Melissa Hines

Last updated
Melissa Hines
Born
Melissa Marie Hines

(1951-11-27) November 27, 1951 (age 73)
Moline, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater UCLA (PhD),
Princeton University (BA)
Known for Neuroscientist, Gender studies
Spouse Richard Green (m. 1994–2014; div.)
Children1
Scientific career
Institutions University of Cambridge

Melissa Marie Hines (born November 27, 1951) [1] is an American neuroscientist, psychobiologist, and professor at the University of Cambridge. She studies the development of gender, with particular focus on how the interaction of prenatal and postnatal experience shape brain development and behavior.

Contents

Early life and education

Melissa Marie Hines was born on November 27 , 1951, in Moline, Illinois. [1] Her parents were Janice (née Sersig) and William Joseph Hines. [1] [2] She graduated from Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C.. [1]

Hines received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Princeton University. [3] [4] [5] She was in the first group of women enrolled as undergraduates, [5] which could have inspired an interest in gender. [6] She received a PhD in 1981 in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. The focus of her thesis was the gender-related behaviour of women whose mothers had taken the synthetic oestrogen diethylstilbestrol during pregnancy. [7]

Research

Hines completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroendocrinology and neuroscience at the UCLA Brain Research Institute. [8] [9] She investigated hormonal influences on brain development in rodents there and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where she was a visiting scientist. [10] She received the Shephard Ivory Franz Award for Distinguished Teaching at UCLA. [11] 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. [10]

Hines moved to the UK and joined City University as a professor of psychology in 1996. [12] She is a chartered counseling psychologist in the UK (British Psychological Society). [13] In 2006 she joined the University of Cambridge, and Churchill College, Cambridge. [7] She is director of the University of Cambridges's Gender Development Research Centre. [8]

Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of sex/gender differences in human brain and behaviour. [14] [15] [16] 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". [17] 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. [17] [18] She has appeared on a discussion panel with autism researcher Simon Baron Cohen, who also is interested in hormonal influences on human gender development. [19] [20] 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. [21]

Public engagement

Hines was the President of the International Academy of Sex Research. [11] She is the author of Brain Gender , published in 2005 by Oxford University Press. [22] [23]

She spoke at the Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge "Women's Word" festival in 2011. [24] In 2013 she appeared on BBC Radio 4 discussing the spat between Suzanne Moore and transgender rights activists. [25] In 2014 she was an invited speaker at the Cambridge Science Festival. She is a writer for The Conversation. [26]

Personal life

Her partner starting in 1986, was Richard Green (1936–2019), a noted psychiatrist and sexologist; they married in 1994 and were divorced in 2014. [27] [28] Together they had one son. [27] [28]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The 1973 Nassau Herald. 1973. p. 198 – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ "Janice Hines Obituary (2007) Washington, DC". Legacy.com. The Washington Post. January 3, 2007. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  3. ↑ "Professor of Psychology, Melissa Hines". Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge. 23 November 2014. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  4. ↑ Walter, Natasha (2011-05-26). Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism. Little, Brown Book Group. p. 125. ISBN   978-0-7481-3206-5.
  5. 1 2 Fine, Cordelia (2005-02-01). Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences. Icon Books Ltd. p. 36. ISBN   978-1-84831-396-5.
  6. ↑ "When Women Came to Princeton". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  7. 1 2 "People – Professor Melissa Hines". Churchill College [ non-primary source needed ]. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  8. 1 2 "People — Gender Development Research Centre". www.gdrc.psychol.cam.ac.uk [ non-primary source needed ]. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  9. ↑ "Differences in male and female brains". The Modesto Bee . March 7, 1983. p. 13. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  10. 1 2 Melissa., Hines (2004). Brain gender. Oxford: Oxford University Press [ non-primary source needed ]. ISBN   9780195188363. OCLC   51804960.
  11. 1 2 Hormones, brain, and behavior. Pfaff, Donald W., 1939-, Elsevier Science (Firm) (2nd electronic ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press. 2009. ISBN   978-0080887838. OCLC   449286151.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ↑ "Home Page". www.staff.city.ac.uk [ non-primary source needed ]. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  13. ↑ "Good practice guidelines for the assessment and treatment of adults with gender dysphoria" (PDF). Gender Identity Research & Education Society [ non-primary source needed ]. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  14. ↑ Cahill, Larry (2012). "His Brain, Her Brain" . Scientific American. 21 (2s): 4–11. doi:10.1038/scientificamericanbrain0512-4.
  15. ↑ poppy sebag-montefiore (2013-08-09), The Brain and the Mind - Discussion 5 of 6: The Gendered Brain , retrieved 2018-02-03
  16. ↑ Aleshire, Peter (1989-07-22). "Exploring boy-girl differences". Oakland Tribune . p. 8. Retrieved 2025-05-12– via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 Hines, Melissa; Alexander, Gerianne M. (2008). "Monkeys, girls, boys and toys: A confirmation". Hormones and Behavior. 54 (3): 478–479. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.05.012. PMC   2643016 . PMID   18599056 – via [ non-primary source needed ].
  18. ↑ Clare Bailey (2011-05-09), Clare Rayner BBC Breakfast: Why is pink the colour of choice for girls? , retrieved 2018-02-03
  19. ↑ Ltd., Thomas Dale of D Taled Designs. "The Brain and the Mind". www.thebrainandthemind.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  20. ↑ "Have you a male or a female brain?". The Irish Examiner. 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  21. ↑ Schaffer, Amanda (2010-10-21). "The Last Word on Fetal T". Slate . ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  22. ↑ Bailey, Susan E. (October 2005). "Brain Gender" . Psychiatric Services . 56 (10): 1325. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.56.10.1325. ISSN   1075-2730.
  23. ↑ Tenenbaum, Harriet R.; Hill, Darryl B. (November 2006). "Book Review: Brain Gender" . Feminism & Psychology . 16 (4): 495–501. doi:10.1177/0959353506068789. ISSN   0959-3535.
  24. ↑ "Is there any such thing as the female brain?". University of Cambridge. 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  25. ↑ "Who Decides if I'm a Woman?, Analysis - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  26. ↑ Hines, Melissa. "There's no good reason to push pink toys on girls". The Conversation [ non-primary source needed ]. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  27. 1 2 Carey, Benedict (2019-04-17). "Dr. Richard Green, 82, Dies; Challenged Psychiatry's View of Homosexuality". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  28. 1 2 "Richard Green obituary". The Times . 19 July 2019. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
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