Maria Nikodemova, MS, PhD

Maria Nikodemova

Year I became a Gator: 2021

Position: Associate Scientist

Research focus: My research focuses on the impact of microglia-mediated neuroinflammation on respiratory motor plasticity. Neuroinflammation is associated with severe or chronic hypoxia, spinal cord injuries and many neurodegenerative disorders. Inflammation, whether acute or chronic, is one of the most significant factors inhibiting respiratory plasticity although the mechanism is not fully understood.

I am also interested in how microglia are affected by prior adverse events experienced during postnatal development and the mechanism underlying long-term changes induced by these early life events.

My current projects investigate:
a) long-term effects of inflammation experienced in early life on microglial responses to systemic inflammation in the adulthood
b) epigenetic mechanism underlying long-term changes in microglia induced by early life malnutrition.