Cheryl L. Sisk, Ph.D.
Administrative Accomplishments
At Michigan State University I served as Director of the Interdepartmental Graduate Neuroscience Program from 1998-2011 and as Associate Dean for Faculty Development in the College of Natural Science from 2017-2022. As Neuroscience Program Director, I oversaw the program’s transition from a dual degree program to an independent degree-granting program at MSU, and secured NIH T32 support for the program that spanned 2002-2017. As Associate Dean for Faculty Development, I led and implemented successful initiatives to improve equity and transparency in the college’s processes for Annual Evaluation of Faculty and Academic Staff and Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure. These administrative roles provided me opportunities to be on leadership teams and to participate in university-level initiatives at a large R1 institution.
Degree, Institute, Year Earned
| Degree | Institute | Year Earned |
| B.A. in Psychology | Baylor University | 1974 |
| M.S. in Psychology | Florida State University | 1976 |
| Ph.D. in Psychobiology and Neuroscience | Florida State University | 1980 |
Research Areas
- Behavioral neuroscience and neuroendocrinology
- Brain and behavioral development during puberty and adolescence
- Sexual differentiation of brain and behavior
Current Position(s) at Your Current Institution
- University Distinguished Professor, Neuroscience Program and Department of Psychology
Memberships
| Organization | Position Held | Year(s) |
| Society for Neuroscience | Member Member - Finance Committee Member - Neuroscience Training Committee Member - Committee on Neuroscience Departments and Programs Liaison - Government and Public Affairs Committee Member - Membership & Chapters Committee Liaison - Government and Public Affairs Committee |
1977-present 2018-present 2015-2018 2011-2014 2012-2014 2008-2011 2005-2007 |
| Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology | Member Past-President President President-Elect Treasurer Co-Chair - Program Committee |
1997-present 2015-2017 2013-2015 2011-2013 2004-2007 1988 |
| Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs | President President-Elect |
2005-2006 2004-2005 |
| Society for Research on Biological Rhythms | Member Advisory Board Member - Nominating Committee |
1986-2001 1990-1993 1991 |
| Society for the Study of Reproduction |
Member Member - Public Affairs Committee Member - Publications Committee |
1980-2000 1990-1991 1983-1986 |
Service Positions
Editorial Boards:
| Publication | Position Held | Year(s) |
| Hormones and Behavior | Editorial board member | 2004-present |
| eNeuro | Reviewing editor | 2014-2020 |
| Endocrinology |
Editorial board member | 1999-2003, 2007-2010 |
| Journal of Experimental Biology and Medicine |
Editorial board member | 2004-2006 |
Other Service Positions:
| Organization | Position Held | Year(s) |
| University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio | External Advisory Committee, R25 South Texas Advanced Research Training, Undergraduate Program (START-UP) | 2012-2015 |
| University of Kansas Medical Center | External Advisory Committee, T32 Training Program in Neurological and Rehabilitation Sciences | 2009-2015 |
| NIH | Chair - Neurobiology of Motivated Behavior Study Section Member - Neurobiology of Motivated Behavior Study Section Ad-hoc member - Numerous Study Sections and Special Emphasis Panels |
2009-2011 2007-2011 |
| NSF | Neural Mechanisms of Behavior Advisory Panel | 1990-1992 |
Science Biography
My research program is focused on how gonadal steroid hormones shape neural and behavioral developmental trajectories during puberty and adolescence. My laboratory was the first to establish that in both females and males, exposure to steroid hormones during adolescence organizes the neural circuits that elicit sex-typical behaviors in response to hormones in adulthood. Our findings challenged the commonly held dogma that organizational (sexual differentiating) effects of gonadal steroid hormones are restricted to the perinatal developmental window and called for a revision of the landmark organizational-activational hypothesis to include adolescence as part of a protracted postnatal sensitive period for hormone-dependent organization of brain and behavior. My team was also the first to discover that pubertal hormones modulate the addition of newborn neurons and glia into sexually dimorphic hypothalamic and limbic structures, and that these pubertally-born cells become functionally incorporated into neural circuits that regulate sex-typical physiology and behavior in adulthood. These findings not only implicated neurogenesis during adolescence as a mechanism by which sexual dimorphisms in structure and function are maintained into adulthood, but they also expanded the phenomenon of postnatal neurogenesis to brain regions associated with neuroendocrine function. I have published over 140 empirical papers and influential reviews and, with former graduate student Russ Romeo, co-authored the book Coming of Age: The Neurobiology and Psychobiology of Puberty and Adolescence (Oxford University Press, 2020). I have been fortunate to have many talented trainees in my lab over the years and am proud of their professional successes. Over half of my former students and postdocs are currently in faculty and/or administrative positions at higher-ed academic institutions, and most of the others hold either research, grant administration, or science policy positions in federal funding agencies or the private sector. In 2022, I received the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Daniel S. Lehrman Lifetime Achievement Award.
The full CV for this candidate can be found within the ballot.
