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Harvey S. Peeler Jr. College of Veterinary Medicine

Faculty Profiles

Derek Daniels

Derek Daniels, PhD

Associate Dean for Research


Education and Professional Certifications:

BA, Psychology, Canisius College, Buffalo, NY

PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychology

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine

Areas of Expertise:

Behavioral neuroscience

Neuroendocrinology

Fluid and energy homeostasis

Representative Grant Funding:

Parsing the central control of thirst and hunger using a rat model of diabetes insipidus. National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant R01DK133818. $1,393,000 (direct)

GLP-1 effects in water and salt intake. National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant, R01-DK107500. $1,000,000 (direct)

Role of angiotensin II receptor signaling pathways in body fluid homeostasis.” National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant, R01-HL091911. $1,208,598 (direct).

Honors, Awards and Professional Service:

Standing Member, National Institutes of Health Neuroscience of Interoception and Chemosensation (NIC) Study Section

Editor-in-Chief, Physiology & Behavior

University at Buffalo Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement

President of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior

Alan N. Epstein Research Award, Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior

Recent Publications:

Sortman, B., J. Schulkin, and D. Daniels (2024) Water and salt intake in vertebrates: Endocrine and behavioral regulation. In Oldroid and Thompson, (eds.) Reference Module in Life Sciences, Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, Third Edition.

Sortman, B.W., E.L. Mullane, K.L. Lamb, A.A. Edwards, A-M Torregrossa, D. Daniels, and J. Santollo (2026). Drinking microstructure analysis of direct controls of water intake in male and female rats, Physiology & Behavior, 310:115314

David, S.A., D.J. Brakey, M.J. Paul, and D. Daniels (2025). The role of vasopressin deficiency in the fluid intake suppression hypersensitivity to central glucagon-like peptide-1 in the Brattleboro rat. Physiology & Behavior, 298:114958.

Krieger, J-P., D. Daniels, S. Lee, S. Mastitskaya and W. Langhans (2025). Glugcagon-like peptide-1 links ingestion, homeostasis, and the heart. Comprehensive Physiology, 15: e7.

Santollo, J., D. Daniels, M. Leshem, and J. Schulkin (2023) Sex differences in salt appetite: perspectives from animal models and human studies. Nutrients, 15(1), 208.

Volcko, K.L., D.J. Brakey, T.E. McNamara, M.J. Meyer, N.J. McKay, J. Santollo, and D. Daniels (2022) Control of water intake by a pathway from the nucleus of the solitary tract to the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus. Appetite, 172:105943

Harvey S. Peeler Jr. College of Veterinary Medicine

Harvey S. Peeler Jr. College of Veterinary Medicine | 275 Boykin Blvd., Pendleton, SC 29670