Born and raised in rural New Jersey, Dr. Thompson grew up working with
Standardbred race horses both at the farm, and later in life, at the racetrack.
He entered Rutgers University, the State University of
New Jersey, in 1969 in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.
After graduation in May 1973 with his B.S. in Animal Science, he entered
graduate school in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Colorado State
University.
At CSU, Dr. Thompson worked with Dr. Bill "BW" Pickett in the area of Equine
Reproduction. His M.S. thesis project involved the study of photoperiod in the
control of the seasonal cycle in stallions. After receiving his M.S. in 1976,
Dr. Thompson stayed with Dr. Pickett to work towards the Ph.D. degree in the
area of steroidal control of gonadotropin production and secretion in the
stallion. He received his Ph.D. in 1979, and then traveled to Baltimore,
Maryland to work as a post-doctoral trainee with Dr. Larry Ewing in the School
of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in the area of male
reproductive endocrinology. In July 1980, Dr. Thompson entered into his
professional academic career as an Assistant Professor in the School of
Animal Sciences at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Honors & Awards:
National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow -
1979-1980; Young Animal Scientist Award - Southern Section of the American
Society of Animal Science - February, 1987; First Mississippi Corporation Award
of Excellence for Outstanding Work in the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment
Station - January, 1988; Award of Merit Winner for Research - LSU Chapter of
Gamma Sigma Delta - March, 1990; Louisiana State University Agricultural Center,
Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station 1995 Outstanding Progress Report Award
- Campus (1st place) - June 1996; Tipton Team Research Award in Recognition of
Excellence in Research, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, December,
1998; Sedberry Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching in the
LSU College of Agriculture - October, 2000; Doyle Chambers Research Award in Recognition of
Excellence in Research - Louisiana Agricultural Center, December 2005. Dr. Thompson is a past secretary, vice-president,
and president of the Equine Science Society and was the
recipient of that society's Distinguished Service Award in Equine Science in 2007.
Dr. Thompson currently serves as Associate Editor for the Animal Growth, Physiology, and
Reproduction section of the Journal of Animal Science.
Teaching:
- ANSC 4088 Horse Production - spring semester
- ANSC 7001 Experimental Methods - fall semester
- ANSC 7050 Advanced Animal Physiology - fall semester in even years
- DARY 4043 Domestic Animal Endocrinology - fall semester - with Dr. Cathleen Williams
Research Interests:
Dr. Thompson's research interests are focused on the
nutritional and metabolic interactions with reproductive traits in horses, with
a major emphasis on the seasonal anestrous state in mares. He and his students
are currently studying the involvement of growth hormone and prolactin in
metabolic processes and gonadal function in mares and stallions, and have found
that treatment with recombinant porcine prolactin can in fact reverse the
seasonal anestrous state in pony mares. In other industry-funded research, Dr.
Thompson and his students study the efficacy of various formulations of
gonadotropin releasing hormone and its analogs for inducing ovulation in mares.
Dr. Thompson's five-year project is designed to determine which external
factors, such as exercise, feeding and stress, alter the secretion of prolactin
and growth hormone, so that strategies might be devised to manipulate their
levels for the enhancement of breeding and(or) nutritional efficiency. Dr. Thompson
and his students most recently developed and validated an assay for equine leptin,
and studies are underway to determine the role of this fat cell-derived hormone within the
reproductive and metabolic systems of the horse.
Recent Publications:
- Thompson, D. L., Jr., P. B. Mitcham, M. L. Runles, P. J. Burns, and R. M. Gilley. 2008. Prolactin and gonadotropin responses in geldings to injections of estradiol benzoate in oil, estradiol benzoate in biodegradable microspheres, and estradiol cypionate. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 28:232-237.
- Johnson, L., D. L. Thompson, Jr., and D. Varner. 2008. Role of Sertoli cell number and function on regulation of spermatogenesis. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 105:23-51.
- Storer, W. A., D.L. Thompson Jr., K.R. Bondioli, R.A. Godke, A.S. Khan, P.A. Brown, and R. Draghia-Akli. 2008. Evaluation of plasmid delivery by electroporation as a means of increasing gonadotropin-releasing hormone production in stallions. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 28:149-155.
- Storer WA, Thompson DL Jr, CA Waller, JA Cartmill. 2007. Hormonal patterns in normal and hyperleptinemic mares in response to three common feeding-housing regimens. J Anim Sci 85:2873-2881 (doi:10.2527/jas.2007-0182 at http://jas.fass.org/cgi/reprint/jas.2007-0182v1).
- Kelley KK, Thompson DL Jr, WA Storer, PB Mitcham, RM Gilley, PJ Burns. 2006. Estradiol interactions with dopamine antagonists in mares: Prolactin secretion
and reproductive traits. J Equine Vet Sci 26:517-528.
- Waller CA, Thompson DL Jr, JA Cartmill, WA Storer, NK Huff. 2006. Reproduction in high body condition mares with high versus low leptin concentrations. Theriogenology 66:923-928.
