The IBMR comprises these programs:
Comparative medicine/animal model program – The comparative medicine/animal model group involves Michael Bailey, PhD, David Padgett, PhD, Ning Quan, PhD, and John Sheridan, PhD all from the Department of Oral Biology, as well as Jon Godbout, PhD, Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics. Their focus is on developing animal models for psychoneuroimmunology research. Recent work has examined the brain’s role in mediating the impact of social and psychological risk factors on the pathophysiology of inflammatory and infectious diseases.
Central nervous system control of the nervous and endocrine systems provides mechanisms by which brain activity can regulate peripheral gene expression. At present, it is unknown which specific central nervous system structures act to translate social and psychological stimuli into the peripheral biological signals that modulate disease.
The comparative medicine group has leveraged recent developments in functional neural imaging and genome-wide molecular analyses to define the “social signal transduction” pathways by which social processes regulate physiologic function in the context of inflammatory disease. The central objective of this work is to: (a) identify specific central nervous system circuits that link cognition and emotion to the endocrine and autonomic output pathways and; (b) define the molecular pathways by which these mediators regulate inflammatory and infectious diseases in peripheral tissue.
Human psychoneuroimmunology program – The human psychoneuroimmunology program involves: Barbara Andersen, Department of Psychology; Charles Emery, PhD, Department of Psychology; Ronald Glaser, PhD, Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics; Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, Department of Psychiatry; Stanley Lemeshow, PhD, dean of the College of Public Health; William Malarkey, MD, Department of Internal Medicine; and Eric Yang, PhD, Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics.
Studies in this program focus on psychological stressors and behavioral questions that could affect health by modulating the immune and endocrine systems. A program involving an exercise intervention under the leadership of Charles Emery, PhD, is also being investigated. Other areas of emphasis include how chronic stressors, such as care giving, and acute stressors, such as marital conflict, substantially enhance production of proinflammatory cytokines linked to a range of age-associated diseases. This research will provide a window on how stress contributes to morbidity and mortality.
Immunology and stress program – The research group of Courtney DeVries, PhD, and Randy Nelson, PhD, Department of Psychology, study the effects of stressors on inflammation after stroke or cardiac arrest, as well as seasonality in immune function, disease and mortality.
Neuroendcrinology program – William Malarkey, MD, and Jeanette Webster Marketon, PhD, are investigators from the Department of Internal Medicine whose research focuses on neuroendocrinology in a clinical setting and at a molecular level.
Neuroimmunology program – Jonathan Godbout, PhD, Phillip Popovich, PhD, Virginia Sanders, PhD, and Caroline Whitacre, PhD, are investigators from the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics whose research focuses on diverse yet interrelated areas of neuro-immunology. Studies include research on spinal cord injury and autoimmune diseases.
Stress and the biobehavioral aspects of cancer program – Cancer survivors are the focus of a line of work spearheaded by Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, Ronald Glaser, PhD, Electra Paskett, PhD, and William Malarkey, MD. One project funded by the National Cancer Institute addresses the role that proinflammatory cytokines play in combination with depression among breast cancer survivors who experience debilitating fatigue, and the ability of a yoga intervention to modulate endocrine and immune responses. Additionally, Barbara Andersen, PhD, Department of Psychology, has examined biobehavioral aspects of cancer. Her goal is to discover whether reducing stress and changing health habits have a significant impact on cancer recurrence and survival.
A new line of research involving Ronald Glaser, PhD, Clay Marsh, MD, and Eric Yang, PhD, suggests that some hormones produced during periods of stress may increase the growth rate of cancer. The study shows that an increase in norepinephrine, a stress hormone, can stimulate tumor cells to produce compounds such as vascular endothelial growth factor and matrix metallaproteinases. These compounds can enhance the blood supply to the tumor and can break down the tissue around the tumor cells to allow the cells to more easily move into the bloodstream. From there, they can travel to another location in the body to form additional tumors, a process called metastasis. This opens up an entirely new way of looking at stress and cancer. The data suggest a new possible approach to fighting some cancers: the prescribing of beta-blocker-type drugs that would block the hormones from binding to the cancer cell which might slow the progression of the disease.