Saldanha's research focuses on neuroendocrinology, neuroscience, and neuroplasticity and how hormones interact. Hormones are profound modulators of brain structure and function, with influences that span the lifetime of an organism. The multifaceted and pluripotent neural effects of steroids require that a specific hormone be delivered to the right target at precisely the right time. Saldanha and his team are curious as to how this process occurs. They have discovered that estrogen is synthesized in synaptic boutons and in astroglia (a type of non-neuronal cell in the brain). This compartment- and cell-specific hormone provision may be responsible for the effects of estrogen on learning, memory, neural degeneration, and perhaps neuroprotection and repair.
Foreign Language Fluency:
Hindi, Konkani
Academic Credentials:
PhD. MPhil MA, Columbia University; BA, Gustavus Adolphus College