Keynote speaker


Oxytocin and the Polyvagal Theory.The Biochemistry of Love

Oxytocin pathways are at the center of physiological and genetic systems that permitted the evolution of the human nervous system and allowed the expression of contemporary human sociality. Oxytocin dynamically moderates the autonomic nervous system, and effects of oxytocin on vagal pathways, as well as the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of this peptide, help to explain the pervasive adaptive consequences of love, trust, and social behavior for emotional and physical health.



Professor 

Sue Carter

Curriculum Vitae

Pr SUE CARTER short CV

 

Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

Distinguished University Research Scientist, Kinsey Institute and Rudy Professor Emerita of Biology, Indiana University

Carter’s research focuses on neuropeptide and steroid hormones. She has been examining the role of oxytocin and vasopressin in mental disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, anxiety and depression. Carter is also known for research on the physiological basis of social behavior, including studies that implicated oxytocin, vasopressin and hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (“stress”) axis in the traits of monogamy including pair-bond formation.


Work Experience

2021-present                      

Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

2019-present                      

Distinguished University Research Scientist and Rudy Professor Emerita of Biology, Indiana University

2014-2019                         

Director, The Kinsey Institute Rudy Professor of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington

2013-2014                                   

Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Visiting Research Professor, Northeastern University, Boston

2011-2013                         

Principal Research Scientist, Research Triangle Institute International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

2001-2012                         

Professor of Psychiatry, and Co-Director, Brain-Body Center Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago

Adjunct Professorships, Departments of Physiology and Biophysics; Anatomy and Cell Biology; Psychology and College of Nursing.

1997-2001                       

Distinguished University Professor, Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

1985-2001                                   

Guest researcher, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Developmental Endocrinology Branch), Bethesda, MD

1985‑1997                                   

Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Maryland. College Park, MD

1984-1985                                   

Professor of Ecology, Ethology and Evolution and Psychology and Program in Neural and Behavioral Biology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL

1982‑1983                                   

Program Associate in Psychobiology, National Science Foundation, Washington, DC

1981                                                                  

Visiting Scholar, Department of Physiology, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, CA

1977‑1984                                   

Associate Professor, Departments Ecology, Ethology and Evolution and Psychology and Program in Neural and Behavioral Biology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL

1974‑1977                                   

Assistant Professor, Departments of Ecology, Ethology and Evolution and Psychology and School of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL

Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL          1973-1974                                   

Research Fellow, Illinois Department of Mental Health, Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, IL

1972‑1973                                   

Research Fellow, Illinois Department of Mental Health, Laboratory for Human Psychopharmacology, Champaign

Education

Undergraduate:     

Drury College, Springfield, MO

B.A., summa cum laude, Major:  Biology

Graduate:                     

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR

Ph.D., Major:  Zoology

Postdoctoral:                               

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

NIH Postdoctoral Trainee, (Biology)


HONORS AND AWARDS (selected):

2014-2019

Rudy Professor of Biology, Indiana University

2016

Distinguished Alumni Award, Life-time Achievement, Drury College, Springfield, MO

2009     

Wayner-NNOXe Pharmaceutical Award for Translational Research, awarded by the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society

2004-2005      

President, International Behavioral Neuroscience Society

2001               

J. W. Fulbright, College of Arts and Sciences, Distinguished Alumni Award,

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR

2000                      

Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio Conference Center Fellowship

1997-2001             

Distinguished University Professorship, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

1993-1998             

Research Scientist Award (K05), National Institute of Mental Health.

1985                      

Distinguished Alumni Award, Drury College

1980                      

Pre-medical Professor of the Year, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL

1970-1971             

National Institutes of Health, Postdoctoral Fellowship