Jeffrey Blaustein

Research: For many years, my research group studied the ways that hormones act in the brain to modify brain function and behavior and how the environment influences these processes. During the estrous cycle of various rodent species, the ovarian hormones, estradiol and progesterone, regulate the expression of both reproductive and non-reproductive behaviors. The sensitivity of specific neurons involved in these behaviors to each of the hormones is modulated in part by changing the concentrations of hormone-specific intracellular receptors. We are interested in how hormones accomplish this and in the external factors that can modulate the response.

Most recently, we studied the long-term effects of exposure to particular stressors around the time of puberty. We discovered that exposure to particular stressors only during the peripubertal period causes enduring changes in response to ovarian steroid hormones in adulthood. Our most recent work focused on the mechanisms by which these particular stressors cause enduring changes in an animal's response to sex steroid hormones. We speculate that similar processes may underlie mental health problems in adults who have been exposed to adverse situations (e.g., maltreatment, abuse) during pubertal development.

Public Engagement and Advocacy: In my semi-retirement, I am working on ways to enlighten breast cancer survivors and oncologists about the importance of ovarian hormones on the brain and their impact on mental health and quality of life following breast-cancer surgery.  We have a particular focus on estrogen blockers and brain function.

After women have surgery for breast cancer, oncologists typically prescribe drugs to halt the production or effects of the sex hormones, estrogens, in order to decrease the risk of the cancer returning. However, because estrogens have many positive effects on the brain—such as improving mood, thinking, and sexual desire and slowing the effects of aging—interfering with these effects may significantly reduce a woman’s quality of life after surgery. Unfortunately, oncologists typically do not educate women about these negative side effects, and they may prescribe the drugs regardless of the risk of the tumor returning—which sometimes is very small—and without explaining the negative impacts of these drugs. Physicians must better educate women on the benefits and risks of particular decisions that they make regarding the use of hormone therapy after surgery, and women should better understand the potential side effects of these powerful drugs.

Consultant: I have five years of experience consulting with a litigation firm regarding the effects of hormones and endocrine disruptors on brain, behavior, and mental health.

Dr. Blaustein has closed his laboratory, and he is no longer taking trainees to work with him.