspective on his more than fifty years in neuroscience.

He is a member of the Editorial Board for PNAS.[18]

Honors and awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Donald W. Pfaff". Rockefeller University. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  2. ^ Handbook of neuroendocrinology. Fink, George., Pfaff, Donald W., 1939-, Levine, Jon E. [Place of publication not identified]: Academic Press. 2012. ISBN 9780123750976. OCLC 756490849.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ Choleris, Elena; McCarthy, Margaret M.; Kavaliers, Martin (January 2012). "Daniel S. Lehrman Lifetime Achievement Award: Sex in the brain: Donald Wells Pfaff and motivation from genes to molecules to behavior". Hormones and Behavior. 61 (1): 1–3. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.12.015. S2CID 54402047 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
  4. ^ Pfaff, Donald; Keiner, Melvyn (1973-09-15). "Atlas of estradiol-concentrating cells in the central nervous system of the female rat". The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 151 (2): 121–157. doi:10.1002/cne.901510204. ISSN 1096-9861. PMID 4744471. S2CID 19861291.
  5. ^ Pfaff, Donald W. (1968-09-27). "Autoradiographic Localization of Radioactivity in Rat Brain after Injection of Tritiated Sex Hormones". Science. 161 (3848): 1355–1356. Bibcode:1968Sci...161.1355P. doi:10.1126/science.161.3848.1355. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 5673448. S2CID 27444660.
  6. ^ Ganten, D. (Detlev) (1986). Morphology of Hypothalamus and Its Connections. Pfaff, Donald. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 9783642714634. OCLC 840294755.
  7. ^ Geyer, Joan (11 November 1977). "Expert Says Sense of Smell is Most Important". Anaheim California Bulletin.
  8. ^ Bentley, P. (1998). Comparative vertebrate endocrinology (3rd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0521629980. OCLC 37239013.
  9. ^ Schwanzel-Fukuda, Marlene; Pfaff, Donald W. (March 1989). "Origin of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone neurons". Nature. 338 (6211): 161–164. Bibcode:1989Natur.338..161S. doi:10.1038/338161a0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 2645530. S2CID 4310861.
  10. ^ Plant, Tony M.; Zeleznik, Anthony J. (2014-12-30). Knobil and Neill's physiology of reproduction. Plant, T. M. (Tony M.), Zeleznik, Anthony,, Knobil, Ernst. (4th ed.). Amsterdam. ISBN 9780123971753. OCLC 897442559.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ^ Pfaff, Donald W.; Volkow, Nora D. (2016-10-27). Neuroscience in the 21st Century : from basic to clinical. Pfaff, Donald W., 1939-, Volkow, Nora D., 1956- (Second ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 978-1493934737. OCLC 961912670.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ "IBRO | New comprehensive neuroscience textbook: free to universities in low-income countries". ibro.info. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  13. ^ Pfaff, Donald W. (1980). Estrogens and Brain Function : Neural Analysis of a Hormone-Controlled Mammalian Reproductive Behavior. New York, NY: Springer New York. ISBN 978-1461380863. OCLC 852790540.
  14. ^ Pfaff, Donald W. (1999). Drive: Neurobiological and molecular mechanisms of sexual motivation. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0262661478. OCLC 44963864.
  15. ^ Pfaff, Donald W. (2006). Brain arousal and information theory: Neural and genetic mechanisms. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674019201. OCLC 431398899.
  16. ^ Pfaff, Donald W. (2015). The altruistic brain : how we are naturally good. Oxford. ISBN 978-0199377466. OCLC 875629963.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. ^ Pfaff, Donald W. (22 May 2017). How the vertebrate brain regulates behavior: Direct from the lab. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN 978-0674660311. OCLC 959871694.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. ^ "Editorial Board | PNAS".
  19. ^ Sankaran, Neeraja (13 June 1994). "Nine Women Among 60 Scientists Elected To NAS". The Scientist. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Academy Member Connection". www.amacad.org. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  21. ^ "Daniel S. Lehrman Lifetimes Achievement Award in Behavioral Neuroendicrinology". Retrieved 16 January 2018.
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