Carlos Libertun

Carlos Libertun is a Professor of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, Chief of the Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology of the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IBYME), and a Senior Researcher of CONICET.

Dr. Libertun received both his medical degree (M.D., 1965) and Ph.D. (1970) from the University of Buenos Aires, and he was a postdoctoral fellow in the department of physiology at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1970 to 1971. Although at first his research concentrated on the influence of ovarian and testicular hormones on brain intermediate metabolism, during his time as Visiting Professor in the laboratory of Dr. Samuel McCann at the Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Dr. Libertun embarked on a line of research he would pursue for the rest of his career: the central regulatory mechanisms of gonadatropins, specifically prolactin secretion.

Over the years, he has published his findings in scores of articles in such important journals as Endocrinology, Developmental Brain Research, and Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine. Among his more recent publications are (with V. A. Lux-Lantos et al.), “GABA B receptors in neuroendocrine regulation,” Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (2008); (with E. B. Rey-Roldán et al.), “Levonorgestrel antagonism on estrogen-induced pituitary tumors is mediated by progesterone receptors,” Horm Metab Res., 40:4 (2008); (with Patricia Silveyra et al.), “Impact of proestrous milieu on expression of orexin receptors and prepro-orexin in rat hypothalamus and hypophysis: actions of Cetrorelix and Nembutal,” American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology Metabolism, 292:3 (2007); and (with Paolo N. Catalano et al.), “GABAB1 knock-out mice reveals alteration in prolactin levels, gonadotropin axis, and reproductive function,” Neuroendocrinology, 82:5-6 (2005).

Among his many honors are the Argenitne Society of Neuroendocrinology Award; the Pedro J. Maissa Award from the Maissa Foundation; the Osvaldo L. Bottaro Award and the Pedro I Elixalde Award, both from the National Academy of Medicine, Buenos Aires; the Luis Schwarzstein Award from the Argentine Society of Endocrinology and Matabolism and the Jewish Foundation; and the Bernardo A. Houssay Award for Young Investigators from the National Research Council of Argentina.