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Professor Maria Leptin, the president of the European Research Council, will be conferred with a doctorate in medical science.

The research, led by the lab of Richard Simerly, Louise B. McGavock Professor and professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, also supports a novel role for leptin in specifying the development of neural circuits involved in autonomic regulation and food intake.

Leptin is a hormone that, in adults, regulates hunger by providing a sensation of satiety and helps maintain body weight on a long-term basis.

In the weeks following birth, however, leptin also helps direct the formation of circuits that control homeostatic functions.

The results reported in this paper should expand our appreciation of the developmental role that hormones such as leptin play in specifying the organization of neural circuits that control essential functions related to metabolic health and expression of disease risk.