- Cartmill JA, Thompson DL Jr, RP Del Vecchio, WA Storer. 2006. Leptin secretion in horses: Effects of dexamethasone, gender, and testosterone. Domest Anim Endocrinol 31:197-210.
- Cartmill JA, Thompson DL Jr, WA Storer, JC Crowley, NK Huff, CA Waller. 2005. Effect of dexamethasone, feeding time, and insulin infusion on leptin concentrations in stallions. J Anim Sci 83:1875-1881.
- Sommardahl CS, N Frank, SB Elliot, LL Webb, KR Refsal, JW Denhart, Thompson DL Jr. 2005. Effects of oral administration of levothyroxine sodium on serum concentrations of thyroid gland hormones and responses to injections of thyrotropin-releasing hormone in healthy adult mares. Am J Vet Res 66:1025-1031.
- Storer WA, Thompson DL Jr, JA Cartmill. 2005. The effects of equine somatotropin on pituitary and testicular function in the stallion during the nonbreeding season. J Equine Vet Sci 25:106-112.
- Gentry LR, Thompson DL Jr, GT Gentry Jr, RP Del Vecchio, KA Davis, PM Del Vecchio 2004. The relationship between body condition score and ultrasonic fat measurements in mares of high versus low body condition. J Equine Vet Sci 2004;24:198-203.
- Johnson PJ, Messer NT 4th, Ganjam VK, Thompson DL Jr, Refsal KR, Loch WE, Ellersieck MR. 2003. Effects of propylthiouracil and bromocryptine on serum concentrations of thyrotrophin and thyroid hormones in normal female horses. Equine Vet J 35:296-301.
- Pinto CR, Paccamonti DL, Eilts BE, Venugopal CS, Short CR, Gentry LR, Thompson DL Jr, Godke RA. 2003. Concentrations of nitric oxide in equine preovulatory follicles before and after administration of human chorionic gonadotropin. Theriogenology 60:819-827.
- Cartmill JA, Thompson DL Jr, Storer WA, Gentry LR, Huff NK. 2003. Endocrine responses in mares and geldings with high body condition scores grouped by high vs. low resting leptin concentrations. J Anim Sci 81:2311-2321.
- Pruett HE, Thompson DL Jr, JA Cartmill, CC Williams, LR Gentry. 2003. Thyrotropin releasing hormone interactions with growth hormone secretion in horses. J Anim Sci 81:2343-2351.
- Johnson CA, Thompson DL Jr, JA Cartmill. 2003. Effects of deslorelin acetate implantation in horses: Single implants in stallions and steroid-treated geldings and multiple implants in mares. J Anim Sci 81:1300-1307.
- Cartmill JA, Thompson DL, Gentry LR, Pruett HE, Johnson
CA. 2003. Effects of dexamethasone, glucose infusion, adrenocorticotropin,
and propylthiouracil on plasma leptin concentrations in horses. Domest
Anim Endocrinol 24:1-14. PubMed Abstract
- Gentry LR, Thompson DL Jr, Gentry GT Jr, Davis KA, Godke
RA, Cartmill JA. 2002. The relationship between body condition, leptin,
and reproductive and hormonal characteristics of mares during the seasonal
anovulatory period. J Anim Sci 80:2695-2703. PubMed Abstract
- Johnson CA, Thompson DL, Cartmill JA. 2002. Pituitary
responsiveness to GnRH in mares following deslorelin acetate implantation to
hasten ovulation. J Anim Sci 80:2681-2687. PubMed Abstract
- Donadeu, FX, DL Thompson Jr. 2002. Administration of
sulpiride to anovulatory mares in winter: Effects on prolactin and
gonadotropin concentrations, ovarian activity, ovulation, and hair
shedding. Theriogenology 57:963-976.PubMed Abstract
- Kulinski, KM, DL Thompson Jr, EL Capshaw, DD French, JL
Oliver. 2002. Daily treatment of growing foals with equine somatotropin:
Pathologic and endocrinologic assessments at necropsy and residual effects in
live animals. J Anim Sci. 80:392-400.PubMed Abstract
- Gentry, L. R., D. L. Thompson, Jr., and A. M. Stelzer.
2002. Responses of seasonally anovulatory mares to daily administration of
thyrotropin-releasing hormone and(or) gonadotropin-releasing hormone
analog. J Anim Sci 80:208-213.PubMed Abstract
- Kennedy SR, DL Thompson Jr , HE Pruett, PJ Burns, R
Deghenghi. 2002. Growth hormone response to a novel GH releasing
tripeptide in horses: Interaction with GnRH, TRH, and sulpiride. J Anim
Sci 80:744-750.PubMed Abstract
- Thatcher CE, DL Thompson Jr. 2002. Effects of
frequency of treatment with recombinant equine somatotropin on selected
biological responses in geldings. Domest Anim Endocrinol 22:127-143.PubMed Abstract
- Capshaw EL, DL Thompson Jr , KM Kulinski, CA Johnson, DD
French. 2001. Daily treatment of horses with equine somatotropin from 4 to
16 months of age. J Anim Sci 79:3137-3147.PubMed Abstract
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