By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

From his research laboratory at the University of New England in Biddeford, Dr. David Mokler has made waves throughout the medical world.

Mokler is a contributing author to a paper published Feb. 3 in the Journal of the American Medical Association that linked sudden infant death syndrome to low levels of serotonin in the brain stem.

SIDS is the leading cause of death for infants between 1 and 12 months in the United States.

University graduate and Mokler’s former student Jill Hoffman also is a contributing author.

Mokler, a pharmacology professor who works at the Pickus Center for Biomedical Research, was charged with determining levels of serotonin in tissue samples from the brains of babies who died of SIDS.

Serotonin, a neurotransmitter produced in the brain, helps regulate the body’s involuntary actions such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure during sleep. Researchers now believe a low serotonin level impairs the function of the brain stem circuits that regulate those activities, putting a baby at risk for sudden death from stresses such as rebreathing carbon dioxide when sleeping face down.

Mokler, a Biddeford resident who has taught at the university for 23 years, has spent much of his 30-year career studying serotonin. He said his work began during graduate school when he studied the effect of hallucinogens on the brain.

Mokler began work on SIDS research about four years ago. Paper co-author Jhodie Duncan would travel to Biddeford from Boston Children’s Hospital every six months to work with Mokler on processing samples from brain stems collected in San Diego.

“We found that these babies have 26 percent lower levels of serotonin than babies who have died of other causes not related to SIDS,” Mokler said. “We’re getting to a new level of understanding about what might be going on. We don’t have any strong ideas of why the serotonin levels are low.”

Mokler said future research into SIDS will focus on answering the “why” question and what types of remedies could be used to prevent infant death. He said there appears to be some familial connection because infants are more likely to die if a sibling has already died of SIDS.

Mokler said he appreciates being involved in “such important research” because “it’s very validating to have done something as important as this.”

Though Mokler was not able to involve students directly in this research because of strict controls, he said bringing students in to the lab is an important part of their education. He said he gets students enthusiastic by starting them out washing glassware and working their way up to doing actual research.

“Not only are they learning in the classroom, but they’re learning how to discover new knowledge. It’s very complicated and not all that obvious how to do that kind of research,” he said.

In an address about the future of the College of Osteopathic Medicine last month, Dean Marc Hahn stressed the importance of attracting top researchers to the university. He praised Mokler’s contribution to neuroscience research this week.

“Dr. Mokler’s involvement in this important piece of research reflects both his outstanding credentials as a neuroscience researcher, and the kinds of research collaborations the UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine and UNE’s Center of Excellence in the Neurosciences have established throughout the country,” Hahn said. “We continue to attract some of the best research minds in the world to tackle some of society’s complex medical problems, and Dr. Mokler’s contributions to this paper – and its positive implications for moving toward a solution to this tragic syndrome – is just one example of that.”

Mokler said he is excited about adding more researchers to the university, where faculty members are already doing important work.

“This paper shows UNE can be in the front in terms of doing medical research,” he said. “I think we’ll be seeing more and more important work coming out all the time.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.