Bio:
Horacio de la Iglesia finished his undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He got his PhD in Neuroscience and Behavior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where working with Eric Bittman he studied the neuroanatomical interactions between the master circadian clock of mammals and the brain centers that control reproduction . He then continued his research on the neural control of circadian rhythms as a Post-doctoral Fellow and as an Instructor in the laboratory of William Schwartz at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He was also an Instructor at Harvard University where he taught a course on Stem Cells. Dr. de la Iglesia joined the University of Washington Department of Biology in 2003.
Research Interests:
 Research in our laboratory is guided to understand the neural basis of behavior. Specifically, we are interested in biological timing, which can be studied at different levels of organization, using different approaches and throughout the phylogenetic tree.
Virtually all living species have biological clocks that generate and control the daily cyclic variations in physiology and behavior, such us rhythms in locomotor activity, temperature and hormonal secretion. In mammals, the master control of these so-called circadian rhythms is exerted by a biological clock located within the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the brain. We use behavioral, physiological and molecular techniques in order to understand how the SCN generates and orchestrates this array of circadian rhythms.
Species of the intertidal zone show also behavioral and physiological rhythms synchronized to the tidal cycle. These circatidal rhythms also rely on biological clocks and a second line of research in our laboratory is directed to identify the molecular mechanisms and neural pathways by which these clocks are able to sustain rhythms in decapod crustaceans.
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Selected Publications:
1. Schwartz, M.D., Wotus, C., Liu, T., Friesen, W.O., Borjigin, J., Oda, G.A., and de la Iglesia, H.O. (2009). Dissociation of circadian and light inhibition of melatonin release through forced desynchronization in the rat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America In press.
2. Robertson, J.L., Clifton, D.K., de la Iglesia, H.O., Steiner, R.A., and Kauffman, A.S. (2009). Circadian regulation of Kiss1 neurons: implications for timing the preovulatory gonadotropin-releasing hormone/luteinizing hormone surge. Endocrinology 150, 3664-3671.
3. Lee, M.L., Swanson, B.E., and de la Iglesia, H.O. (2009). Circadian timing of REM sleep is coupled to an oscillator within the dorsomedial suprachiasmatic nucleus. Curr Biol 19, 848-852.
4. Hsu, Y.W., Stemmler, E.A., Messinger, D.I., Dickinson, P.S., Christie, A.E., and de la Iglesia, H.O. (2008). Cloning and differential expression of two beta-pigment-dispersing hormone (beta-PDH) isoforms in the crab Cancer productus: evidence for authentic beta-PDH as a local neurotransmitter and beta-PDH II as a humoral factor. J Comp Neurol 508, 197-211.
5. Gerashchenko, D., Wisor, J.P., Burns, D., Reh, R.K., Shiromani, P.J., Sakurai, T., de la Iglesia, H.O., and Kilduff, T.S. (2008). Identification of a population of sleep-active cerebral cortex neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105, 10227-10232.
6. Cambras, T., Weller, J.R., Angles-Pujoras, M., Lee, M.L., Christopher, A., Diez-Noguera, A., Krueger, J.M., and de la Iglesia, H.O. (2007). Circadian desynchronization of core body temperature and sleep stages in the rat. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104, 7634-7639.
7. de la Iglesia, H.O., and Schwartz, W.J. (2006). Timely ovulation: Circadian regulation of the female hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis. Endocrinology 147, 1148-1153.
8. de la Iglesia, H.O., Cambras, T., Schwartz, W.J., and Diez-Noguera, A. (2004). Forced Desynchronization of Dual Circadian Oscillators within the Rat Suprachiasmatic Nucleus. Curr Biol 14, 796-800.
9. de la Iglesia, H.O., Meyer, J., and Schwartz, W.J. (2003). Lateralization of circadian pacemaker output: Activation of left- and right-sided luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone neurons involves a neural rather than a humoral pathway. J Neurosci 23, 7412-7414.
10. de la Iglesia, H.O., Meyer, J., Carpino, A., Jr., and Schwartz, W.J. (2000). Antiphase oscillation of the left and right suprachiasmatic nuclei. Science 290, 799-801.
Teaching Interests:
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