Gemma O'Brien
Lecturer, School of Science and Technology
Qualifications
BSc (Hons), PhD (Syd)
Contact
| Email: | gobrien@une.edu.au |
| Room: | Physiology Building 11 |
| Phone: | 02 6773 2505 (or +61 2 6773 2505 overseas) |
| Fax: | 02 6773 3267 |
| Homepage: | http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~gobrien/ |
Additional:
Conjoint appointment in the School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, NSW
Facilitator between science and nursing programs at UNE
Gemma uses physiology and histology to examine the delicate interplay of control systems that allows separate organ systems to function without compromising each other's effects. In reproduction, flying foxes are useful as models of tropical species in which to investigate hormonal, environmental and behavioural regulators of reproduction, especially seasonal breeding. Hormonal, environmental and behavioural factors are also considered in current investigations of the brain pathways responsible for euphoria, especially orgasm - an area that is important for each person's wellbeing and experience of self.
Affiliations
Member of the Society for Reproductive Biology (SRB)
Member of World Association for Sexology (WAS) and the Australian Society for Sex Educators, Researchers and Therapists (ASSERT)
Member of the Australian Physiological Society (AuPS)
Member of the Australasian Bat Society
Research interests
Hormonal, behavioural and environmental regulation of reproduction
Gemma O'Brien's research is directed toward investigating brain pathways that subserve both the physiology of reproduction, and reproductive behaviour. Of particular interest are the similarities and differences between these pathways in animals in which ovulation is a reflex response to mating, and in animals that do not require specific external inputs in order to ovulate (spontaneous ovulators). Radioimmunoassays (RIA) are being used to measure reproductive hormones and elucidate their role in the integration of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal system.
Brain pathways active in humans at orgasm
What happens in the brain at sexual climax, to produce the pleasure of orgasm? The biological changes that occur probably involve nerve activity and short-term fluctuations in hormones and other chemicals in the brain. This investigation into human SEX PHYSIOLOGY is drawing on data from neurophysiology, neuroendocrinology and neuropharmacology, especially of the cortex and limbic system at orgasm.
Click to see some recent results (.pdf file).
Anatomy and endocrinology of the pituitary
The physiology of long-lived tropical mammals has not been extensively studied to date. In Australia's flying foxes (Genus Pteropus), 3-dimensional graphical reconstruction techniques have revealed novel arrangements between the lobes of the pituitary which need to be investigated functionally. Immunocytochemistry of pituitary, weights and measures of reproductive tracts, and manipulation of fertility are used in conjunction with RIA to identify mechanisms regulating seasonality and secretion of gonadotrophins.
Endogenous rhythms and environmental influences
Flying foxes are currently being used as an animal model in which to test the interaction effects between animal well-being, group behaviour and reproductive parameters. Manipulation of factors that are probable regulators of reproduction, especially photoperiod, has exposed major differences between two congeneric species: P. poliocephalus and P. scapulatus. Some of the results that have been obtained are directly applicable to help captive breeding programs for endangered (closely related) species of flying foxes. Interactions between circannual rhythms and sensitivity to seasonal changes in daylength, in the regulation of reproduction, have identified flying foxes as an excellent model for investigating biological rhythms in tropical mammals.
For more information on bats in Australia, look at Australasian Bat Society Online (or click here for a quicker loading ABS homepage).
Teaching
Physiology at the University of New England
Physiology has a large footprint at the University of New England.
There is a concentration of physiologists in the School of Science and Technology, and the School of Environmental and Rural Science, with others dispersed across campus and in Commonwealth Research Centres (CRCs).
The Physiology Teaching Unit is an informal grouping of staff who teach core physiology subjects and their associates. Physiology teaching extends from mammalian and human physiology, through animal science, health science, poultry and aquaculture, medical and biomedical science, ecophysiology, ethology, and human bioscience (to support offerings in a number of degree programs).
Gemma has enjoyed teaching students who have been enrolled at the universities of Sydney, Newcastle, Queensland and New England, and the Brisbane Institute of TAFE. They have been studying degree and certificate courses ranging through pure science, clinical degrees (medicine, veterinary science, dentistry, pharmacy, etc), health care (nursing, physiotherapy, naturopathy, pharmacy, etc) and associated areas of physiology and animal husbandry.
Honours, Masters and PhD by research - an integrative approach to systems physiology
Physiology units for the degrees Bachelor of Science (including BBiomedSc), Bachelor of Rural Science, and Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Teaching; and postgraduate degrees by coursework, e.g. Master of Scientific Studies
- ANAT310 Anatomy and Histology
- ZOOL327 Ecological and Comparative Physiology
- Human Health Science units for the degrees Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Nursing Studies and Bachelor of Health Science with Honours, through the School of Health at the University of New England
Selected publications
Fox S., Spencer H. and O'Brien G.M., Analysis of twinning in flying-foxes (Megachiroptera) reveals superfoetation and multiple-paternity, Acta Chiropterologica, 10, pp. 271-278, 2008.
Reinke NB and O'Brien GM, High activity antioxidant enzymes protect flying-fox haemoglobin against damage: an evolutionary adaptation for flight?, Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 176 (8), pp. 729-737, 2006.
O'Brien GM, Orgasmic Gushing: where does the fluid come from and how is it produced?, Women in Research (WiR) "Women Doing Research", L Moxham, KM Douglas, T Dwyer, S Walker, J Wooller, MW Cornelius (Eds), ISBN 1 921047 10 0, Central Queensland University, Gladstone, 15 pages, 2005.
O'Brien GM, McFarlane JR and Kearney PJ, Pituitary content of LH reveals species differences in the reproductive synchrony between males and females in Australian flying-foxes (Genus Pteropus), Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 15 (4), pp. 255-261, 2003.
O'Brien GM, Ogawa E and Agar NS, Oxidant defence in the red blood cells of the greyheaded flying fox, Pteropus poliocephalus, Comparative Haematology International, 10, pp. 200-202, 2000.
O'Brien G.M., Comparative morphology of the pituitary gland in Australian flying foxes (Megachiroptera: Genus Pteropus), Anatomical Record, 244, pp. 70-77, 1996.
O'Brien, G.M., Curlewis, J.D. and Martin L., A heterologous assay for measuring prolactin in pituitary extracts and plasma from Australian flying foxes (Genus Pteropus), General and Comparative Endocrinology, 104, pp. 304-311, 1996.
Martin L., Kennedy J.H., Little L., Luckhoff H.C., O'Brien G.M., Pow C.S.T., Towers P.A., Waldon A.K. and Wang D.Y., The reproductive biology of Australian flying-foxes (genus Pteropus), Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Bats, P.A. Racey (Ed.), pp. 167-184, 1995.
O'Brien G.M. and Nankervis R.F., Coital behavior of male Pteropus scapulatus (little red flying foxes) in captivity, Physiology and Behavior, 56, pp. 471-478, 1994.
O'Brien G.M., Seasonal reproduction in flying foxes, reviewed in the context of other tropical mammals, Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 5, pp. 499-521, 1993.