Positions

Overview

  • Dr. Perez-Costas has extensive experience as an academic researcher and administrator. Dr. Perez-Costas completed her undergraudate and graduate training at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain; where she conducted, both a Master and PhD Theses within the fields of cell biology and neuroscience. Dr. Perez-Costas then move to the United States to acquired further training in human neuropathology and neural pathways affected by neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. She was recruited to UAB as an Assistant Professor in 2007 with primary appointment at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, and secondary appointments in Neurobiology, Psychology and Cell Biology -- Dr. Perez-Costas was an active mentor of undergraduate neuroscience students as well as graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. She left UAB in 2014 and did a brief stint as science writer and editor before returning to UAB as a research administrator in 2015. Dr. Perez-Costas utilized the next five years to acquire comprehensive skills in research administration, including all aspects of grant submission and management, clinical trials, and industry sponsored studies. During this period she also acted as a mentor for others, including administrators in her own team as well as member of other units within UAB Department of Medicine.

    In 2020 Dr. Perez-Costas rejoined the UAB Faculty as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine -- Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care. Dr. Perez-Costas serves as an Associate Director for the UAB Integrative Center for Aging Research (ICAR), leads mentoring and training initiatives for early stage faculty at the Department of Medicine, the CCTS/SCOR Grant Research Intensive Training program (GRIT), the icar Early Stage Investigator Program, and directs the research administration team for the Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care.

    Dr. Perez-Costas has extensive experience in research, research education and mentoring, science communication and research administration.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2017 The intracellular angiotensin system buffers deleterious effects of the extracellular paracrine system.  Cell Death and Disease.  8:e3044. 2017
    2016 Altered metabolic activity in the developing brain of rats predisposed to high versus low depression-like behavior.  Neuroscience.  324:469-484. 2016
    2016 Mapping dopaminergic deficiencies in the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area in schizophrenia 2016
    2016 Mitochondrial angiotensin receptors in dopaminergic neurons. Role in cell protection and aging-related vulnerability to neurodegeneration.  Cell Death and Disease.  7. 2016
    2015 Reelin expression in brain endothelial cells: An electron microscopy study.  BMC Neuroscience.  16. 2015
    2015 Impairments in cognition and neural precursor cell proliferation in mice expressing constitutively active glycogen synthase kinase-3.  Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.  9. 2015
    2014 Assessment of cytochrome C oxidase dysfunction in the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area in schizophrenia.  PLoS ONE.  9. 2014
    2013 Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) expression in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease: A light and electron microscopy study 2013
    2013 An accurate method for the quantification of cytochrome C oxidase in tissue sections.  Journal of Neuroscience Methods.  214:156-162. 2013
    2012 Dopamine pathology in schizophrenia: Analysis of total and phosphorylated tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra.  Frontiers in Psychiatry.  3. 2012
    2012 Dual use of immunohistochemistry for film densitometry and light microscopy.  Journal of Neuroscience Methods.  208:86-91. 2012
    2011 Neurochemical characterization of the tree shrew dorsal striatum.  Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.  1-17. 2011
    2010 Mitochondrial viability in mouse and human postmortem brain.  The FASEB Journal.  24:3590-3599. 2010
    2010 Basal ganglia pathology in schizophrenia: Dopamine connections and anomalies.  Journal of Neurochemistry.  113:287-302. 2010
    2010 Light and electron microscopy study of glycogen synthase kinase-3β in the mouse brain.  PLoS ONE.  5. 2010
    2009 A new use for long-term frozen brain tissue: Golgi impregnation.  Journal of Neuroscience Methods.  176:72-77. 2009
    2008 Neuroleptics and animal models: Feasibility of oral treatment monitored by plasma levels and receptor occupancy assays.  Journal of Neural Transmission.  115:745-753. 2008
    2007 Development of the serotonergic system in the central nervous system of the sea lamprey.  Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy.  34:29-46. 2007
    2007 Decreased expression of tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra of schizophrenia brains.  Schizophrenia Bulletin.  33:266-266. 2007
    2007 The expression of presynaptic dopamine neuronal markers in postmortem tissue of schizophrenic substantia nigra.  Schizophrenia Bulletin.  33:260-260. 2007
    2006 [P106]: Development of the serotonergic system in the central nervous system of the sea lamprey.  International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience.  24:541-541. 2006
    2006 Presence of glutamate, glycine, and γ-aminobutyric acid in the retina of the larval sea lamprey: Comparative immunohistochemical study of classical neurotransmitters in larval and postmetamorphic retinas.  Journal of Comparative Neurology.  499:810-827. 2006
    2006 Cell proliferation in the forebrain and midbrain of the sea lamprey.  Journal of Comparative Neurology.  494:986-1006. 2006
    2005 Chemoarchitecture of the dorsal column nucleus of the larval sea lamprey.  Brain Research Bulletin.  66:536-540. 2005
    2004 Reelin immunoreactivity in the adult sea lamprey brain.  Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy.  27:7-21. 2004
    2003 Ontogeny of γ-aminobutyric acid-immunoreactive neurons in the rhombencephalon and spinal cord of the sea lamprey.  Journal of Comparative Neurology.  464:17-35. 2003
    2002 Ontogeny of γ-aminobutyric acid-immunoreactive neuronal populations in the forebrain and midbrain of the sea lamprey.  Journal of Comparative Neurology.  446:360-376. 2002
    2002 Reelin immunoreactivity in the larval sea lamprey brain.  Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy.  23:211-221. 2002
    2002 Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunoreactivity and development of the pineal complex and habenula of the sea lamprey.  Brain Research Bulletin.  57:285-287. 2002
    2002 Early development of the retina and pineal complex in the sea lamprey: Comparative immunocytochemical study.  Journal of Comparative Neurology.  442:250-265. 2002
    2001 GABA immunoreactivity in the olfactory bulbs of the adult sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus L.  Brain Research.  893:253-260. 2001
    2000 GABA-immunoreactive internuclear neurons in the ocular motor system of lampreys.  Brain Research.  855:150-157. 2000
    2000 Distribution of GABA immunoreactivity in the brain of the adult sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus L..  European Journal of Neuroscience.  12:165-165. 2000
    2000 What is reelin doing in the lamprey brain?.  European Journal of Neuroscience.  12:258-258. 2000
    1998 Centrifugal fibers are the only GABAergic structures of the retina of the larval sea lamprey: An immunocytochemical study.  Brain Research.  782:297-302. 1998
    1998 CGRP-like immunoreactivity in the brain of the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus L..  European Journal of Neuroscience.  10:229-229. 1998
    1998 GABA immunoreactivity in the brain of the larval sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus L..  European Journal of Neuroscience.  10:187-187. 1998

