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I am a broadly trained comparative physiologist utilizing both whole animal and in vitro models; these include rodents and insects, as well as primary and immortalized cell lines. Past research has examined: (1) the relationship between cellular stress resistance and vertebrate longevity using primary cell lines derived from mammals, birds and reptiles; (2) the endocrine and immune predictors of longevity within mice; (3) the impact of nutritional interventions on rodent longevity; and (4) fecal steroids as indicators of stress and reproductive function in laboratory and free-living populations of rodents.

I am a native New Yorker and received a BS in Biology from SUNY Geneseo where I worked with Dr. Robert Beason on electromagnetic homing and orientation in bank swallows.  Immediately after, I moved to North Central Idaho to earn a PhD in Zoology with Dr. Steven Austad.  My dissertation centered on using fecal steroid metabolites to monitor physiological function in free-living, wild-derived and laboratory strains of rodents. During this time I became interested in the biology of aging, which led to a 12-year stint in the Department of Pathology and the Geriatrics Center at the University of Michigan to study the comparative biology of aging with Dr. Richard Miller prior to coming to SHSU in 2012.

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Due to my eclectic academic history, I have a wide range of interests and am open to students pursuing virtually any avenue of research.  Currently, research in the lab focuses on: (1) the study of life history evolution, nutrition and aging in speckled cockroaches; (2) the impact of plasticizing agents on physiological function in vitro and in vivo using cell lines and intact animals; (3) physiological and genetic correlates of human behaviors. 

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Department of Biological Sciences

Sam Houston State University

2000 Avenue I

LSB 300E

Huntsville, TX 77341

 

Phone: 936-294-1543 (Office)

FAX:    936-294-3940

Email: jmharper@shsu.edu

 

Researchgate:      @ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James_Harper3

Google Scholar:   @ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1l7qKKoAAAAJ&hl=en

LOOP:                   @ https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/258368/overview

ORCID:                 @ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0765-8828

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