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| Esther M. Sternberg, M.D., Senior Investigator |
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Dr. Sternberg received her M.D. degree in 1974 from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. She obtained her clinical training in Rheumatology from Royal Victoria Hospital and McGill University. Dr. Sternberg completed postdoctoral training within the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Washington University, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO. She was subsequently an Associate of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Instructor in Medicine at Washington University and Barnes Hospital. Dr. Sternberg moved to the NIMH in 1986 and is currently a Senior Investigator and chief of the Section on Neuroendocrine Immunology and Behavior. For much of her career she has investigated the interaction between the central nervous system and the immune system. Dr. Sternberg's work has helped to define the role of the brain's stress response in susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, and has shed light on the underlying mechanisms for the connection between stress, depression and autoimmune disease.
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Staff:
- Dr. Elena Belyaskaya, M.D., Senior Research Fellow, (301) 594-5852 elenab@codon.nih.gov
- Cherie Butts, Ph.D., Research Fellow, (301) 594-5853 buttsc@mail.nih.gov
- Andrea Deak, M.D., Research Fellow, (301) 594-4117 deaka@mail.nih.gov
- Kristina Duncan, B.Sc., Predoctoral Fellow, (301) 496-9255 kristinad@mail.nih.gov
- Dr. Farideh Eskandari, M.D., Clinical Fellow, (301) 402-3239 faridehe@codon.nih.gov
- Mr. Chad Gunsolly, Predoctoral Fellow, (301) 594-5853 gunsollc@intra.nimh.nih.gov
- Dr. Leonardo Tonelli, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, (301) 496-6553 tonelli@irp.nimh.nih.gov
- Mrs. Socorro Vigil-Scott, Secretary, (301) 496-9255 vigilscs@intra.nimh.nih.gov
- Ms. Jeanette Webster, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, (301) 496-5562 jwebster@codon.nimh.gov
Research Interests:
The mission of the SNIB is to advance the understanding of the role of neuroendocrine and neural factors in susceptibility and resistance to immune mediated disorders, including autoimmune, inflammatory and infectious disorders. These studies are carried out at a molecular level (glucocorticoid, estrogen and other nuclear hormone receptors; cytokine and cytokine receptors); cellular level (immune/inflammatory responses; hypothalamic cell neurohormone and neuropeptide production); neuroanatomical level (neurohormone and immune molecule mRNA and peptide expression in brain); systems level (neuroendocrine, immune and physiological responses). While previous studies primarily focused on neural and hypothalamic mechanisms in susceptibility and resistance to inflammatory disease in rat models, current studies focus on bacterial toxin repression of the glucocorticoid receptor, and the role of this effect in inflammation and shock. This focus stems from the SNIB�s recent discovery that B. anthracis lethal toxin selectively represses the glucocorticoid and other nuclear hormone receptors (J.I. Webster et al., PNAS, 2003). These studies have important implications for understanding the pathophysiology and treatment of bacterial shock, and the role of host factors in susceptibility and resistance to infectious and pro-inflammatory agents.
The clinical research program of the SNIB focuses on developing quantitative measures for stress and immune biomarkers in ambulatory settings.
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Contact Information:
Dr. Esther M. Sternberg
Neuroendocrine Immunology and Behavior Section
Clinical Neuroendocrinology Branch, NIMH
Building 10, Room 2D46
10 Center Drive, MSC 1284
Bethesda, MD 20892-1284
Telephone: (301) 402-2773 (office),
(301) 496-1891 (laboratory),
(301) 402-1561 (fax)
Email: sternbee@mail.nih.gov
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