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My research program in molecular and biochemical endocrinology and neuroendocrinology integrated a system approach that included multidisciplinary, comparative, genomics, neuroscience, physiological, biochemical and molecular studies studying basal vertebrates.
My laboratory focused on two species of fish, lampreys and hagfish, which are the only two living representatives of the oldest lineage of vertebrates, known as jawless vertebrates (agnathans). My laboratory and collaborators have been the driving force in elucidating the lamprey neuroendocrine system. We have made many significant contributions and breakthroughs related to the origin, evolution and function of the neuroendocrine system in vertebrates. Our work showed and confirmed that the hypothalamic-pituitary system was a seminal event that emerged prior to or during the evolution of the vertebrates (Sower et al., 2009; Sower 2015). |