College of Science and Health > Faculty & Staff > Faculty A-Z > margaret-bell

Margaret Bell

Website: https://belllab.weebly.com/​

Classes Taught

  • Cell Biology (BIO 250)
  • Introduction to Endocrinology (BIO 386)
  • Brain and Behavior (BIO 126)
  • Introduction to Biology I (BIO 191) Lab
  • Physiology of Poverty (HLTH 325/BIO 225)
  • Foundations of Health Sciences (HLTH 200)
  • Human Anatomy and Physiology A (HLTH 301)

​​​​​Research Interests

Dr. Bell’s research is focused on the effects of a chronic and ubiquitous environmental contaminant, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). PCBs are a model endocrine disrupting chemical, and are known to independently affect brain function, hormone actions, and immune processes. As such, the lab is interested in understanding how PCBs affect interactions between the neural, endocrine, and immune systems during development, and their long-term consequences on brain and behavior. They use molecular and behavioral analysis and cell culture to study this in a rat model. She is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the Endocrine Society, and the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology.

Select Publications
  • Deborah A. Liberman, Katherine A. Walker, Andrea C Gore, and Margaret R Bell. 2020. Sex-specific effects of developmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls on neuroimmune and dopaminergic endpoints in adolescent rats. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 79:106880.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ntt.2020.106880​
  • Margaret R Bell. 2018. Comparing Postnatal Development of Gonadal Hormones and Associated Social Behaviors in Rats, Mice, and Humans. Endocrinology, 159(7):2569-2613. https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2018-00220
  • Margaret R Bell, Ariel Dryden, Ryan Will, and Andrea Gore. 2018. Sex differences in effects of gestational polychlorinated biphenyl exposure on hypothalamic neuroimmune and neuromodulator systems in neonatal rats. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 353: 55-66.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2018.06.002
  • Margaret R Bell, Bethany Hart, Andrea Gore. 2016. Two-hit exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls at gestational and juvenile life stages: 2. Sex specific neuromolecular effects in the brain.  Molecular and Cellular Neuroendocrinology, 420:125-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2015.11.024

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