Overview
The Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology is a unit of the UCLA Brain Research Institute comprising fourteen faculty laboratories with a common interest in neuroendocrinology. The LNE fosters education and research in neuroendocrinology, especially in areas concerning reproduction. The activities of the LNE include graduate and undergraduate courses in neuroendocrinology, the weekly brown-bag seminar on current topics in neuroendocrinology, exchange of research ideas and methods among member laboratories, research opportunities for students at all levels, and the annual Charles Sawyer lectureship in neuroendocrinology. The educational activities of the LNE have been funded continuously since 1980 by an NIH training grant, "Neuroendocrinology of Reproduction." Research of the faculty spans all analytical levels in the field of neuroscience, from the molecular to the behavioral. Research interests include sex determination and sexual differentiation, hormonal regulation of neural function, gender differences in disease, cellular and molecular analysis of neural development, neural regulation of gonadal and adrenal function, glial neurobiology, stress, aging, neuroendocrine immunology, growth factors and cytokines, and genetic approaches. Although the main focus is on basic research in neuroendocrinology, some faculty are also involved in direct analysis of human disease and clinical trials to develop new neuroendocrine therapies.