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Newswise BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University has appointed Sue Carter, a pioneering leader in the field of behavioral neuroendocrinology, as director of The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, effective Nov. 1.

The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University Bloomington was founded in 1947 by its namesake, zoologist Alfred Kinsey. Carter plans to support and extend the efforts begun by Kinsey with an added emphasis on understanding the science of love, nurture and longevity.

Sue Carter is an outstanding scientist whose innovative research will contribute significantly to The Kinsey Institute, Vice President for Research Jorge Jos said. I have asked Dr. Carter to develop a strategic plan for the institute that expands its research focus into the biological bases of love and sexual behavior. Just as Dr. Kinseys research in the 20th century broke new ground in our understanding of sexual behavior, Dr. Carters research into the mechanisms underlying social bonds, love and other positive emotions will break new ground in the 21st century.

Recent findings, many of which are built upon scientific research models originated by Carter, have revealed that the same basic neurobiological processes and systems that support healthy sexual responses are necessary for love and well-being. At the biological heart of the experience of love, as well as sexual behavior, is a small hormone known as oxytocin. Oxytocin, and the neural systems that oxytocin regulates, in turn protect and heal. An initial focus of Carters plans for The Kinsey Institute will be the development of a Kinsey Institute Resource Center, intended to increase collaborations among members of the IU academic community, and globally. This center will offer access to noninvasive technologies necessary to understand the biology and health benefits of human social and emotional relationships.

Currently Carter is the principal investigator of a $4.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for research involving the developmental consequences of birth interventions. This work, which uses an animal model to examine the possible effects for infants of the use of oxytocin (medically known as Pitocin) to induce labor, will continue at IU Bloomington.

Carter has a long history of federal funding; her other NIH grants have examined the neurobiology of social bonding and social support, the effects of early experiences on brain development, and the role of peptides in the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. She also pioneered studies of the beneficial effects for the mother of breast feeding; and recently, working with collaborators from around the world, she has studied the role of oxytocin in mental illnesses including autism, schizophrenia and postpartum depression.

Dr. Carters work at the intersection of science and society -- balancing rigorous research and the challenges of humankind -- is most impressive, said Lynn Luckow, chair of The Kinsey Institutes Board of Trustees. This rich combination of her capacity to engage a variety of research disciplines, utilize and expand the research collections and archives, and offer more opportunities for education and training made Sue stand out as the leader most able to move the institute toward even greater relevance and impact in the daily lives of people worldwide.

Carter comes to IU Bloomington from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was professor of psychiatry. She was previously co-director of the Brain-Body Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and prior to that Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. Her prior appointments have been in the departments of psychology, zoology and biology, and she helped found the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in neural and behavioral biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Carter is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society, and she was awarded the Matthew J. Wayner-NNOXe Pharmaceutical Award for Translational Research.

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Sue Carter Named Director of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University

By Tara Haelle HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Oct. 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Although drinking during pregnancy has long been considered taboo, new research suggests that as many as one in 20 U.S. children may have health or behavioral problems related to alcohol exposure before birth.

The study found that between 2.4 percent and 4.8 percent of children have some kind of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or FASD.

"Knowing not to drink during pregnancy and not doing so are two different things," especially before a woman knows she is pregnant, said lead researcher Philip May, a professor of public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He said the high prevalence of children affected by drinking during pregnancy may be due to social pressures or women's difficulty in changing their drinking habits.

Findings from the study were reported online Oct. 27 and in the November print issue of Pediatrics.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders include fetal alcohol syndrome disorder plus other conditions that include some, but not all, of the characteristics of fetal alcohol syndrome, according to background information in the study.

Fetal alcohol syndrome is the most severe end of the spectrum, and children with this condition have abnormal facial features, structural brain abnormalities, growth problems and behavioral issues. Children on the less severe end of the spectrum may have impairments in the ability to complete tasks required to do well in school, or have behavioral issues, the study noted.

May and his colleagues selected a nationally representative town in the Midwest for the study. The town had an average annual alcohol consumption rate about 14 percent higher than the rest of the United States. That translated into roughly a liter of alcohol more per person per year, according to the study authors.

The town had 32 schools with a total of more than 2,000 first-graders. About 70 percent of the youngsters' parents allowed their children to participate in the study.

May's team identified first-graders who had a developmental problem or were below the 25th percentile for height, weight or head circumference. Then the researchers gave memory and thinking ("cognitive") tests, as well as behavioral tests, to these children and to a comparison group of typically developing first-graders.

Originally posted here:
More Kids Harmed by Drinking in Pregnancy Than Expected, Study Reports