Robert Maurice Sapolsky (born 1957) is an American scientist and author. He is currently professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and by courtesy, Neurosurgery, at Stanford University. In addition, he is a re-search associate at the National Museums of Kenya. He received his B.A. in biological anthropology summa cum laude from Harvard University and subsequently attended Rockefeller University where he received his Ph.D. in Neuroendocrinology working in the lab of Bruce McEwen, a world-renowned endocrinologist.

Sapolsky is currently the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor at Stanford University, holding joint appointments in several departments, including Biological Sciences, Neurology & Neurological Sciences, and Neurosurgery.

A neuroendocrinologist, he has focused his research on issues of stress and neuronal degeneration, as well as on the possibilities of gene therapy strategies for protecting susceptible neurons from disease. Currently, he is working on gene transfer techniques to strengthen neurons against the disabling effects of glucocorticoids. Sapolsky also spends time annually in Kenya studying a population of wild baboons in order to identify the sources of stress in their environment, and the relationship between personality and patterns of stress-related disease in these animals. More specifically, Sapolsky studies the cortisol levels between the alpha male and female and the subordinates to determine stress level. An early but still relevant example of his studies of olive baboons is to be found in his 1990 Scientific American article, "Stress in the Wild".

Sapolsky has received numerous honors and awards for his work, including the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship genius grant in 1987, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and the Klingenstein Fellowship in Neuroscience. He was also awarded the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award and the Young Investigator of the Year Awards from the Society for Neuroscience, the International Society for Psychoneuro-Endocrinology, and the Biological Psychiatry Society.

In 2007, he received the John P. McGovern Award for Behavioral Science, awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 2008, he received the Wonderfest’s Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization.

The Challenge

Are you objective?

Do you have an open mind?

Can you think outside the box of your speciality?

Do you understand the effects on homeostasis of Allostatic Load?

You will need to if you are to come to terms with Allostatic Overload as it affects all aspects of the human body.

Have you ever thought that there might be areas of your study or speciality that might be influenced by Allostatic Load or Overload?

Have you realised that there was not as much attention paid to the criteria parameters of a human study that would guarantee a flawed or predetermined result.

Do you know how and who can have an AO problem, most people have no idea of the scale of the problem. It is extremely important in control groups and that is why many results are unclear or flawed outright.

If so send a paper and share it.

Together we hope to add to the increasing body of knowledge of the effects of long term stress (Allostatic overload) on human body systems in order to force meaningful research into the problem.

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