Killam Seminar Series: The role of BDNF in hormonal regulation

Abstract: One of the long-standing questions in epilepsy research is why seizures are so sensitive to the influence of gonadal hormones. In this seminar, data will be presented to support the novel hypothesis that steroid receptors acting on their target genes provide an explanation, and focus on the gene for brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a neurotrophin known for its influence on neurodevelopment and the mature brain. The results shed light not only on epilepsy but also many aspects of normal function and diverse neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Bio: Dr. Helen Scharfman completed her doctoral training in the Department of Pharmacology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland and her postdoctoral training in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. She was a Research Associate in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at the State University of Stony Brook before starting her own laboratory at Helen Hayes Hospital and Columbia University in 1991. In 2007, she moved her laboratory to the Nathan Kline Institute, and her primary appointment was moved to New York University Grossman School of Medicine, where she is Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatry, and Physiology & Neuroscience.

Dr. Scharfman’s primary research interests include the mechanisms underlying neuronal excitability and neuronal plasticity, neuroendocrinology, and neurogenesis. The emphasis of the laboratory is to understand the basic mechanisms of normal function in order to better address dysfunction — i.e., in neurological disorders and psychiatric illness. An area of long-standing interest has been the hippocampus and adjacent brain regions, so there has been an emphasis on learning disorders, as well as epilepsy.

Dr. Scharfman has contributed broadly in basic and translational neuroscience. She has served on numerous advisory boards for national and international organizations, such as the American Epilepsy Society, the Epilepsy Foundation, Citizens United for Research on Epilepsy, and Parents Against Childhood Epilepsy. She has also served as a reviewer for NIH, NSF, and many international funding organizations. She has been continuously R01-funded by NIH since starting her laboratory. She has served on the editorial boards of Epilepsia and Epilepsy Research, and is currently on the editorial boards of Epilepsy and Behavior, Open Access Endocrinology, Frontiers in Neuroscience – Neurogenesis, Brain Structure & Function, and Epilepsy Research & Treatment, and reviews ad hoc for over 40 neuroscience journals. She was named the NYS Department of Health Employee of the Year in 2006 for establishing a research center at Helen Hayes Hospital to promote translational research. She has published over 100 articles and edited or co-edited 5 books.

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