Melissa Hines is a neuroscientist and Professor at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. She studies the development of gender, with particular focus on how the interaction of prenatal and postnatal experience shape brain development and behavior.

Education

Hines received a bachelor's degree in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. She was in the first group of women enrolled as undergraduates, which could have inspired an interest in gender. She received a PhD from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. The focus of her thesis was the gender-related behaviour of women whose mothers had taken the synthetic oestrogen

diethylstilbestrol Diethylstilbestrol (DES), also known as stilbestrol or stilboestrol, is a nonsteroidal estrogen medication, which is presently rarely used. In the past, it was widely used for a variety of indications, including pregnancy support for those with a ...

during pregnancy.

Research

Hines completed a postdoctoral fellowship in

Neuroendocrinology Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...

and

Neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

at the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Brain Research Institute. She investigated hormonal influences on brain development in rodents there and at the

University of Wisconsin, Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

where she was a visiting scientist. She received the Shephard Ivory Franz Award for Distinguished Teaching at

. After her postdoctoral fellowship, she was appointed as an Assistant and then Associate Professor at UCLA. During her time at UCLA she trained and was licensed as a clinical psychologist. Hines moved to the UK and joined City University as a Professor of Psychology in 1996. She is a Chartered Counseling Psychologist in the UK (

British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the organ ...

). In 2006 she joined the University of Cambridge and

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

. She is Director of the

s's Gender Development Research Centre. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of sex/gender differences in human brain and behaviour. Based on findings that male and female vervet monkeys show toy preferences that resemble those seen in children, Hines and Alexander suggested that "sex differences in toy preferences can arise independent of the social and cognitive mechanisms thought by many to be the primary influences on toy preferences". Other research indicates that girls with high levels of testosterone are less interested in dolls, and more interested in toy vehicles, than are other girls. She has appeared on a discussion panel with autism researcher Simon Baron Cohen, who also is interested in hormonal influences on human gender development. Their results have, however, sometimes differed from one another's, with Hines' results showing an influence just for girls but Baron Cohen's showing an influence just for boys or for boys and girls taken together, and for some measures no difference for either sex.

Public engagement

Hines was the President of the

International Academy of Sex Research The International Academy of Sex Research (IASR) is a scientific society for researchers in sexology. According to John Bancroft, retired director of the Kinsey Institute, IASR "can claim...most of the field's leading researchers." IASR is uniq ...

. She is the author of '' Brain Gender'', published in 2004 by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. She spoke at the

Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college is named in honour of Lucy Cavendish (1841–1925), who campaigned for the reform of women's education. Hist ...

"Women's Word" festival in 2011. In 2013 she appeared on BBC Radio 4 discussing the spat between

Suzanne Moore Suzanne Lynn Moore (born 17 July 1958) is an English journalist. Early life and education Moore is the daughter of an American father and a working-class British mother, who split up during her childhood. As a child, she was told that her mo ...

and transgender rights activists. In 2014 she was an invited speaker at the

Cambridge Science Festival The Cambridge Science Festival was a series of events typically held annually in March in Cambridge, England and was the United Kingdom's largest free science festival. In 2019 it was announced that the Cambridge Science Festival and the Cambr ...

. She is a writer for

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Rober ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hines, Melissa Living people Princeton University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge American women psychologists 20th-century American psychologists American women neuroscientists American neuroscientists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American psychologists