General and Comparative Endocrinology: An Integrative Approach

General and Comparative Endocrinology: An Integrative Approach, takes a holistic approach to endocrinology, introducing students to the diverse facets of this interdisciplinary science ranging from the medical to comparative domains, while also exploring evolutionary, environmental, and conservation specializations within the field. The textbook is founded on the principle that students interested in the health sciences will benefit from understanding how proficiency in endocrine function among a diversity of organisms contributes to advances in modern medicine. Likewise, students intrigued by comparative physiology will benefit from the wealth of knowledge derived from medical/clinical endocrinology, the historical bedrock of the field. This textbook represents the modern field of endocrinology in its totality by addressing topics and recent advances not currently discussed in other introductory endocrinology textbooks.

Key Features

• Introduces the broad and interdisciplinary scope of endocrinology.
• Provides clear chapter objectives and key concepts.
• Includes summary and synthesis questions for each chapter that are suitable for exams and quizzes.
• Includes a chapter devoted to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
• Describes the roles played by the endocrine system in important health challenges related to appetite regulation, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases stemming from ‘mismatches to modernity’.
• Integrates evolutionary and comparative approaches to hormones and health.

Alex Schreiber is a comparative endocrinologist at St. Lawrence University where he holds the R. Sheldon ‘68 and Virginia H. Johnson Professorship in the Sciences. He teaches classes in endocrinology, cell biology, and physiology. His research addresses vertebrate metamorphosis, focusing on the influences of thyroid hormones and glucocorticoid stress hormones on amphibian development. He received a B.A. in biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. After serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in Kenya, he went on to earn an M.S. in biology from Eastern Washington University studying the osmoregulatory physiology of migrating salmon under the tutelage of Dr. Ronald J. White. He then earned a PhD in zoology at the University of Rhode Island studying the endocrinology of flatfish metamorphosis with Dr. Jennifer Specker. He pursued postdoctoral research at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Embryology, studying the molecular biology of amphibian metamorphosis in Dr. Donald Brown’s laboratory. His summers are spent in East Africa where he teaches classes in wildlife biology and high altitude physiology.