| Clinical Research Branch |
Intramural Program Investigators ^ Home ^ |
| David E. Anderson, Ph.D., Senior Investigator Translational Research and Medical Services Section |
 David E. Anderson received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oregon in 1966, and served a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of New York at Stony Brook, 1966-1967. His career interest in the behavioral origins of hypertension emerged while he was on the faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (1968-1981), where he developed an animal behavior model of hypertension. He elaborated this stress/salt interaction model while a Professor at the University of South Florida (1981-1987). He was a recipient of an NIH Research Career Development Award (1983-1987) and the Pavlovian Award for Biological Science in 1985. He joined the National Institute on Aging in 1987 as Chief of the Behavioral Medicine Section of the Laboratory of Behavioral Science, and became Chief of the Behavioral Hypertension Section, Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science in 1997. He joined the Clinical Research Branch, Translational Research and Medical Services Section in 2007. |
| Research Interests: Behavioral medicine research is concerned with the application of behavioral principles and methods to the study of the origins of, and interventions in, medical disorders. The role of behavioral science in cardiovascular research is to clarify the nature of the contingencies on behavior that participate in the development of cardiovascular disorders, and to develop behavioral interventions for their prevention or reversal. It is understood that such chronic disorders are multi-factorial in origin, involving genetic and possibly other environmental/behavioral factors, including especially diet. |
| The mediating mechanisms by which behavioral factors participate in hypertension and coronary artery disease remain to be clarified, but are also likely to be distinct from each other. While coronary artery disease is clearly linked with anger and hostility (and associated activation of the sympathetic nervous system), the extent to which this mechanism mediates the development of sodium-sensitive forms of hypertension is far from established. The preponderance of evidence suggests that the physiological concomitants of emotional inhibition can play a significant mediating role, especially in interaction with high dietary sodium intake. It is with investigations of the mechanisms by which behavioral factors contribute to the pathogenesis of sodium-sensitive hypertension that the work of this section is dedicated. |
| Contact Information: Clinical Research Branch Harbor Hospital 3001 Hanover Street Baltimore, MD 21225 Phone 410-350-3986 E mail andersond@grc.nia.nih.gov For more information about the Branch: http://www.grc.nia.nih.gov/branches/crb/crb.htm |
| IRP Home What's New Contact Us Accessibility Disclaimer Privacy Site Search Site Map NIA Home |
 |
 |
 |