Faculty
Professors | Lecturers | Affiliate | Postdocs | Emeritus
Professors
Devaleena S. Pradhan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Physiology
Office: Life Sciences 332 (Bldg 65)
Research
Our research goal is to understand the physiological mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity in organisms. We apply an integrative approach that includes molecular, subcellular, and systemic levels of biological organization. We investigate endocrinological mechanisms by which neural, sensory and motor systems adapt to a changing external environment. We use in vitro and in vivo biochemical manipulations, molecular assays, hormone measurements, in situ hybridization, in-depth behavioral analyses, and measures of reproductive success to assess the hormonal regulation (in both long-term and short-term) of reproductive phenotypes of free-living and captive species of songbirds and fish. While Dr. Pradhan is trained as a neuroendocrinologist and most of her work involves neural mechanisms in the context of regulation of social behavior, she has developed interests in other local signaling mechanisms in specific tissues (e.g. reproductive tissues, muscle, spinal cord) that either undergo dramatic changes associated with life history or functional specialization. The goal of her Integrative Physiology Lab is to understand the mechanisms by which crosstalk between brain and peripheral organ systems regulate timely phenotypic expression, to increase reproductive success in organisms.
Teaching
BIOL 4486/5586 Human Systematic Physiology
BIOL 4443/5543 Endocrinology
BIOL 4491/4491 Senior Seminar
BIOL 4482 Independent Problems
BIOL 3301 Advanced Anatomy and Physiology
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Pradhan is an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University, in Pocatello, USA since 2018. Since 2019, she is also an Assistant Editor of the journal, Integrative and Comparative Biology, Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry. In 2014, she earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior from Georgia State University under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Grober after which she pursued her postdoctoral training at University of California, Los Angeles (2014-2018) in Dr. Barney Schlinger's lab. She was a lecturer at California State University, Dominguez Hills (2017-2018). She completed her K-12 schooling in India, after which she joined University of British Columbia for her B.S. in Biology. She then spent about a year at Department of Fisheries and Oceans in West Vancouver and eventually went back to University of Briitish Columbia to pursue a M.S. in Zoology from under Dr. Kiran Soma. She also received the Dorothy Skinner Award by the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in 2015, which recognizes women scientists in the early stages of their career for high scholarship. As part of ISU's Undergraduate Committee, in 2019, she founded "This is Biology" a professional development series for students. She is currently serving as Chair of the Undergraduate Committee.
Education
2014, Ph.D. Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta
2012, M.S. Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta
2008, M.S. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
2004, B.S. Department of Biology University of British Columbia, Vancouver Concentration: Animal Biology
2014-2018, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles
Selected Publications
Pradhan D.S., Van Ness, R., Jalabert, C., Hamden, J.E., Austin S.H., Soma K.K., Ramenofsky M., and Schlinger B.A. 2019. Phenotypic flexibility of glucocorticoid signaling in skeletal muscles of a songbird preparing to migrate. Hormones and Behavior, 116: 104586
Pradhan D.S., Ma C., Schlinger B.A., Soma K.K., and Ramenofsky M. 2019. Preparing to migrate: expression of androgen signaling molecules and insulin-like growth factor-1 in muscles of a long-distance migrant. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 205: 113-123
Pradhan D.S., Solomon-Lane T.K., and Grober M.S. 2015. Contextual modulation of social and endocrine correlates of fitness: insights from the life history of a sex changing fish. Frontiers in Neuroscience 8: 432
Pradhan D.S., Solomon-Lane T.K., Willis M.C., and Grober M.S. 2014. A mechanism for rapid neurosteroidal regulation of parenting behaviour. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 281 (1786)
Pradhan D. S., Newman A.E.M., Wacker D.W., Wingfield J.C., Schlinger B.A., and Soma K.K. 2010. Aggressive interactions rapidly increase androgen synthesis in the brain during the non-breeding season. Hormones and Behavior, 57(4): 381-389 (Cover art)
Pradhan D.S., Yu Y., and Soma K.K. 2008. Rapid estrogen regulation of DHEA metabolism in the male and female songbird brain. Journal of Neurochemistry 104: 244-253