Ann Nardulli
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Ann M. Nardulli (November 28, 1948 – June 27, 2018) was an American
endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...
known for her research into the role of
estrogen Estrogen (also spelled oestrogen in British English; see spelling differences) is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three ...
in
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
.


Biography

Ann Wannemacher was born in 1948 in
Morrison, Illinois Morrison is a city and the county seat of Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,188 at the 2010 census, down from 4,447 in 2000. It is located on the Historic Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental highway ...
, to Rita and Rudolph Wannemacher of Hooppole. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in education at
Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...
and taught elementary school in
Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario, a community United States * Addison, Alabama, a town * Addison, Illinois, a village * Addison, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Addison, Maine, a town * Addison, Michigan, a villag ...
before earning master's and doctoral degrees at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
and completing postdoctoral work there in biochemistry. Nardulli joined the university's lab run by Benita Katzenellenbogen, and eventually became a professor of the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology with her own lab, teaching and studying the effects of estrogen in women.


Notable research

Nardulli's work concentrated on the specifics of estrogen activities, including the proteins it binds with, and the mechanisms that the hormone uses to manipulate chromatin and DNA. According to Katzenellenbogen,
“Dr. Nardulli did pioneering work that identified the protein complexes with which the estrogen receptor associated, many previously unknown, and she and her laboratory associates went on to elucidate how these proteins collaborated with and modulated the activities of the estrogen receptor in breast cancer cells and tumors."
Among the research topics explored by her team were the plasma membrane proteins and their effect on breast cancer cells as well as the proteins that these cells secrete. Later research focused on the brain and estrogen action in it. At the university, Nardulli "was particularly fond of spending time with the Hormone Chixx, a group of women from across campus who studied the effects of hormones in the body. She discovered that introducing students to the wonders of human physiology and endocrinology was extremely rewarding and was recognized for her teaching excellence."


Advocacy

As an active member of the
Endocrine Society The Endocrine Society is a professional, international medical organization in the field of endocrinology and metabolism, founded in 1916 as The Association for the Study of Internal Secretions. The official name of the organization was changed t ...
, she served as "chair of the Advocacy and Public Outreach Core Committee and visited Washington, D.C., numerous times to meet with legislators on Capitol Hill and lobby for increased scientific
research funding Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...
." She was also a member of the society's Scientific Statements Task Force and a member of the editorial board for the
academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...
''Endocrine Reviews'' and ''Molecular Endocrinology.'' Nardulli died at her home of cancer in 2018, aged 69.


Select publications

* * * * * * * Curtis CD, Thorngren DL, Ziegler YS, Sarkeshik A, Yates JR, Nardulli AM 2009 ''Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 alters estrogen receptor activity and estrogen responsive gene expression''. Mol Endocrinol 23:1346-1359. *


References


External links


Ann M. Nardulli faculty profile
(archived) at University of Illinois, School of Molecular and Cellular Biology {{DEFAULTSORT:Nardulli, Ann 1948 births 2018 deaths American endocrinologists University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Northern Illinois University alumni People from Morrison, Illinois American women endocrinologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century women scientists American scientists