Peter Thomas
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Dr. Peter Thomas
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Peter Thomas holds a primary degree in zoology, and a PhD in neuroendocrinology from the University of Leicester in England. Following post-doctoral training in fish endocrine toxicology at Texas A&M University, he joined the University of Texas Marine Science Institute of the University of Texas at Austin in 1980. Dr. Thomas was promoted to Full Professor in the Departments of Marine Science and Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin in 1990 and holds the H.E.B. Endowed Chair in Marine Science. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers and 30 chapters on a wide range of topics in fish reproductive endocrinology, on the impacts of environmental stress on fish reproduction, and on steroid hormone receptor biology and functions in fish and mammals. Dr. Thomas’ primary research interest over the past 25 years has been on rapid, nongenomic actions of sex steroids in fish and mammalian models. His laboratory has pioneered the identification of novel receptors on the cell surface that mediate the rapid actions of sex steroid hormones: membrane progesterone membrane receptors (mPRs/PAQRs) discovered in fish ovaries in 2003; the membrane estrogen receptor GPR30 (now known as GPER) identified in human breast cancer cells in 2005, which was confirmed independently shortly afterwards by another research group, and an androgen membrane receptor, ZIP9, discovered in fish ovaries in 2014. His research group has identified the critical roles of mPRs and GPER in the regulation of oocyte maturation in fish and those of ZIP9 in the regulation of fish ovarian follicle apoptosis. A current research focus is on the structure, ligand binding, and signaling functions of mPRs. Recent research efforts in fish have been on the functions of mPRs in sperm motility, and in human cell models on neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease, in peripheral nerve regeneration, and in mediating beneficial progesterone effects in the vascular system. Another ongoing research emphasis is on the signaling and cellular functions of ZIP9 in breast and prostate cancer cell lines and on the phenotype of ZIP9-/- zebrafish. The discovery by the Thomas research group of the identities of all three sex steroid membrane receptors in vertebrates has opened up an entirely new avenue for research on rapid steroid hormone actions and functions in health and disease which has stimulated extensive research on these topics.
Dr. Thomas has received several honors for his contributions in comparative endocrinology. He was the recipient of the Irving I. Geschwind Memorial Lecture in Comparative Endocrinology in 2006 and the Howard Bern Distinguished Lecture in Comparative Endocrinology in 2008, from the Division of Comparative Endocrinology, Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology. He gave the Gorbman-Bern Memorial Lecture in Comparative Endocrinology in 2019 and was elected a Fellow of the North American Society of Comparative Endocrinology in 2023. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biology from Örebro University, Sweden in 2006. He has served as Chairman of the Department of Marine Science and on national and international advisory committees as an expert on the effects of environmental contaminants on reproduction and endocrine systems in fish and wildlife. Dr. Thomas currently serves on six editorial boards for scientific journals including General and Comparative Endocrinology, Journal of Experimental Zoology, Frontiers in Endocrinology, and Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Dr. Thomas has received several honors for his contributions in comparative endocrinology. He was the recipient of the Irving I. Geschwind Memorial Lecture in Comparative Endocrinology in 2006 and the Howard Bern Distinguished Lecture in Comparative Endocrinology in 2008, from the Division of Comparative Endocrinology, Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology. He gave the Gorbman-Bern Memorial Lecture in Comparative Endocrinology in 2019 and was elected a Fellow of the North American Society of Comparative Endocrinology in 2023. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biology from Örebro University, Sweden in 2006. He has served as Chairman of the Department of Marine Science and on national and international advisory committees as an expert on the effects of environmental contaminants on reproduction and endocrine systems in fish and wildlife. Dr. Thomas currently serves on six editorial boards for scientific journals including General and Comparative Endocrinology, Journal of Experimental Zoology, Frontiers in Endocrinology, and Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.