• Research Professor, Department of Pathology and Anatomy Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, 1977- Present
• Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 1972-1977
• Associate Professor, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, 1969-1972
• Research Scholar, Indiana University, Indiana 1966-1969 Research Associate, Department of Pathology, University of Arkansas Medical Center, Arkansas, 1962-1965
• Spangenberg Laboratories, Refugio, Texas, 1960-1962

Education

• B.A., M.A., University of Texas at Austin, Texas
• Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, Texas 1960

Selected Publications

• Spangenberg, D.B., Lattanzio, F., Philput, C., Schwarte, R., Coccaro, E, Lowe, B., and Philput, J. 1997. Effects of Weightlessness on Aurelia Budding and Ephyra Development. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Coelenterate Biology, Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden, pp447-453.
• Spangenberg, D.B., E. Coccaro, R. Schwarte, and B. Lowe, 1996. Touch-plate and Statolith Formation in Graviceptors of Ephyrae which Developed while Weightless in Space. Scanning Microscopy, 10: 875-888.
• Spangenberg, D.B., Jernigan, T., Philput, C., and Lowe, B. 1994. Graviceptor Development in Jellyfish Ephyrae in Space and on Earth. Adv. Space Res., 14: (8) 317-325.
• Spangenberg, D.B., Jernigan, T., McCombs, R., Lowe, B.T., Sampson, M. and Slusser, J., 1994. Developmental Studies of Aurelia (Jellyfish) Ephyrae Which Developed During the SLS-1 Mission. Adv. Space Res., 14:(8) 239-247.
• Spangenberg, D. 1991. Rhopalium Development in Aurelia aurita Ephyrae. Hydrobiologica, 216/217:45-49.
• Prokopchak, M.M., Spangenberg, D.B., and Shaeffer, J. 1990. The Effects of X Irradiation on the Metamorphosis and Budding of Aurelia aurita. Radiation Research, 124:34-42.
• Spangenberg, D.B. 1987. Effects of Energy-Related Contaminants on Ephyra Development in Aurelia. Physiological Responses of Marine Organisms to Environmental Stressors: (Eds) Dorrigan, J., and Harrison, F. U.S. Department of Energy: Washington, D.C.
• Spangenberg, D.B. 1986. Statolith Formation in Cnidaria: Effects of Cadmium on Aurelia Statoliths, Scanning Electron Microscopy IV: 1609-1619. SEM, Inc. AMF O'Hare, Illinois.
• Spangenberg, D.B. 1984. Effects of Exogenous Thyroxine on Statolith Synthesis and Resorption in Aurelia. Am. Zool., 24:917-923.
• Spangenberg, D.B. 1984. Use of the Aurelia Metamorphosis Test System to Detect Subtle Effects of Selected Hydrocarbons and Petroleum Oil. Mar. Environ. Res., 14:281-303.
• Spangenberg, D.B. 1977. Aurelia Metamorphosis: A Simple Model System for the Study of Thyroxine Action. NICHHD Symposium "Thyroxine and Brain Development". (Ed) G. Graves, Raven Press: New York.
• Spangenberg, D.B. 1976. Intracellular Statolith Synthesis in Aurelia aurita . International Symposium on the Mechanisms of Mineralization in Invertebrates and Plants. U. South Carolina Press: Columbia.
• Spangenberg, D.B. l971. Thyroxine Induced Metamorphosis in Aurelia. J. Exp. Zool.178:183-194.

Research Interests

Dr. Spangenberg is a Research Professor in the Department of Pathology and Anatomy at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA. She is currently researching the role of thyroxine and thyroid receptors in jellyfish metamorphosis. She is also studying the effects of selected antibiotics on jellyfish hair cell development.

Research Funding

For the past 14 years, Dr. Spangenberg was funded by NASA for a study of the effects of weightlessness on the development of jellyfish larvae (ephyrae), including their graviceptors, and their swimming/pulsing behavior. Her Jellyfish-in-Space experiments were flown on NASA shuttle flights during the SLS-1 and IML-2 missions.

From 1977 to 1981, Dr. Spangenberg received funding from the Department of Energy to study the effects of petroleum oil-related pollutants on jellyfish larval development. During this time period, she developed the Aurelia Metamorphosis Test System. Previously, Dr. Spangenberg's research was funded by the National Institute for Dental Research, NIH, for studies on the mechanisms of mineralization of statoliths, and by Child Health and Human Development for thyroid related research in Aurelia. Previously she was funded by the national Science Foundation for metamorphosis induction studies.

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