Mary Fenner Dallman Explained

Mary Fenner Dallman (April 11, 1935 – December 21, 2021) was an American neuroendocrinologist and professor emerita at University of California, San Francisco,[1] where she was the first tenure-track female faculty member in the Department of Physiology and worked for 38 years before retiring in 2007. She is known for her elucidation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and the discovery that comfort foods dampen the stress response.[2]

Life

Mary Dallman has three children with her husband Peter Dallman, a professor of pediatric medicine at UCSF.

Career

Dallman received her bachelor's degree in Chemistry[3] from Smith College (1956) and completed her Ph.D. in Physiology at Stanford University in the laboratory of F. Eugene Yates (1967). Dallman then pursued two post-doctoral training stints, the first in Neuroscience in Stockholm, Sweden with Bengt Andersson and the second at UCSF in Neuroendocrinology with William Francis Ganong. She stayed on at UCSF thereafter, hired first as a lecturer for two years, before establishing her own lab as an assistant professor (1972), rising to full professor and serving as vice chair of the department for fourteen years. She is now professor emerita at University of California, San Francisco, where she was the first tenure-track female faculty member in the Department of Physiology and worked for 38 years before retiring in 2007.

She is known for her elucidation of function along the hypothalamic, pituitary, adrenal axis, and the discovery that comfort foods dampen the stress response.[2] Her lab explored the role of glucocorticoid feedback on the HPA axis,[4] [5] showing that there is a very fast (seconds-minutes) inhibitory effect,[6] and that sufficiently intense stimuli to the stress-response system use central networks that appear to bypass central glucocorticoid inhibition of subsequent system activity.[7] The lab also provided evidence that efferent adrenal nerves regulate both compensatory adrenal growth after unilateral adrenalectomy,[8] and the diurnal rhythm in adrenocortical sensitivity to ACTH secretion.[9] The finding that body weight, fat content, and activity in the HPA axis are tightly correlated,[10] initiated subsequent studies that ultimately showed that only voluntary intake of lard inhibits adrenocortical responses to subsequent stressors.[11] Dallman died on December 21, 2021, at the age of 86.[12]

Recognition

Dallman has been recognized for her contributions in many ways:[13]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Our Team Next Mission. nextmission.ucsf.edu. 2018-01-14.
  2. Web site: Comfort Food May Be "Self-Medication" for Stress, Dialing Down Stress Response. UC San Francisco. 7 December 2011 . en. 2018-01-14.
  3. Web site: The Biology of Fat (or Why Literally Running Away from Stress Is a Good Idea). UC San Francisco. 6 July 2007 . en. 2018-01-14.
  4. Dallman . M. F. . Akana . S. F. . Cascio . C. S. . Darlington . D. N. . Jacobson . L. . Levin . N. . Regulation of ACTH secretion: variations on a theme of B . Recent Progress in Hormone Research . 43 . 1987 . 0079-9963 . 2819993 . 10.1016/b978-0-12-571143-2.50010-1 . 113–173. 978-0-12-571143-2 .
  5. Dallman . M. F. . Akana . S. F. . Bhatnagar . S. . Bell . M. E. . Strack . A. M. . Bottomed out: metabolic significance of the circadian trough in glucocorticoid concentrations . International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders . 24 Suppl 2 . 2000 . 10997607 . 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801276 . S40–46.
  6. Sato . T. . Sato . M. . Shinsako . J. . Dallman . M. F. . Corticosterone-induced changes in hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) content after stress . Endocrinology . 97 . 2 . 1975 . 0013-7227 . 169120 . 10.1210/endo-97-2-265 . 265–274.
  7. Keller-Wood . M. . Shinsako . J. . Dallman . M. F. . Interaction between stimulus intensity and corticosteroid feedback in control of ACTH . The American Journal of Physiology . 247 . 4 Pt 1 . 1984 . 0002-9513 . 6093548 . 10.1152/ajpendo.1984.247.4.E489 . E489–494.
  8. Dallman . M. F. . Engeland . W. C. . Shinsako . J. . Compensatory adrenal growth: a neurally mediated reflex . The American Journal of Physiology . 231 . 2 . 1976 . 0002-9513 . 183516 . 10.1152/ajplegacy.1976.231.2.408 . 408–414.
  9. Dallman . M. F. . Engeland . W. C. . Rose . J. C. . Wilkinson . C. W. . Shinsako . J. . Siedenburg . F. . Nycthemeral rhythm in adrenal responsiveness to ACTH . The American Journal of Physiology . 235 . 5 . 1978 . 0002-9513 . 215040 . 10.1152/ajpregu.1978.235.5.R210 . R210–218.
  10. Akana . S. F. . Cascio . C. S. . Shinsako . J. . Dallman . M. F. . Corticosterone: narrow range required for normal body and thymus weight and ACTH . The American Journal of Physiology . 249 . 5 Pt 2 . 1985 . 0002-9513 . 2998210 . 10.1152/ajpregu.1985.249.5.R527 . R527–532.
  11. la Fleur . Susanne E. . Houshyar . Hani . Roy . Monica . Dallman . Mary F. . Choice of lard, but not total lard calories, damps adrenocorticotropin responses to restraint . Endocrinology . 146 . 5 . 2005 . 0013-7227 . 15705773 . 10.1210/en.2004-1603 . 2193–2199.
  12. Web site: Newman . Mark . 2021-12-30 . Remembering "a True Giant in Endocrinology and Neuroendocrinology," Mary F. Dallman, PhD . 2024-03-08 . Endocrine News . en-US.
  13. Wood. Charles. When lab leaders take too much control. Nature. 28 Nov 2012. 491. 785. 10.1038/nj7426-785a. free.

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