Ana Ribeiro

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		Assistant Professor of Biology B.A., Western Connecticut State University M.S., Ph.D. Fordham University Postdoctoral training: The Rockefeller University

Contact Information (718) 405-3378 ana.ribeiro@mountsaintvincent.edu Science Building 110		Areas of Expertise Sleep disorders and physiology Hormonal regulation of behavior Hormonal imbalances and obesity

Courses

NSCI 104 Human Biology
BIOL 111/111L General Biology I (Lecture and Laboratory)
BIOL 112/112L General Biology II (Lecture and Laboratory)
BIOL 204 Human Genetics
BIOL 320/320L Systemic Physiology (Lecture and Laboratory)
BIOL 310, 410 Research in Biology
BIOL 360, 460 Independent Study in Biology
BIOL 404 Biological Colloquium
BIOL 405/405L Neurobiology (Lecture and Laboratory)

Research Interests
The mechanisms by which animals adapt to an ever-changing environment have longfascinated scientists. Our laboratory is particularly interested in the neural mechanisms by which animals sense changes in resource (food) availability in their environment and change their behavior to take advantage of these temporally restricted resources.

Our Laboratory is also interested in the signaling molecules and neural pathways by which estrogens promote behavioral arousal. Estrogen-treated mice have more than double the amount of running wheel activity, compared to non-treated animals, and we have shown that these changes in behavior are accompanied by changes in the expression of sleep-related gene-products in areas of the brain involved in sleep regulation.

External Research Support
Dr. Ribeiro received a National Research Service Award from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to study the mechanisms underlying estrogen-mediated increases in behavioral arousal.

Recent Publications
Ribeiro, A.C., Musatov, S., Shteyler, A., Simanduyev, S., Arrieta-Cruz, I., Ogawa, S., Pfaff, D.W. siRNA silencing of estrogen receptor-α expression specifically in medial preoptic area neurons abolishes maternal care in female mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 109(40):16324-9, 2012.

Ribeiro, A.C., Ceccarini, G., Dupré, C., Friedman, J.M., Pfaff, D.W., Allyn, M. Contrasting Effects of Leptin on Food Anticipatory and Total Locomotor Activity. PLoS ONE 6(8), 2011.

Murakami, G., Hunter, R.G., Fontaine, C., Ribeiro, A., Pfaff, D. Relationships among estrogen receptor, oxytocin and vasopressin gene expression and social interaction in male mice. Eur J Neurosci. 34(3):469-77, 2011

Spiteri T, Musatov S, Ogawa S, Ribeiro A, Pfaff DW, Agmo A. The role of the estrogen receptor alpha in the medial amygdala and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus in social recognition, anxiety and aggression. Behav. Brain Res. 2010; 210(2):211-20.

Pfaff DW, Ribeiro AC. Theoretical consequences of fluctuating versus constant liganding of oestrogen receptor-alpha in neurones. J. Neuroendocrinol. 2010; 22(6):486-91. Review.

Spiteri T, Musatov S, Ogawa S, Ribeiro A, Pfaff DW, Agmo A. Estrogen-induced sexual incentive motivation, proceptivity and receptivity depend on a functional estrogen receptor alpha in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus but not in the amygdala. Neuroendocrinology. 2010; 91(2):142-54.

Ribeiro, A. C., D. W. Pfaff, and N. Devidze. Estradiol modulates behavioral arousal and induces changes in gene-expression profiles in brain regions involved in the control of vigilance. Eur. J. Neurosci. 29(4):795-801, 2009.

Westberg, L., E. Sawa, A. Wang, L. Gunaydin, A. Ribeiro and D. Pfaff. Co-localization of connexin 36 and corticotropin-releasing hormone in the mouse brain. BMC Neuroscience, 10(1):41, 2009.

Ribeiro, A. C., J. LeSauter and D. W. Pfaff. Relationship of arousal to circadian anticipatory behavior: Ventromedial hypothalamus - One Node in a Hunger/Arousal Network. Eur J Neurosci. 30(9):1730-8, 2009.