Marc Tetel
Allene Lummis Russell '46 Professor of Neuroscience
Links
Research areas include neuroendocrinology, effects of hormonesand lifestyle factors on the human microbiome. Visit the Tetel Lab website.
My lab is interested in how the ovarian steroid hormones, estradiol and progesterone, regulate behavior and physiology, including energy homeostasis. In the past, our work explored how these hormones, acting through their respective steroid receptors, elicited their functions in brain. More recently, we have been exploring how hormones impact the gut microbiome, which is a collection of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, archaea, protozoa and fungi), their genomes and the factors they produce in the gut. The gut microbiome has been implicated in a variety of disorders and diseases, including obesity, depression, and anxiety. Currently, we are exploring the interactions between the human gut and vaginal microbiomes and the implications for women’s health. We are asking if hormones and life-style factors, such as stress, diet, exercise, sleep, affect the interaction between these two important microbiomes.
I teach Introduction to Neuroscience, where neuroscience majors and non-science majors study the brain from the molecular level to behavior. Our topics range from how neurons produce electrical signals to learning and memory in humans. In addition, we investigate a number of disorders of the nervous system, including depression, anxiety, and Parkinson’s disease. In Neuroendocrinology 315, we explore how hormones act in the brain to regulate gene expression and behavior. We discuss how the major neuroendocrine axes regulate a variety of functions, including sexual differentiation of the brain, stress, and reproductive physiology and behavior. I also teach Career Exploration and Grant Writing 301.
I belong to the following societies:
Society for Neuroscience
Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
Endocrine Society
Pan American Neuroendocrine Society
In my free time, I enjoy going out for sushi, biking, hiking, and traveling with my family.
Education
- B.A., Northwestern University
- Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst
Current and upcoming courses
Brain, Behavior, and Cognition: An Introduction to Neuroscience
NEUR100
This course will provide a broad introduction to neuroscience, focusing on examples and approaches from cellular and molecular, cognitive, behavioral, systems, and computational neuroscience. The lecture aspect of the course will be accompanied by a 75-minute practicum in which students will engage directly in experimental neuroscience.
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Brain, Behavior, and Cognition: An Introduction to Neuroscience
NEUR100H
This course will provide a broad introduction to neuroscience, focusing on examples and approaches from cellular and molecular, cognitive, behavioral, systems, and computational neuroscience. The lecture aspect of the course will be accompanied by a 75-minute practicum in which students will engage directly in experimental neuroscience. -
Neuroendocrinology
NEUR315
Hormones act throughout the body to coordinate basic biological functions such as development, differentiation, and reproduction. This course will investigate how hormones act in the brain to regulate physiology and behavior. We will study how the major neuroendocrine axes regulate a variety of functions, including brain development, reproductive physiology and behavior, homeostasis, and stress. The regulation of these functions by hormones will be investigated at the molecular, cellular, and behavioral levels. (BISC 315 and NEUR 315 are cross-listed courses.)