Westminster College Assistant Professor Co-authors Paper

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - Dr. Veronica Porterfield, Westminster College visiting assistant professor of biology, co-authored an article for the August issue of Brain Behavior and Immunity.

"Repeated Stressor Exposure Regionally Enhances Beta-Adrenergic Receptor-Mediated Brain IL-1β Production" was also authored by Kristin Gabella, Mark Simmons and John Johnson.

They examined how the regulation of IL-1β through β-AR signaling might change after repeated stress exposure and found support that repeated stress exposure results in brain area specific enhancements in β-AR-mediated IL-1 production. The results extend current knowledge of stress induced enhancement of brain cytokine production.

Visit http://www.sciencedirect.com to read the article.

Porterfield, a Westminster graduate who joined the faculty in 2011, earned a Ph.D. from Kent State University.

Contact Porterfield at (724) 946-7784 or email for additional information.

Dr. Veronica Porterfield, visiting assistant professor of biology