Benjamin D. Sachs

Ben Sachs is one of the world's experts on the neuroendocrine mechanisms that control sexual arousal, penile erectile function, and the expression of mating behavior in male rodents. His research laboratory produced experimental work on the respective roles of testosterone and/or its neural metabolite estradiol, acting perinatally to organize circuits that control male reproductive behaviors in adult male rats and acting postpubertally to activate these same circuits and the resultant expression of reproductive behaviors. Sachs was a master at integrating experimental animal and human clinical research findings in numerous review papers published over the course of his career that advanced our understanding of how hormones act in the brain to control male reproductive behaviors. He was also a generous mentor and friend to numerous students, postdoctoral fellows, and academic colleagues from around the world (including the two authors of this biographical sketch).