Dr. Sternberg received her M.D. degree and trained in Rheumatology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, did post-doctoral training and was on the faculty at Washington University, St. Louis, MO, before joining the National Institutes Health in 1986. Currently Director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program, NIMH/NIH and Co-chair of the NIH Intramural Program on Research in Women’s Health, both multi-Institute Intramural research programs designed to foster interdisciplinary research at NIH, Dr. Sternberg is also Chief of the Section on Neuroendocrine Immunology and Behavior at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Sternberg is internationally recognized for her discoveries in the area of central nervous system - immune system interactions, i.e. the role of the brain's stress response in susceptibility to arthritis and other diseases, including depression. Currently she is taking these principles into areas of biodefense research, focusing on neuroendocrine mechanisms of action of bacterial toxins. She has written numerous original scientific articles, textbook chapters and review articles, published in leading scientific journals including Nature Medicine, Science, New England Journal of Medicine, The Scientific American, Journal of Clinical Investigation and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; is a reviewer and editorial board member for many scientific journals; has edited several books, including Neuroendocrine and Neural Regulation of Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disease: Molecular, Systems, and Clinical Insights. (The New York Academy of Sciences, 2003), and authored the popular book: "The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions." (W.H. Freeman & Co., 2000, paperback 2001, Holt). In recognition of her work, Dr. Sternberg has been awarded the Public Health Service's Superior Service Award; Arthritis Foundation William R. Felts Award for Excellence in Rheumatology Research; United States Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service Staff Recognition Award; FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation for her work on the pathogenesis of the L-tryptophan eosinophilia myalgia syndrome; NIMH Director’s Merit Award leadership in developing interdisciplinary programs; has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and to a Committee of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine; has testified before Congress and has been advisor to the World Health Organization; is on the National Library of Medicine’s Literature Selection Technical Review and Exhibition Program Advisory Committees. Frequently invited to lecture nationally and internationally, including several lecture series at the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Sternberg has also chaired numerous national and international scientific conferences; is a past President of the International Society for Neuroimmunomodulation; and co-directed a concurrent NLM exhibition and video on "Emotions and Disease". These activities have had an important galvanizing influence in establishing the field of neural immune interactions and laying the groundwork for developing collaborative networks in the related interdisciplinary field of women’s health. |
