Portman Lab
Sex Differences in Neurobiology, Behavior and Disease
Though the existence of two sexes is a fundamental characteristic of nearly all animal species, the way biological sex brings about sex differences in the brain and behavior is poorly understood. Moreover, susceptibility to a host of human neurological and mental health disorders is strongly influenced by gender, but in most cases the biological bases for these differences remain opaque. Our research uses a simple, experimentally tractable model system – the small soil nematode C. elegans – to shed light on the genetic underpinnings of sex differences in neural development, behavior, and disease susceptibility.
Our research is made possible by current and past grant support from the National Institutes of Health (NINDS, NIGMS, and NIDDK), the National Science Foundation, Autism Speaks and the PKD Foundation.
Douglas Stuart Portman, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Publications
View All Publications- Two C. elegans DM domain proteins, DMD-3 and MAB-3, function in late stages of male somatic gonad development.; Developmental biology. 2024 Jun 14.
- Behavioral evolution: No sex please, we're hermaphrodites.; Current biology : CB; Vol 34(10), pp. R501-R504. 2024 May 20.
- C. elegans males optimize mate-preference decisions via sex-specific responses to multimodal sensory cues.; Current biology : CB. 2024 Mar 07.
- Developmental biology: A hole in the matrix.; Current biology : CB; Vol 33(19), pp. R1016-R1018. 2023 Oct 09.
News
Affiliations
April 18, 2024
Doug Portman named a fellow of the AAAS
March 11, 2024
Turns out—male roundworms are picky when choosing a mate, new research finds
August 25, 2021
Appetite for survival: Brain signal alerts roundworms to changing food supply
September 18, 2020
Doug Portman Becomes New Director of the GDSC Graduate Program
Contact Us
Douglas Portman, Ph.D.
University of Rochester Medical Center
Neurology, Center for Neurotherapeutics Discovery
Box 645
601 Elmwood Avenue
Rochester, NY 14642
We're located in the Kornberg Medical Research Building at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. For driving directions, click on the red circle on the map. Parking is available in a small lot in front of our building. Enter through front doors and then go through the doors on immediately on your right to enter the KMRB atrium. Walk past the coffee cart, go halfway up the short flight of steps on the right and take the elevator up to 1. From the phone by the locked doors, call x5-7414 (Doug) or x5-7915 (Lab) to let us know you’re here.
KMRB 1-9625
KMRB 1-9838