Investigating the Molecular, Neurophysiological and Behavioral Effects of Hypoxia in Marine Mollusks

The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology-Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (CREST-PRF) track within the CREST program supports beginning CREST Center investigators with significant potential and provides them with training and research experiences that will broaden perspectives, facilitate interdisciplinary interactions and establish them in positions of leadership within the scientific community. This CREST-PRF project is aligned with the research focus of the CREST Center for Environmental Neuroscience at the University of Puerto Rico.

The goal of this research is for the post doctoral fellow to receive training in animal neurophysiology and developmental biology. The proposed research will build on the fellow's background in epigenetics, molecular biology, and ecotoxicology. The postdoctoral fellow intends to engage with the public to promote conservation efforts focused on coastal urban ecosystems, broaden the participation of groups underrepresented in biology through active mentoring and teaching, and promote scientific collaboration between Puerto Rican universities and minority serving institutions in South Florida.

Accumulating evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms, which are influenced by developmental and environmental signals, play a crucial role in regulating gene expression and potentially modulate behavior and memory. However, it is unclear how environmental-exposure-driven epigenetic modifications could affect short and long-term behavioral responses.

The intent of the proposed work is to disentangle epigenetic effects in the establishment and plasticity of behavioral responses to stress. The proposed work will investigate linkages between molecular, cellular, and behavioral responses to hypoxia; evaluate the inheritance of molecular and narrow plasticity to stressors and the resulting behavior outcomes; and studying these plastic responses in coastal urban environments with a recent history of hypoxic events.

Neurohistology methods, including immunohistochemistry and dye injection are expected to enable the postdoctoral fellow to work on individual identified neurons. Coupled with his prior training, the post-doctoral fellow has the potential to be uniquely positioned to embark on an independent career studying epigenetic impacts of environmental perturbations on neurological function.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.