Education:
B.S., Physical Education: James Madison University
M.A., Physical Education/Exercise Physiology: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ph.D., Psychology: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Clinical Training: University of Miami, Department of Psychology

Summary Statement:
Dr. Brownley devotes most of her academic time to behavioral medicine research.  Past and current studies focus on appetite hormone dysregulation as a factor in obesity, and the impact of psychotropic medications on appetite dysregulation; cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive-emotional transitions associated with menopause; stress buffering effects of social support and physical activity; predictors of gender and racial differences in blood pressure and obesity; and adrenergic influences on inflammatory processes in patients with chronic fatigue and pain disorders.  In the clinical setting, Dr. Brownley co-leads Dialectical Behavior Therapy groups and works primarily with patients with borderline personality and mood disorders.  She also serves as an Assistant Editor for the International Journal of Psychophysiology and is a voting member of the UNC General Clinical Research Center Advisory Committee.

Representative Publications:

1. Brownley KA, Light KC, West SG and Hinderliter AL (1996).  Acute aerobic exercise reduces ambulatory blood pressure in borderline hypertensive men and women.  American Journal of Hypertension, 9, 200-206.
2. Brownley KA, Light KC and Anderson NB (1996).  Social support and hostility interact to influence ambulatory blood pressure in men and women.  Psychophysiology, 33:434-445.
3. Hurwitz BE, Brownley KA, Fletcher MA and Klimas NG (2000).  Chronic fatigue syndrome: Evidence supporting the hypothesis of a behaviorally-activated neuromodulator of fatigue.  Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, 6(2):45-64.
4. Brownley KA, Milanovich JR, Motivala SJ, Schneiderman N, Fillion L, Graves JA, Klimas NG, Fletcher MA and Hurwitz BE (2001).  Autonomic and cardiovascular function in HIV spectrum disease: Early indications of cardiac pathophysiology.  Clinical Autonomic Research 11(5):319-326.
5. Brownley KA, Hinderliter AL, West SG, Girdler SS, Sherwood A, and Light KC (2003).  Sympathoadrenergic mechanisms in reduced hemodynamic stress responses after exercise.  Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, 35(6):978-986.
6. Brownley KA, Hinderliter AL, West SG, Grewen KA, Steege JF, Girdler SS and Light KC (2004).  Cardiovascular effects of six months of hormone replacement therapy vs. placebo:  Differences associated with years since menopause.  American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 190(4):1052-1058.
7. Brownley KA, Light KC, Grewen KM, Bragdon EE, Hinderliter AL, West SG (2004).  Postprandial ghrelin is elevated in black compared to white women.  Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 89:4457-4463.
8. Berkman ND, Bulik CM, Brownley KA, Lohr KN, Sedway JA, Rooks A, Gartlehner G. Management of Eating Disorders. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 135 (Prepared by RTI International-University of North Carolina Evidence-based Practice Center under Contract No. 290-02-0016). AHRQ Publication No. 06-E010. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. April 2006.
9. Brownley KA, Light KC, Grewen KM, Hinderliter AL, West SG (2006).  Dietary sodium restriction alters postprandial ghrelin:  Implications for race differences in obesity.  Ethnicity & Disease, in press.