Maria Muhammad

I am a postdoctoral fellow researching the molecular and behavioral influence of cannabis exposure on behavior outcomes in offspring. Specifically, I study the effects of in utero cannabidiol exposure on DNA methylation, learning and memory, and seizure susceptiblity in male and female offspring at early and later stages of development.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Alabama at Birmingham Neurobiology Department (2023 – Present)

Dr. Farah Lubin

• Project 1: Sex-Specific Development of Seizure Activity Following Endocannabinoid System Manipulation in the Fetal Brain
• Project 2: Ketogenic Diet Improvement of Age-Related Memory Impairment, Nominates Cell-type Specific O-GlcNAc Deficiencies in the Aged Hippocampus

Graduate Research Assistant at University of Mississippi Medical Center Program in Neuroscience (2018 – 2023)

Dr. Junie Paula Warrington

• Dissertation: Investigating Potential Mechanisms for Increased Seizure Susceptibility in RUPP mice

Jackson Heart Study- Graduate Training and Education Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center (2019 – 2021)

• Project: Investigating the association of parity on the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy within the Jackson Heart Study (Dr. Bettina Beech and Dr. Keith Norris)

Undergraduate Research assistant at Jackson Heart Study (2014 – 2018)

• Project: Silver nanoclusters as probes for oxidative stress in DNA (Dr. Bidisha Sengupta)

Summer undergraduate internship at Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP)- Brown University (2017 – 2017)

• Project: Investigating the Relationship between Fibroblasts and Cardiomyocytes: Mechanical, Electrical, and Spatial Orientation (Dr. Kareen Coulombe)

Scholar- Undergraduate research assistant at HHMI (2015 – 2016)

Summer undergraduate internship at Ronald E. McNair post-baccalaureate program- University of Mississippi (2015 – 2015)

• Project: Active-State CB1 Receptor Model Used as a Synthetic Cannabinoid Probe (Dr. Murrell Godfrey)

Research Assistant at UMMC (2012 – 2013)

Research scholars’ program at BASE PAIR program (2012 – 2014)

Program that provided students attending Murrah High School with early exposure to the biomedical research field.

• Project: Understanding the Link Between Reward and Obesity (Dr. Kevin Freeman)

PhD in Neuroscience – University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), School of Graduate Studies and Health Sciences, PhD in Neuroscience program (2018-08 – 2023-05)

B.S. in Chemistry – Tougaloo College (2014-08 – 2018-05)