Hershel Raff, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor
Physiology and Neuroendocrinology

Dr. Raff received his Ph.D. in 1981 from Johns Hopkins University in Environmental Physiology. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California-San Francisco in Neuroendocrinology from 1980-83. He is also a Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Research Interests:

My laboratory has two general interests in neuroendocrinology. Our basic science research focuses on the effects of hypoxia on neuroendocrine control systems (i.e. the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, renin-angiotensin system, growth hormone, and leptin). Our clinical focus is on development of new tests in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome.

Selected Publications:

1. Raff H, Jacobson L, Cullinan WE.  Elevated corticosterone and inhibition of ACTH responses to CRH and ether in the neonatal rat: effect of hypoxia from birth.  Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 285:R1224-R1230, 2003.
2. Raff H, Lee JJ, Widmaier EP, Oaks MK, Engeland WC.  Basal and ACTH-stimulated corticosterone in the neonatal rate exposed to hypoxia from birth: modulation by chemical sympathectomy.  Endocrinology 145:79-86, 2004.
3. Findling JW, Kehoe ME, Raff H. Identification of patients with Cushing's disease with negative pituitary adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) gradients during inferior petrosal sinus sampling: prolactin as an index of pituitary venous effluent.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab 89:6005-6009, 2004.
4. Bruder ED, Lee PC, Raff H. Dexamethasone treatment in the newborn rat: fatty acid profiling of lung, brain, and serum lipids.  J Appl Physiol 98: 981-990, 2005.
5. Findling JW and Raff H (Guest Editors).  CUSHING'S SYNDROME.  Endocrinolgy and Metabolism clinics of North America.  Vol 34 Number 2 June 2005.
6. Liu H, Bravata DM, Cabaccan J, Raff H, Ryzen E.  Elevated late-night salivary cortisol levels in elderly male type 2 diabetic veterans.  Clinical Endocrinology 63:642-649, 2005.
7. Widmaier EP, Raff H, Strang KT.  Vander's HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY: The Mechanisms of Body Function, 10th Edition, McGraw-Hill, Boston, 2006, 827 pages.