Patricia Whitten, Ph.D.

Dr. Whitten's research examines the links between behavior, biology, and reproduction, focusing on female reproductive strategies and constraints.  This work includes field studies of nonhuman primates, laboratory-based investigations of the relation of endocrine status to social status and reproductive behavior, and experimental studies of the influence of plant biochemical defense on reproduction and development.  A focus of recent work has been the development of methods for the analysis of steroids in primate fecal samples in order to assess endocrine status in free-ranging primates.  These noninvasive methods permit investigation of the influence of factors such as social status, stress, and nutrition on reproductive function in a natural setting.  Another area of research is concerned with the physiologic effects of estrogenic plant chemicals known as phytoestrogens.  Phytoestrogens are plant defenses that are found in animal and human foods (such as soybeans) that mimic or antagonize the action of endogenous estrogens.  Because estrogens influence many behaviors, phytoestrogens provide a way that ecological factors could directly influence behavioral strategies and reproductive success.  Professor Whitten's recent publications include "Potential adverse effects of phytoestrogens,"  J Nutrition (in press);  "Fecal steroid analysis of ovarian cycles in free-ranging baboons," American Journal of Primatology (in press); "Phytoestrogen influences on the development of behavior and gonadotrophin function," Proc Soc Exp Bio Med (1995, 208:82-86);  "Effects of phytoestrogen diets on estradiol action in the rat uterus,"  Steroids (1994, 59:443-449); A phytoestrogen diet induces the premature anovulatory syndrome in lactationally exposed female rats," Biology of Reproduction (1993, 49:1117-1121).