Maribel Rios is a professor of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University and her PhD in neuroscience from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. Maribel and her team use molecular, biochemical, electrophysiological, behavioral, and genetic tools to explore the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the regulation of energy balance and emotional behavior. To do this, they create and study mice with central or site-specific deletion of the BDNF gene. They are focused on identifying neural circuits in the brain that are influenced by BDNF to control appetite and emotions, as well as the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of this neurotrophin.
