Dr. Mariana Astiz

Education

Diploma in Biochemistry	Universidad Nacional del Sur	AR
PhD in Medical Sciences	Universidad Nacional de La Plata	AR

Academic Positions

Postdoctoral Fellow	National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), La Plata	AR
Lecturer in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Universidad Nacional de La Plata	AR
Postdoctoral Researcher from Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)	Cajal Institute, Madrid	ES
Assistant Researcher	National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), La Plata	AR
Research Associate	Unviersity of Lübeck	DE

Research Interest

From the very beginning of my research career I felt extremely curious about biochemical aspects of the nervous system, especially in relation to the environment. More recently, I have become particularly interested in pregnancy and how the environment, so early in life, is able to shape the offspring's brain functions in the long-term.

The circadian system regulates many aspects of mammalian physiology and behavior, and pregnancy is not an exception. However, while the impact of the environment in the adult circadian system is relatively well described, little is known about the maternal circadian adaptations to pregnancy and whether the maternal and embryonic clocks somehow communicate with one-another to coordinate the dynamic and complex process of development. Recent studies have shown that maternal circadian perturbations such as mistimed stress and sleep have negative consequences on the offspring's health.

In this context, I am using several in vitro and in vivo approaches to understand the feto-maternal communication under stressful conditions at different times of day and its long-term consequences. My final aim is to identify molecular mechanisms responsible for prenatal programming in order to prevent or even reverse the offspring's vulnerability later in life.

Our institute welcomes students from all levels to join and contribute to the progress of this exciting field of research.

Funding

2021-2022	Career development grant 2020, ISN	International Society for Neurochemistry
2018-2021	Research grant (AS547/1-1), DFG	Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
2016-2018	Postdoctoral research fellowship IBRO-ISN	International Brain Research Organization-International Society for Neurochemistry
2015	Postdoctoral short-term fellowship EMBO	European Molecular Biology Organization
2015-2016	Young Researcher Grant (PICT 1549-2014) AGENCIA	Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnica), Argentina