Rate My Professor Stephen Bunn

Bunn's major research interest lies in the neuroendocrinology of stress. His work addresses the complex regulation of adrenal medullary chromaffin cells, focusing on their secretory output of catecholamines and peptides in response to multiple stress-activated inputs, particularly cytokine interactions like interleukin-6 signaling. He also explores the role of prolactin as a cytokine in the stress axis, investigating how stressors alter prolactin secretion from the pituitary and its contributions to stress adaptation during physiological states such as pregnancy and lactation, including phenotypic switches in tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons and pSTAT5 activation. Notable publications include 'The role of prolactin in the suppression of the response to restraint stress in the lactating mouse' (Gustafson et al., Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 2024), 'Lactation and the control of the prolactin secretion' (Szawka et al., 2024), 'Elevated Prolactin during Pregnancy Drives a Phenotypic Switch in the Tuberoinfundibular Dopamine Network' (2019, Cell Reports), and 'Impact of chronic variable stress on neuroendocrine hypothalamus and pituitary in male and female C57BL/6J mice' (2021). His research has garnered over 2,000 citations, influencing understandings of neuroendocrine cell signaling and stress responses.