Charles Neal, M.D., Ph.D.

Charles Neal's clinical specialty is neonatal-perinatal medicine. His research interest in neurochemical and developmental neuroanatomy emphasizes early experience effects on development of the limbic hypothalamic pituitary adrenal stress axis. His basic research includes anatomical and pharmacological characterization of the novel orphanin FQ neuropeptide system, involved in physiological processes such as pain and stress responses. He also investigates the ontogeny of receptor systems implicated in stress and pain pathways in the brain.

Dr. Neal also studies the effects of neonatal dexamethasone exposure on behavior and brain development. Glucocorticoids are often used in the neonatal intensive care setting to limit morbidity of chronic lung disease although effects on the developing brain are not known. Using a developmental animal model, rat pups are exposed to dexamethasone in the early postnatal period, then studied behaviorally throughout development. Examination of the brains of these animals helps us to understand the effects of glucocorticoid exposure on development of stress and pain neurochemical cicuitry, and the mechanisms by which it adversely effects these circuits. Dr. Neal's broad goal remains minimizing the neurologic risk of early adverse experiences in the ill neonate.