Maria L. Medalla, PhD

Associate Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Medalla’s work combines cellular in vitro electrophysiological methods with multi-scale anatomic techniques to understand the biophysical and synaptic properties of neurons within prefrontal cortical (PFC) networks in non-human primate and rodent animal models. Her expertise includes patch-clamp recording, pathway tract-tracing, multiple immunohistochemical labeling techniques for light and electron microscopy (EM), 3D serial EM, and confocal microscopy. The major goal of her work is to understand how distinct limbic, sensory and motor networks interact and are controlled by the PFC – the central executive of the brain. Her current focus is on the medial prefrontal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in rhesus monkeys, an area important for attention, emotions and context-to-action transformations, and is selectively disrupted in many affective disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders.

Publications

  • Published 3/19/2026

    Tsolias A, Mojica CA, Yamani R, Khanna SD, Al Abdullatif S, Snyder BJ, Chang W, Guillamon-Vivancos T, Goodliffe J, Capriglione AL, Zhou Y, Tan Palanca IL, Martinez J, Campbell JD, Luebke JI, Zeldich E, Medalla M. Transcriptional and functional profiles of muscarinic receptor-expressing neurons in primate lateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices. Commun Biol. 2026 Mar 19; 9(1). PMID: 41857244.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/2/2025

    Mackie EC, Cheng CH, Alibrio MN, Rutledge C, Xin H, Chopp M, McCann RP, Rosene DL, Yang Q, Zeldich E, Medalla M, Koo BB, Moore TL. Mesenchymal cell-derived extracellular vesicles ameliorate age-related deficits in working memory and in vivo MRI measures of white matter structure and function in rhesus monkeys. Geroscience. 2025 Dec 02. PMID: 41329450.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/18/2025

    Freire-Cobo C, Medalla M, Varghese M, Janssen WGM, Luebke JI, Hof PR. Age-related changes in synapse ultrastructure and neuroprotective effect of dietary curcumin in the lateral prefrontal cortex layer 3 of the rhesus monkey. Geroscience. 2025 Nov 18. PMID: 41249711.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/1/2025

    Qian S, McCann RP, Shen S, Zhu X, Tsillas CM, Xin H, Wang M, Zhang Y, Zhang ZG, Chopp M, Medalla M, Moore TL, Qu J. Multicompartment Quantitative Proteomics Revealing Potential Mechanisms Underlying the Treatment Effects of Mesenchymal-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in a Monkey Model of Cortical Injury. J Proteome Res. 2025 Nov 07; 24(11):5664-5682. PMID: 41032466.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/11/2025

    Qiang Y, Gu W, Jang D, Shin Y, Shi D, Seo KJ, Li G, Vinnikova S, Wu S, Iyer A, Artoni P, Ryu J, Bai T, Dhawan V, Medalla M, Rosene DL, Moore TL, Koppes AN, Koppes R, Liou JY, Chandrasekaran C, Cui XT, Wang S, Fang H. Monolithic three-dimensional neural probes from deterministic rolling of soft electronics. Nat Electron. 2025 Aug; 8(8):721-737. PMID: 40951322.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 61 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Graduate Medical Sciences Educator and Mentor (Primary Mentor of Graduate Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Websites

Education

  • Boston University, PhD
  • University Philippines, BS

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