Danielle Santana Coelho, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Personal Statement:
I am a postdoctoral researcher working at Dr. Jason O’Connor’s laboratory. My research interests are focused on investigating how genetic background and environmental insults during pre- and postnatal period results in neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Education
Postdoctoral Fellowship - Baylor University, Waco, Texas 2020-2023
Ph.D., Neuroscience- UT Health San Antonio
MS.c, Neuroscience and Cellular Biology - Federal University of Para, Brazil
BS, Biomedical Sciences - Federal University of Para, Brazil
Research
Autism spectrum disorder
Epilepsy
Awards & Accomplishments
Scientific Initiation Scholarship – CAPES Foundation, Brazil, 2006-2007
Master’s Degree Scholarship – CAPES Foundation, Brazil, 2010-2012
Outstanding Poster Presentation – II Scientific Week of the Neuroscience and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, Federal University of Para, Brazil, 2012
Science without Borders Scholarship – CAPES Foundation, Brazil, 2014 – 2018
San Antonio Life Science Institute Travel Award, 2016
Trainee Scholar Award – PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society (PNIRS), 2017
UT Health San Antonio Travel Award to Naturejobs Career Expo, 2018
Keystone eSymposia, “Neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders: Harnessing rare variants” Scholarship, 2021
Keystone eSymposia, “Neuroimmune interactions in health and disease” Scholarship, 2021
Keystone eSymposia, “Maternal-Fetal newborn immunity” Scholarship, 2021
American Epilepsy Society Fellows Program Scholarship, 2021
Affiliations
American Epilepsy Society, 2021 – 2022
Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, 2017 – present
Society for Neuroscience, 2015 – present
Publications
Santana-Coelho D, Hodges SL, Quintero SI, Womble PD, Sullens DG, Narvaiz DA, Herrera R, Sekeres MJ, Lugo JN. Lipopolysaccharide-induced sickness behavior is not altered in male Fmr1-deficient mice. Brain Behav. 2023 Aug;13(8):e3142. doi: 10.1002/brb3.3142.
Santana-Coelho D, Womble PD, Blandin KJ, Pilcher JB, O’Neill GM, Douglas LA, Chilukuri SV, Tran DLK, Wiley TA, Lugo JN. Assessment of the effects of sex, age, and rearing condition on ultrasonic vocalizations elicited by pups during the maternal potentiation paradigm in C57BL/6J mice. Dev Psychobiol. 2022 Dec;64(8):e22341. doi: 10.1002/dev.22341.
Maganin AG, Souza GR, Fonseca MD, Lopes AH, Guimarães RM, Dagostin A, Cecilio NT, Mendes AS, Gonçalves WA, Silva CE, Fernandes Gomes FI, Mauriz Marques LM, Silva RL, Arruda LM, Santana DA, Lemos H, Huang L, Davoli-Ferreira M, Santana-Coelho D, Sant’Anna MB, Kusuda R, Talbot J, Pacholczyk G, Buqui GA, Lopes NP, Alves-Filho JC, Leão RM, O’Connor JC, Cunha FQ, Mellor A, Cunha TM. Meningeal dendritic cells drive neuropathic pain through elevation of the kynurenine metabolic pathway in mice. J Clin Invest. 2022 Dec 1;132(23):e153805. doi: 10.1172/JCI153805.
Santana-Coelho D, Layne-Colon D, Valdespino R, Ross CC, Tardif SD, O’Connor JC. Advancing Autism Research From Mice to Marmosets: Behavioral Development of Offspring Following Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Aug 6;12:705554. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.705554.
Parrott JM, Redus L, Santana-Coelho D, Morales J, Gao X, O’Connor JC. Neurotoxic kynurenine metabolism is increased in the dorsal hippocampus and drives distinct depressive behaviors during inflammation. Transl Psychiatry. 2016 Oct 18;6(10):e918. doi: 10.1038/tp.2016.200. PMID: 27754481; PMCID: PMC5315555.