Department of Physiology and Pharmacology

John W. Turner, Jr., Ph.D.

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Professor

Phone: (419) 383-4146
Fax: (419) 383-2871

Email: John.Turner@utoledo.edu

Please enjoy this article about Dr. Turner and the coral reefs. Click here.

Training

  • B.S., Biology; Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1966
  • Ph.D., Endocrinology, Zoology; Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1970
  • Postdoctoral Training, Hormonal Regulation of Sexual Behavior; University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, 1971 
  • Faculty Improvement Leave, Sexual Differentiation of the Brain, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, 1983
  • Faculty Improvement Leave, Stress Assessment in Marine Fish via Fecal Steroid Monitoring, Virgin Islands National Park, University of the Virgin Islands and Medical University of Ohio, 1999

Appointments

  • Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Toledo College of Medicine, Health Science Campus, 1994 - present
  • Associate Professor, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, Department of Physiology & Biophysics, 1979 - 1993
  • Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, Joint Appointment, Department of Psychiatry, full-time, 1984 - present
  • Assistant Professor, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, Department of Physiology, 1973 - 1979
  • Instructor, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, Department of Physiology, 1971 - 1973
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, Experimental Endocrinology, Mammalian Physiology and Zoology, 1966 - 1968.

Research Interests

Reproductive Physiology; Wildlife studies in contraception, behavior and assessment of hormone activity; Neuroendocrinology; Psychophysiological aspects of environmental stress.

Research Interests

 Dr. John Turner is an endocrinologist (Ph.D., Cornell; Postdoctoral, U.C.L.A., School of Medicine) with extensive expertise in reproductive biology and stress physiology.  As a Professor of Physiology engaged in teaching and research, he has trained 18 M.S. and 7 Ph.D. students and has served on the thesis committee or as medical student/undergraduate honors research advisor for 39 other students.  His teaching has also included directorship of the core course of the Molecular Basis of Disease graduate program and of the medical curriculum Endocrine system, Reproductive system and Human Sexuality Program.  His research endeavors have included sexual differentiation of the brain (NIH, 1971-1984), wildlife contraception (U.S. Department of Interior, 1979-present), psychophysiology of human stress-related disorders and their treatment (private funding, 1979-1999) and effects of chronically deteriorating habitats on stress levels of wildlife and fishes (HSUS, private and zoo funding, 1991-present).  The impetus for the wildlife studies has been the need to alleviate suffering faced by numerous species which are overpopulating fixed-size habitats.  The stress studies have been motivated by need to assess the impact of increasingly compromised environments on the homeostasis of their inhabitants and to develop physiological early-warning indicators to red-flag such environments.  A hallmark of his environmental endeavors has been the development of humane, non-invasive (remote) methods for both contraception and physiological monitoring of free-roaming wildlife.  Dr. Turner’s research efforts have involved collaboration with investigators at 10 U.S. and 4 foreign universities and have yielded 102 peer-reviewed publications, including 6 books (editor).  He has served for 19 years on Management Planning Committees of the U.S. Forest Service related to wildlife management, and in 2005 he received the U.S. Forest Service Chief Award (given to one person annually) for this work.  He regularly reviews manuscripts for several peer-reviewed journals and grant proposals for NIH, NSF and USDA on an ad hoc basis.  He has served as a wildlife contraception management consultant for 20 parks and preserves worldwide and for more than 25 urban/state preserves in the U.S.  He is a long-time Research Associate at the Toledo Zoo and is a member of the Toledo Zoo Animal Care Committee.  Since 1999 his research studies have primarily focused on a single-injection, multi-year controlled-release wildlife contraceptive vaccine and on environmental stress assessment in fishes via fecal cortisol measurement.  In 2006 he was the recipient of the Medical University of Ohio Career Sustained Research Award.

Recent Selected Publications:

  • JW Turner, Jr Environmental Influences on Movements and Distribution of a Wild Horse Population in Western Nevada, USA:  a 25-Year Study,  Journal of Natural History 49: 2437-2464, 2015.
  • Lupica SL and JW Turner, Jr. Validation of an ELISA for measurement of faecal cortisol in fishes. Aquaculture Research 40:437-441, 2009.
  • Turner JW, Jr, IKM Liu, DR Flanagan, AT Rutberg, JF Kirkpatrick.  Immunocontraception in wild horses: One inoculation provides two years of infertility.  Journal of Wildlife Management 71 (3-4):662-667, 2007.
  • Martin BJ, MA Suckow, WR Wolter, T Berger, JW Turner, Jr.  Use of mucosal immunization with porcine zona pellucida (PZP) in mice and rabbits.  Animal Reproduction Science 93(3-4):372-378, 2006.
  • Liu IKM, JW Turner, Jr, EM Van Leeuwen, DR Flanagan, JL Hedrick, K Murata, VM Lane, MP Morales-Levy.  Persistence of anti-zonae pellucidae antibodies following a single inoculation of porcine zonae pellucidae in the domestic equine.  Reproduction 129(4):181-190, 2005.
  • Karsten AH and JW Turner, Jr.  Fecal corticosterone assessment in the Epaulette shark, Hemiscyllium ocellatumJournal of Experimental Zoology 299A:188-196, 2003.
  • Turner JW, Jr, C Rogers and R Nemeth.  Measurement of fecal glucocorticoids in parrotfishes to assess stress.  Journal of General and Comparative Endocrinology 133:341-352, 2003.
  • Turner JW, Jr, P Tolson, N Hamad.  Remote assessment of stress in white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) and black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) by measurement of adrenal steroids in feces.  Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 33(3):214-221, 2002.
  • Naugle RE, AT Rutberg, HB Underwood, JW Turner, Jr, IKM Liu.  Field testing of immunocontraception on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on Fire Island National Seashore, New York, U.S.A.  Reproduction 60:143-153, 2002.
  • Turner JW, Jr, IKM Liu, DR Flanagan, KS Bynum, AT Rutberg.  Porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraception of wild horses (Equus caballus) in Nevada:  A 10-year study.  Reproduction 60:177-186, 2002.
  • Turner JW, Jr.  Life and Death on the Range.  Equus 283:70-78, 2001.
  • Turner JW, Jr, IKM Liu, DR Flanagan, AT Rutberg, JF Kirkpatrick.  Immunocontraception in feral horses: a single-inoculation vaccine providing one year of infertility.  Journal of Wildlife Management 65(2):235-241, 2001.
  • Turner JW, Jr and M Morrison.  Trends in number and survivorship of a feral horse population: influence of mountain lion predation.  Southwestern Naturalist 46(2):183-190, 2001.

 

Last Updated: 6/27/22