Professor dkeefer@loyoal.edu Donnelly Science Room 274 Tel (410) 617-2238 B.A. Western Maryland College (McDaniel College) M.S. American University Ph.D. University of North Carolina

   With my background in neuroendocrinology, I am interested in the interaction between the two major regulatory organ systems in the body - the nervous system and the endocrine system. After spending more than twenty years studying the localization of estrogen and androgen receptors in the brain, pituitary gland, and various hormone-sensitive cancers, I have recently turned my attention to the role that leptin may play in reproduction. Leptin is a recently-discovered hormone that appears to play a role not only in the regulation of body weight but also in reproduction, including the onset of puberty. Does leptin interact with the neural centers that regulate reproduction? Does leptin interact with certain cell types in the anterior pituitary gland? If so, what is the nature of these interactions? Answers to these questions will not only increase our understanding of reproductive physiology but may also guide us in treating reproductive pathologies.

Selected publications:

Fine, M.L., Keefer, D.A. and Russel-Mergenthal, H. Autoradiographic localization of estrogen-concentrating cells in the brain and pituitary of the oyster toadfish. Brain Research 536: 207- 219, 1990.

Fine, M.L., D.A. Keefer, and M. Chung (1996) Autoradiographic localization of dihydrotestosterone- and testosterone-concentrating cells in the brain of the oyster toadfish. Brain Research 709: 65-80.