Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center

12:00 pm Noon - 1:00 pm, Conference Room (3rd Floor) Mellon Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

"Cortisol:  A Significant Link Between Mind and Body?"

Prof. Dr. Clemens Kirschbaum, Institute of Physiological Psychology II, University of Duesseldorf, Germany

Dr. Kirschbaum's presentation will provide a general overview on the use of salivary cortisol measurements in biobehavioral research. In 1991, Dr. Kirschbaum earned his doctorate degree from the University of Trier and thereafter joined the faculty at the University of Trier. After several years, he continued his training with a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Rochester in the Department of Neuroanatomy and Neurobiology under the direction of Dr. D. L. Felten. In 1996, Dr. Kirschbaum was the recipient of the Heisenberg Scholarship from the German Research Foundation which enabled him to pursue his research at the Center for Psychobiological and Psychosomatic Research at the University of Trier. In 1999, he joined the faculty at the University of Duesseldorf where he is Professor of Physiological Psychology.

Dr. Kirschbaum's current research endeavors include projects on stress reactivity and glucocorticoid sensitivity in atopic patients, habitual smokers and pill users; HRT in menopause and the effects on cognitive, electrophysiological and structural indices of CNS performance; and the stimulatory effects of acute psychosocial stress on the activation of nuclear factor-kappa B with special reference to chronic inflammatory diseases. He has authored numerous scientific articles and chapters on topics relevant to stress and cortisol. Dr. Kirschbaum is a past recipient of the Neal Miller New Investigator Award from the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and the Innovation Award from the Foundation for the Advancement of the Center for Psyhcobiological and Psychosomatic Research. Dr. Kirschbaum presently serves as Treasurer for the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Psychophysiologie (DGPA).

For a more in-depth review of Dr. Kirschbaum's research, please visit his website, http://www.uni-duesseldorf.de/~ck/index.html