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2008 Ultrastructural localization of Reelin.  107-125. 2008

    Research Overview

  • -Neuroscience — Neurobiology, Neuroanatomy, Comparative Neuroanatomy
    -Aging — cell biology, metabolism, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, hospital-associated disability.
    -Neuropathology

    • Teaching Overview

  • 1) Grant Research Intensive Training Program (vGRIT) — Dr. Perez-Costas currently leads vGRIT , which is co-sponsored by the Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research (COERE), the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS), and the Department of Medicine (DOM) at UAB. This program is a flexible 9-12 month semi-structured experience focused on the planning, development and growth of the scientific career of early stage investigators; while also serving as a resource for mid-career faculty who are new to the process of applying for extramural funding .The back bone of vGRIT is individualized mentoring through one-on-one coaching sessions (virtual via zoom), complemented with other activities and resources -- including a initial specific aims workshop, grant review panels, research design consultations via the CCTS Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) unit, and monthly group meetings focusing on specific grant writing and research career development topics, which are presented by faculty experts on an informal format that allows for discussion, interaction, and networking.


    2) Early stage investigator Program — Integrative Center for Aging Research (ICAR) -- Dr. Perez-Costas leads this research training program, which provides networking opportunities, coaching, career advise, and grant development support to early stage investigators interested on developing their careers on Aging Research. The program is mostly focused on postdocs and early stage faculty, but also provides punctual support to predoctoral trainees applying for NIH F32 fellowships.

    • Education And Training

  • University of Maryland School of Medicine Psychiatry, Postdoctoral Research
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Cell / Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Santiago de Compostela 2002

    • Full Name

  • Emma Perez-Costas